Hi landscaping! I'm looking to replace the grass in the ~1ft wide strip between sidewalk and road, and in a similar strip between a stone wall and road. I put leaves and cardboard to kill the grass. I'm thinking some perennial wildflowers but also looking for some.kind of ground cover that would stay aliveish through the winter. The side by the wall gets a lot of runoff so something that can suck up all that water would be good. Outside of Boston in zone 6b. Any recommendations?
by pickledenthusiasm
3 Comments
I would say look into what your local wild flowers are but some seeds mix them all together in a shaker bottle and spread them threw out along with a bit of clover make it into a nice little pollinator zone for bees and such
**Pachysandra** could be nice at the base of the wall. It’s not sturdy enough to step on, so won’t be good for the street area. (but maybe small patches along the street area would work). It stays green all year, even in winter. It was fine at our colder than usual winter, down to 5F here.
It’s a partial shade to shade plant. Afternoon sun would stress it. I don’t think soggy soil would be good, but my yard has excellent drainage, so I don’t have experience.
It does spread by roots, so the base of the wall would be good. It would need occasional clipping when it extends a foot or so onto the sidewalk. Otherwise, low maintenance.
I propagate it by digging up a very small patch, separating the stems, preferably with a few white roots attached. Then just shove that end into a small hole. Too easy!
[Pennsylvania sedge](https://growitbuildit.com/pennsylvania-sedge-carex-pensylvanica/)