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Old 09-06-2007, 05:40 AM posted to rec.gardens
Bob F Bob F is offline
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First recorded activity by GardenBanter: May 2007
Posts: 762
Default Getting rid of the grass and putting in draught resistant plants


wrote in message
oups.com...
On Jun 5, 1:02 pm, wrote:
Hi all,
I'd like to remove thegrassfrom the strip between our sidewalk and
the street and replace it with a series of draughtresistantplants.
The new townhouses across the street have this arrangement and it
looks nice. The plants are like small shrubs or sprouts of
grasses.
I don't want ground cover but just a dotting of plants with the
rest
of the space (probably 5'x9') with some type of bark. The space is
currently filled withgrassthat we don't take care of and generally
looks bad.

So-What do I need to do to get rid of thegrassand prepare the soil
for planting of our gorgeous newdroughtresistantplants?

Any other advice?


Hey all-I'm in Seattle-sorry to not include that info.


My recommendation is to rent a sod cutter. Cut and remove (compost)
the sod, leaving you with the most weed seed free plot to garden. Most
of the weed seeds will be on or in the sod, so they will be removed
with it.

There are huge numbers of plants you could choose. Rhodys and azalias
are always popular in Seattle. Go visit a quality nursery near you and
see what they recommend. Just find an "expert" there and see what they
suggest, or look around your neighborhood. Take pictures of what you
like to the nursery. If you are near NW Seattle, Swansons on 15th NW
is a good place.

Any area with just bark will either need chemical treatment or
constant weeding to keep the weeds down. If you put a water permeable
weed barrier under the bark, the weeds will at least pull out easily
most of the time. With a thick enough layer, they will usually pull OK
even without the barrier.

Bob