Hellstrip design and plants advice for the Pacific Northwest?
I live in the Pacific Northwest. I have 7 round boxwoods planted against a 3 1/2' stone wall along the strip on my property's side of the sidewalk. I would like ideas for plantings and maybe mulch or river rock on the hellstrip side (north of house but open enough to get mostly full sun). There is a large old weeping birch tree on the hellstrip which I cannot change. The boulevard is 12 ' x 35'. The design needs to complement the boxwood. Any advice and ideas appreciated!
Kommentarer (32)
Christopher CNC
4 år sedanWhat are the smaller yellow colored plants? Is that also where the walk to the front door is? I'll contemplate on some plant choices.
Houzz-ID: 687609917
4 år sedanThe plants are winter blooming hellebores. They are pale pinkish white although look yellow in photo. Yes, they are left of the entry to our property. The front door is not visible from the street. The path into my property continues straight with a boxwood and white blooming camellia, underplanted with saraccocca on the left. there is a small courtyard with more boxwood, camellias, 2 white blooming hydrangea, euphorbia wilfennii, astrantia and Provence lavender.
floral_uk z.8/9 SW UK
4 år sedanYour front garden sounds lovely. Just my cup of tea. Love the wall and hedge. What strikes me as missing from the grass strip is small spring bulbs, especially crocuses. Other than that I think it would look a little odd if yours was the only planted verge. And under a birch is not a great spot for many things. Under mine I have bulbs, ferns, hardy cyclamen, hellebores and other stuff that doesn't mind the summer shade and dry soil. But again, I think they'd look weird if the rest of the strip all down the road is just lawn.
gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
4 år sedanÄndrades senast: 4 år sedanYou want something low growing and very durable for the hell strips as they inevitably get a lot of foot traffic and car doors opening on to them. And quite drought tolerant as it is difficult to water this area and we are so dry in summer.
Some possibilities are lithodora, candytuft (Iberis sempervirens) or helianthemum. Or groundcovers like Rubus calycinoides, kinnikinnick or cotoneaster.
No rocks :-) Just a wood based mulch until the plants fill in.
floral_uk z.8/9 SW UK
4 år sedanI wouldn't want to get out of a car and have to walk across many of those, GG. Especially at night. Broken ankles in the making.
Christopher CNC
4 år sedanÄndrades senast: 4 år sedanI thought those might be hellebore. The color threw me off.
Of course I thought small spring bulbs and be done with it, but no, better not go there. It would certainly work with your garden. But I say plant the verge. Be the trendsetter of the neighborhood. It does of course need to work with your beautiful garden.
So I got practical like gardengal and went formal groundcover look. I just think we need to kick it up a notch.
Choose a good groundcover and add in a few specimen boxwood and some drifts of that yellow hellebore. I'll let you add a big rock ( flat wide rectangle shape, kind you can stand on ) if you want. Depending on your groundcover you could sneak in some small spring bulbs.
floral_uk z.8/9 SW UK
4 år sedanDoes the OP own that strip of land? Is there no legal obligation to make it safe and accessible for pedestrians?
Christopher CNC
4 år sedanÄndrades senast: 4 år sedanPeople do plant the hell strips in many urban areas in the US. Rules would vary locally and can be all over the map. There are books on the subject.
floral_uk z.8/9 SW UK
4 år sedanMust be infuriating when you want to get out of a car and have to traipse across a flowerbed.
Christopher CNC
4 år sedanÄndrades senast: 4 år sedanLife in the big city. But we need to remember you people drive on the wrong side of the road. Here the driver's side is left on the street and everybody has their own personal car.
Houzz-ID: 687609917
4 år sedanIt is city land but they encourage boulevard gardening. There are some restrictions, eg, plants no taller than 1 metre, certain height near curb. Also there are a lot of boulevard gardens throughout my city. All these ideas are inspiring me! I like the rock idea and drifts. Maybe I will place a few more paving stones amongst the plantings. Also as you may have noticed my boulevard is mostly dirt because it was hit by grubs last summer (and happy crows) I think because of the poor grass because of the birch that sucks up all the moisture (even in the PMW!)
not sure how ground cover will do if the grubs are back.
Houzz-ID: 687609917
4 år sedanI have really appreciated the focussed and serious input related to my question.
einportlandor
4 år sedanI live in a PNW city where hellstrips are common. I have one with ratty grass that I'd dearly love to get rid of but it hasn't risen to the top of my home improvement list and probably never will. As an older gardener and pedestrian, I regularly observe the good, bad and ugly in my neighborhood.
First, I suggest you plan hardscape breaks in your planting scheme so vehicles can pull alongside the curb, open the door and passengers can easily get to the sidewalk. Picture helping grandma out of the car. Picture young parents loading/unloading babies/children into carseats.
Second, avoid billowy and creeping plants that will eventually grow out into the sidewalk and street. In my older neighborhood I'm sometimes forced off the sidewalk onto the roadway because overgrown vegetation has made passage unsafe.
Finally, make sure your plantings will not eventually block visibility when pulling out of a driveway.
