What can I do with this space to make it look nicer but also low maintenance?
by Blergalsnaggle
What can I do with this space to make it look nicer but also low maintenance?
by Blergalsnaggle
2 Comments
a backflip
That grass is always going to look like garbage because it is trapped between asphalt heat sinks in compacted soil. Stop trying to grow a lawn there. You need to smother whatever weeds are left with a thick layer of cardboard and top it with three inches of arborist wood chips to start rebuilding that dead dirt.
For real low maintenance you need a single sweeping mass of tough groundcover that can handle radiant summer heat. Planting a bunch of scattered individual flowers will just look like messy polka dots. Go with a solid block of creeping juniper. Put a couple clumping native grasses like little bluestem right in front of those utility boxes to soften them up without blocking the workers from opening the panels. Once those plants establish they will act as a living mulch to choke out weeds and you will never have to edge or mow this spot again.
It is hard to picture how much better a solid mass planting looks compared to patchy weeds. Run your photo through the GardenDream web app and tell it to overlay creeping juniper and native grasses. It gives you a solid visual blueprint so you know exactly what the mature layout looks like before you go to the nursery and waste money on delicate plants that will just fry next to that pavement.