Hi --
I'm looking for ideas/suggestions for plants for a 63' x 3' plot.
The town put in new sidewalks & curbs on our street last fall. In doing this
they ripped out the grass plot that separated the sidewalk from the gutter.
They are supposed to come back this Spring and re-seed this plot with grass
seed, but right now it's nearly empty. (4 inches of snow there right now.)
Sunday I planted 4 shrubs the two Cornus alba 'Sibirica' and
two Cornus sericea 'Flaviramea'. I planted them with 5' of space between each
plant. I live in Zone 6, NJ the plot faces ESE.
I don't really know the laws governing planting in these plots, but I saw
this as an opportunity to have something besides grass planted there. I know I
probably can't have an all shrub border there because of people exiting cars on
the passenger side.
Any comments, opinions, ideas or advice welcomed.
TIA

I'm looking for ideas/suggestions for plants for a 63' x 3' plot.
The town put in new sidewalks & curbs on our street last fall. In doing this
they ripped out the grass plot that separated the sidewalk from the gutter.
They are supposed to come back this Spring and re-seed this plot with grass
seed, but right now it's nearly empty. (4 inches of snow there right now.)
Sunday I planted 4 shrubs the two Cornus alba 'Sibirica' and
two Cornus sericea 'Flaviramea'. I planted them with 5' of space between each
plant. I live in Zone 6, NJ the plot faces ESE.
I don't really know the laws governing planting in these plots, but I
saw
this as an opportunity to have something besides grass planted there. I know
I
probably can't have an all shrub border there because of people exiting cars
on
the passenger side.
Any comments, opinions, ideas or advice welcomed.
TIA

I recently had a sidewalk installed as well and I decided that I wanted to line
the whole thing with tulips and naturalizing Daffodils (for now, more to come
HEHEHE) so that the neighborhood kids could pick the flowers to take home to
Mom. I remember myself as a child running home with a pretty flower or two
just to see Mom smile.


Just my 2 cents.........
Christine

Twobtold wrote:

Hi --
I'm looking for ideas/suggestions for plants for a 63' x 3' plot.
The town put in new sidewalks & curbs on our street last fall. In doing this
they ripped out the grass plot that separated the sidewalk from the gutter.
They are supposed to come back this Spring and re-seed this plot with grass
seed, but right now it's nearly empty. (4 inches of snow there right now.)
Sunday I planted 4 shrubs the two Cornus alba 'Sibirica' and
two Cornus sericea 'Flaviramea'. I planted them with 5' of space between each
plant. I live in Zone 6, NJ the plot faces ESE.
I don't really know the laws governing planting in these plots, but I saw
this as an opportunity to have something besides grass planted there. I know I
probably can't have an all shrub border there because of people exiting cars on
the passenger side.
Any comments, opinions, ideas or advice welcomed.
TIA



The first thing I would do is to check with the town. If they are
planning to re-seed with grass, they will probably want to grade it
first to remove the ravages of winter. If you have something planted
there it may just be ripped up. Also, check to see whether the strip is
owned by the town or by you. Don't just assume that you own the land to
the edge of the road. Roads are defined by right-of-ways
(rights-of-way?) which may not correspond directly to the "travelled
way" (i.e. the paved part of the road).

If you really want to plant something there, first put it in as a plant
rather than as seed so it's obvious that there's something there, then
be sure to put some stakes around everything you plant so that the
town's ground crew know that it was put there on purpose and is not just
a weed growing there.

From: unya (Purchgdss)


I'm looking for ideas/suggestions for plants for a 63' x 3' plot.

recently had a sidewalk installed as well and I decided that I wanted to
line
the whole thing with tulips and naturalizing Daffodils (for now, more to come
HEHEHE) so that the neighborhood kids could pick the flowers to take home to
Mom. I remember myself as a child running home with a pretty flower or two
just to see Mom smile.
Just my 2 cents.........
Christine

When my children (7) were small I would take them to various parks that we
could walk to on Sundays in Brooklyn, NY. Their Mother would stay at home and
cook. The kids would gather up all the weed/ wildflowers they spotted to bring
home to Mom so she would not be upset that we were late getting home for
dinner. Invariably what they presented to her were wilted and dead. But she
always gave them a big smile and made a fuss over them. My wife passed away in
1988 so I really value your 2 cents for bringing back fond memories.
Thanks

How about a rock garden of sorts where it would not bother the car doors but
give you a nice garden to look at instead of grass.

Heather
"Twobtold" wrote in message
...
Hi --
I'm looking for ideas/suggestions for plants for a 63' x 3' plot.
The town put in new sidewalks & curbs on our street last fall. In doing
this
they ripped out the grass plot that separated the sidewalk from the
gutter.
They are supposed to come back this Spring and re-seed this plot with
grass
seed, but right now it's nearly empty. (4 inches of snow there right now.)
Sunday I planted 4 shrubs the two Cornus alba 'Sibirica' and
two Cornus sericea 'Flaviramea'. I planted them with 5' of space between
each
plant. I live in Zone 6, NJ the plot faces ESE.
I don't really know the laws governing planting in these plots, but I
saw
this as an opportunity to have something besides grass planted there. I
know I
probably can't have an all shrub border there because of people exiting
cars on
the passenger side.
Any comments, opinions, ideas or advice welcomed.
TIA




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From: Dwight Sipler
Message-id:

I'm looking for ideas/suggestions for plants for a 63' x 3' plot.