In case you haven't already foundthis website, I highly suggest it. It's loaded with plant ideas for the PNW. Good luck with your project.floral_uk z.8/9 SW UK
4 år sedanExactly. While my comments were tongue in cheek I was making a serious point absolutely related to the question. There is a practical issue as einportlandor says. There may even be a legal issue but my question about ownership wasn't answered. I gave some plant suggestions too, in an earlier contribution.
Christopher CNC
4 år sedanThat is part of why they can write books on the subject. It wouldn't surprise me either if 'ownership' varied by locality.
Houzz-ID: 687609917
4 år sedanThanks everyone. I love the Plant Picks site but I have come to realize that my problem is not so much plant selection as much as design....balancing hardscape with plantings. And I hear loud and clear the concerns about obstructing and endangering foot traffic. I see a lot of boulevard gardens that are overgrown and neglected. I'm going to cultivate and clear the plot over the summer and start planning on paper for installations next spring! I like the idea of repeating some of what I already have, e.g., boxwood, hellebores, iberis, a few spring bulbs, a rock or two. Just one last question..does anyone see a place for river rock ((about 2") in this plan? Thanks again.
Christopher CNC
4 år sedanA place for 2" inch river rock, as in like a dry stream bed? I'm not seeing that working well with your garden from the pictures we have seen.
Houzz-ID: 687609917
4 år sedanOK based on what you have suggested so far, I think I will let that idea go.
gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
4 år sedanSelections like I mentioned are very commonplace in Seattle's hell strips. This is real estate that is owned by the city but usually maintained by the adjacent homeowner. Often - but not always - there some sort of hardscaping involved so foot traffic across these strips is facilitated. But in the urban neighborhoods of Seattle at least, street parking is about the only parking available so they do not get walked on all that often. There are already cars in the way :-) And in many cases, the streets are narrow enough that any parking is restricted to one side of the street. It is also usually only a few short steps to a driveway (or partial driveway) that then leads to access the house and entry.
Houzz-ID: 687609917
4 år sedanSo I think I will plant 2 specimen boxwood (running parallel with the sidewalk) then a second paving stones path, then another boxwood or 2 (I hate even numbers!) with another paving stone path that will bookend the space. So there will be 3 paths. Then add in hellebores in some spaces around the boxwood. And have just wood chips or ground cover on either side with plenty of room for car doors opening, passengers stepping out of cars, etc. Sound too formal?
Christopher CNC
4 år sedanIs the birch tree pretty much directly in line with your front walkway? Can we get a centered photo, or two if needed taken from the same spot, of the verge that shows both edges of your house and garden. It seems your front walkway is one on side of the lot.
Houzz-ID: 687609917
4 år sedanThe last boxwood on the right is at one end of our property. Same on the left.
Christopher CNC
4 år sedanÄndrades senast: 4 år sedanBecause OCD I want you to move the left side stepping stones in line with the corner of the wall/property line. But they are really in the best place for access to the front walk and working with the tree. No need to make work.
Two stepping stone paths across the verge are plenty. A third in the middle would look odd. Place the second set of stepping stones on the right end. Because OCD it needs to be inset from the corner of the wall/property line the exact same distance as the left side pathway. Let the grass grow up to the outside edge of the walkways.
Plant three (odd #) round boxwood centered with the middle three boxwood across the side walk.
Now let's get you a nice big rock. The rock: same grey color as the wall, 3'L x 2' W x 1"H, flat on top. Place the rock to the right of the tree, off center and at a slight angle from the straight line made by the tree and three boxwood. You may have to play with the position of the rock a bit to find its feng sui.
Starting by the rock, plant that river you wanted with the yellow hellebores sweeping past the boxwood all the way to the right side walkway.
Fill the remaining space between the two walkways with the Lithodora as a groundcover because the blue flowers.
Houzz-ID: 687609917
4 år sedanOCD meets OCD! Since I will be removing a layer of soil before I bring in soil I can quite easily move the paving stones as you suggest. Then I don't have to beg my neighbours to cut the strip of my grass that would be on the outside of the two paths. I love this plan. Would you run the hellebores on just one side of the boxwood? Thank you.
WestCoast Hopeful
4 år sedanYou must be in Vancouver! Looks super familiar. :)
You are on north side of street? The boulevard part is brutal on north side and often nothing good grows! Super annoying.
Christopher CNC
4 år sedanLeaving a thin strip of your verge for the neighbors to mow was one potential drawback to that plan. If the paving stone walkways will be placed on the property lines, moving the left side walk, than I think the hellebore need to peek out a tiny bit on the left side of the tree.
The boxwood could be an island in the hellebore river or on just one side. With 12 feet of width to work with you can play with the river to suit you - cause OCD.
I would like for the big rock to be a break in the hellebore, like the river is flowing below.
Houzz-ID: 687609917
4 år sedanThanks for your terrific suggestions. So you see the hellebores starting left of the tree near to the sidewalk then to the rock and starting again other side of it and along the boxwoods and to the right path. I suspect I may need to play around with the hellebores once the rock and boxwood are in place. BTW lithodora would be a beautiful addition if it thrives
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floral_uk z.8/9 SW UK