I have to walk past these barren patches under a bridge in Seattle, and it bums me out every time. Is there anything native to the PNW that I could try to plant?
Also, is that soil even good for anything? Would I have to do major work to have any attempt at any growth?
by BeatBot3000
28 Comments
If there isn’t even weeds in it then likely the soil is garbage.
You would need to amend the soil. If you can’t do that, I suggest building a raised bed or a container garden.
It’s garbage…right now. You could probably rehab it. But there’s likely an excessive amount of chemical and salt contamination, you would need to do so much, and this is one of those spots that chemicals are the worst option but the most realistic. Just build up a half a bag of potting soil into a mound above it and then plant something to see of its truly awful or nah.
Sunflowers !🌻 first! They aren’t native per se but it isn’t forever and they don’t spread that far, but the point is they will grow early in the season and repair the soil! Next season plant some native grasses and wild flowers! Sunflowers can grow in basically dust they only need water in the early growth more often so when uou pass it spray some water on the sprouts 🌱
You don’t need fancy sunflower seeds go to the local hardware or farm store and get black oil sunflower seeds usually next to bird seeds those will grow fast and tall and repair it in no time. For best soil do it two seasons!
Crabgrass probably
TBH – probably not. 1. contaminated soil 2. Bone dry. That spot probably gets little to no rain. Some cities put very large planters or whatever in these sort of spaces, and the city comes buy and waters them from a truck.
It is very telling that not even the most determined awful weeds have taken any of that soil – pretty clear indication that nothing is going to grow there.
you could write the city and ask for a grant to do it
kinnikinnick is native and very hardy. Pile up some mulch to prevent people from trampling.
Another thought: see what they planted underneath 520 in the Arboretum. The soil used to be barren but they recently planted a bunch of stuff that looks great (though that spot is more shaded than this).
No, that’s compacted soil. It would need to be topped with compost and topsoil, or raised beds – a massive inconvenience to the guerilla gardener.
Looks like its in a place where a lot of people walk over it so nothing can really get established. In picture 2 you can see the only growth is at the edge of the concrete where feet are unlikely to stomp on them
You might be able to get sunflowers to go there but it is probably too windy to amend the soil, so you would have to water the seeds according to the package instructions for your sunflowers.
Sunflowers are great for decontaminating soil and are native to the continental US so I think it would include PNW. Could anything grow there yes, but it would take maintenance to sprout the seeds and get them going.
Those hellstrips in front of the Troll and down the Ave have such horrid soil from the debris and runoff from 99 above. The best chance would be to put planters there with fresh soil.
Judging by the footprints, it seems like a walking path.
Would not consider planting in this location as anything you try to put down will be trampled.
r/GuerrillaGardening
Ooof between the compaction and low light, that’s a tough spot! The trash and parked cars add complexity too ofc.
This spot should probs just be hardscaping 😅
Tiarella (foam flower) would look nice and provide good ground cover, but skeptical it’ll take here.
Look up common plants for tree wells in your area, you might find a surprising option. For instance, river trees actually thrive in these environments. They love wet soil, yes, but a primary condition of wet soil is low carbon, so given the extreme compaction and low carbon environment, birch and sycamore and the like thrive here (I’m on the east coast).
are you by the troll?
That’s the Trolls space. I don’t think anything will grow.
That dirt is sterile…. no weeds. They may spray it to make sure no weeds grow.
If it’s anything like my backyard, poison ivy would grow nicely there.
Nah, man, the troll behind you will eat it.
Astroturf
If you replace the dirt with better dirt(so like compost) it will
It’s probably not native to the area, but mint would likely grow there.
I have no solid evidence – other than I planted mint in a pot in my front yard two years ago. It showed up in my backyard in a rock pile this summer. 😂
If you tosses a layer of gravel, and then some very loose soil, so many things will grow. Even full sunflowers.
But you could just grow violets or something very hardy.
The troll will just eat it
Sunflowers. Throw a few handfuls down and walk away.
All these people being like, “amend the soil, compaction bad,” are missing the main thing. Look up. It doesn’t get any rain unless the rain comes in sideways.
If you look at google street view images of the area in the past you can see that there are some green plants growing in those spots. Probably weeds, and I imagine the soil is not great as others have said. But there are houses along that street, so I presume it’s not deathly toxic. Depending on how much effort you want to put in, maybe you can organize or sponsor a clean-up event with the city (or the neighborhood association if one exists). Another option might be to do your own guerrilla revitalization; drop a couple bags of soil, some wildflower seeds and see what happens.