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.