Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Curb Strip planting in June

The curb strip planting in its first year without grass
I did a post last year on how we took the plunge and killed the turf in our curb strip to establish a more sustainable planting - meaning one that we did not have to go over every week with a mower! We extended our planting last September to include the entire curb length of 113 feet.

Sedum 'Acre' is the ground cover here, as in the Front Woodland. It smothers out the weeds, requires no maintenance at all, and blooms yellow in June.

See it also in spring with grape hyacinths (Muscari 'Ocean Magic') under the white flowers on the Serviceberries (Amelanchier canadensis).

12 comments:

  1. I like the idea. Sheila

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  2. Such a good idea, I'm for anything that means less work!

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    1. The great thing about Sedum 'Acre', or a similar S. form, is that is stays lower than 6 inches. That gives it the look, especially from afar, of a turfed area without all up-keep. And of course it effectively adds the curb strip to your property in appearance.
      ~Julie

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  3. Wow, I think it was very hard work! Your curb looks nice.

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  4. This is to be copied by everyone. Grass is not a sustainable plant, needing water and hard work mowing. Now it is beautiful and sustainable, Christina

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  5. I adore this Julie and use this same sedum as a ground cover in a few areas...wonderful use and such a better alternative to grass...

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  6. I love it...so much better than regular old turf!

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  7. Looks good. You don't have cars parking curbside then? In our neighborhood we would have problems doing this as my neighbor has a tax prep business where her clients park in front of my house constantly. I wanted to plant, then thought they would ruin anything that I would put out there.

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    1. Donna,
      No parking is allowed on either street beside us. But, I use Sedum 'Acre' because it is not precious and very easy to propagate. It will take some foot traffic and look just fine the next day. And I did include a few stones that step from the road up to the stairs in this area. I would not put my more expensive plants out there... though I did just throw in a few divisions of Nepeta to see how they do by the stop sign :)
      ~Julie

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  8. This looks wonderful! I am anti grass, and am pulling it out and working to let moss take over as much of my shady lawn as possible. I love how you mixed in the bulbs too. I'm adding this to my 'garden ideas' list!

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  9. Greetings Julie! Such a stunning scene, you deploy the Sedum ‘Acre’ so well. Excited to see what summer brings at Gilmore Gardens!

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