The first thing I would do is to check with the town. If they are
planning to re-seed with grass, they will probably want to grade it
first to remove the ravages of winter. If you have something planted
there it may just be ripped up. Also, check to see whether the strip is
owned by the town or by you. Don't just assume that you own the land to
the edge of the road. Roads are defined by right-of-ways
(rights-of-way?) which may not correspond directly to the "travelled
way" (i.e. the paved part of the road).

If you really want to plant something there, first put it in as a plant
rather than as seed so it's obvious that there's something there, then
be sure to put some stakes around everything you plant so that the
town's ground crew know that it was put there on purpose and is not just
a weed growing there.

I reached the 'town attorney' who said I could put what I wanted in the plot.
He didn't say it with much conviction though. He did say that the town would be
repaving the street this Spring and would be re-seeding the plots with grass
seed at the same time. He did not know for sure who owned the strip but he said
if the town was responsible for the upkeep/repair of the sidewalk without
billing the homeowner, he thought the town owned the strip. I think because the
'town attorney' position is a part-time, political position I'm getting these
vague answers.
So Dwight, I think you are correct in all your observations.
I have already worked on this plot. I turned it over to a depth of 12
inches, raked all the rocks and clumps of dried concrete out of the bed into a
cart. Then I dug around the permitter of the plot 2' deep by 7" wide. I put all
the rocks in this trench, tamped them down and covered with soil. I then used a
30" grading rake to level off the plot. I put the 4 dogwood in starting 13'
from one end, 5' apart. I covered this 20' planting area with 4 bags of
material from my chipper/shredder.
I will drive some 6' stakes around the red- & yellow-twig dogwoods as you
suggest.
Thanks

From: "Heather"



How about a rock garden of sorts where it would not bother the car doors but
give you a nice garden to look at instead of grass.

I guess I should have posted BEFORE I did all the work on the plot. That's a
good idea but I have already spent many back-breaking hours burying the rocks.
Also don't know how people would react getting out of car and having to avoid
stepping on rocks.
I guess my bright idea was not so bright after all. Now I'm beginning to
understand why no one plants anything in these strips but grass.
Maybe I should put up signs saying "Embarkation From Driver's Side Only."

You have rocks in NJ? My aunt has nothing but sand, and hauls mine away with
her whenever she visits me here on Long Island.

I'd look into perennials that completely die back in the winter - snowplows
have been known to break my mailbox at the base (4x4 lumber) just from pushing
less than 12" of snow off the street and onto this "grassy knoll." I wouldn't
go with shrubs... although they would cut down on street noise if you're on a
busy street...

How about Cannas?


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TAKETHISOUT budysbackagain(@)THAT TOO a-oh-ell dot com

I naturalize daylily's in my streetside plot. Even sunflowers are fun to
grow there. Kids love to see them close up. Last year I had an over
abundance of black eyed susans which I transplanted to that area.

Most people respect the growing area and do their best to avoid stepping on
things that the see when exiting their cars. There will always be some
plant loss in a public area but I think having this area outweighs any small
loss.


"TakeThisOut" wrote in message
...
You have rocks in NJ? My aunt has nothing but sand, and hauls mine away
with
her whenever she visits me here on Long Island.

I'd look into perennials that completely die back in the winter -
snowplows
have been known to break my mailbox at the base (4x4 lumber) just from
pushing
less than 12" of snow off the street and onto this "grassy knoll." I
wouldn't
go with shrubs... although they would cut down on street noise if you're
on a
busy street...

How about Cannas?


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TAKETHISOUT budysbackagain(@)THAT TOO a-oh-ell dot com

From: (TakeThisOut)


You have rocks in NJ? My aunt has nothing but sand, and hauls mine away with
her whenever she visits me here on Long Island.

Your aunt must live by the Jersey shore. Here in north Bergen County no matter
where I dig in this yard I hit rocks after 4 or 5 inches.

I'd look into perennials that completely die back in the winter -

OK

snowplows
have been known to break my mailbox at the base (4x4 lumber) just from
pushing
less than 12" of snow off the street and onto this "grassy knoll."

Yes, I know whay you mean. Had a plow driver one snowy night bypass the gutter,
the grass strip & the sidewalk, hook the end of his plow over the little
decorative wall surrounding my plants on the lawn and then backup, ripping out
a section of the wall.

I wouldn't
go with shrubs... although they would cut down on street noise if you're on a
busy street...

Well yeah, you are probably right, but I have 4 planted already.

How about Cannas?

I did have canna planted on the lawn-side of the sidewalk one year and they
looked great. I lifted them and re-planted the next year and got zilch.

Thanks for your ideas.

From: "news.verizon.net"


I naturalize daylily's in my streetside plot. Even sunflowers are fun to
grow there. Kids love to see them close up. Last year I had an over
abundance of black eyed susans which I transplanted to that area.

That's a good idea. I have quite a few daylilies in the back yard and a few in
the front yard. I can transplant up there. Ditto for the Rudbeckia but I'll
have to wait for them to come up before I move some of them. Sunflowers sounds
good too, if i can find ones that do not get too tall.

Most people respect the growing area and do their best to avoid stepping on
things that the see when exiting their cars. There will always be some
plant loss in a public area but I think having this area outweighs any small
loss.


Thanks, hope you right. Your post has got my enthusiasm back for something
besides grass in this plot.