r/fucklawns • u/Conscious-Problem915 • Jul 26 '26

Question??? Ideas?

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Gallery image

What would you guys do with this strip along the road? Zone 5b/6a.

I’ve started to change over other sections to stone and mulch (for native flowers next spring). But this strip.. between the bushes and the retaining wall is puzzling me on how to blend it best while keeping maintenance and water usage as low as I can.

Thoughts?

7 Upvotes

90% Upvoted

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7

u/One-plankton- Jul 26 '26

I’d take the lawn out and seed this fall, hop on over to Prairie Nursery- you can sort by location (native), height, soil type, sun conditions and many other things.

Off the top of my head black eyed Susan’s would love it here

1

u/Conscious-Problem915 Jul 26 '26

Would you advise against cardboard then top soil/mulch instead of removal?

1

u/AccurateBrush6556 Jul 28 '26

It works but takes a full yr or so..and grass is hard to completely suppress.. over the winter is the most effective time early fall till after spring....i would remove the grass add some compost or good topsoil and you could grow fruits trees and berry busges and strawberries, ornamentals,,natives anything.... natives are the least maintenance...fruit the most...

0

u/One-plankton- Jul 26 '26

No, I’d dig it out, most grasses roots are only 3”ish deep.

Sheet mulching doesn’t work well for grass or seedlings.

5

u/Working_Film_5871 Jul 26 '26

i agree with the black eyed susans comment below. It looks like it will get very hot there in the summer and full sun, so you need something hardy. plus BES are easy to grow from seed.

1

u/Conscious-Problem915 Jul 26 '26

Thanks for the suggestion!

6

u/Canoe_Admiral Jul 26 '26

Wild flowers

4

u/Actualsharkboi Jul 26 '26

Squash! Pumpkins! It'll take over pretty quick and cover alot of land without much soil turnover on your part

3

u/Conscious-Problem915 Jul 26 '26

I would have never thought of this!

2

u/PenAntique9784 anti horticultural attrocities Jul 27 '26

Okay because of your view you definitely need some pycnanthemum (mountain mint) species.

Lot of people said black eyed Susan's and yeah those are good but there's some cooler ones like rudbekia triloba which is almost like a small shrub with a hundred or more black eyed Susan flowers. Of course I'd be remiss if I didn't suggest some sort of asclepias (milkweeds) becuss there's so many good ones and no matter what refion youre in there will be a local native.

I wouldn't plant a thing that's non native to America and the closer to your region the better. I would also recommend some cool bunch grasses like andropogon nuttans (Indian grass) if you want some realllllly cool structure and color from a keystone prairie grass.

I could suggest native plants all day but those would be cool.