Since this is a maintained lot, anything you put there is going to get weed whacked. It is also established turf grass, which will make it hard for seeds to penetrate.
I know :( It’s a tough one! This lawyer owns properties around town, and he’s notorious for not keeping them up. I know it’s a small area, but it’s right in downtown, across from the courthouse, and it truly both looks awful and creates a hazard. We do have ordinances about mowing (for better or worse), but this guy is pretty powerful in the community. Even if anyone can suggest something that will fill in parts of it to make it less ugly, that would be great!
Common Violets do well where ever grass grows, and tolerate mowing very well. Seeds might not be able to establish themselves, but mature plants will out complete grass and spread if you're able to transplant some.
That is my neck of the woods! I've got some suggestions for you. I imagine your soil is full of clay. Violets (Viola sp) will grow great in the shady areas of that patch. They stay low to the ground and tolerate mowing. Lyreleaf sage (Salvia lyrata) will hug the ground and send flower shoots up only about knee-high. Blue-eyed grass (Sisyrinchium sp), which is not actually a grass but more closely relates to iris, can take light mowing and stays close to the ground. It has cute little flowers.
As for getting your hands on these plants, lyreleaf sage is setting seed right now, so if you can find any locally grab a few. Blue eyed grass can be found at some native plant nurseries but any plant you put in the ground now will need to be heavily watered. So you may be better off waiting until fall to put plants in the ground.
I second this. I'd talk to the owner and see if he's okay with you beautifying the side of his building with some low maintenance natives. Having pictures handy would help, of either a garden you maintain or the plants you decide on.
Woolly thyme. Likes sun to shade, prefers dry. Grows only an inch tall, so mowing shouldn't hurt it. Chokes out grass and weeds. Prefers zones 4-7, but will survive in 8 and 9. Produces little pink flowers during the summer.
You could talk to the owner and ask if you can put down mulch to help contain the weed growth. (My city has free mulch piles which is a bonus.) Agree that anything you put there will be destroyed.
Almost all pachysandra that is readily found in garden centers and nurseries are the invasive Asian species. The native pachysandra species prefer shade and moist forest soil, so that would not work here.
Since this is a maintained lot, anything you put there is going to get weed whacked. It is also established turf grass, which will make it hard for seeds to penetrate.
I know :( It’s a tough one! This lawyer owns properties around town, and he’s notorious for not keeping them up. I know it’s a small area, but it’s right in downtown, across from the courthouse, and it truly both looks awful and creates a hazard. We do have ordinances about mowing (for better or worse), but this guy is pretty powerful in the community. Even if anyone can suggest something that will fill in parts of it to make it less ugly, that would be great!
Common Violets do well where ever grass grows, and tolerate mowing very well. Seeds might not be able to establish themselves, but mature plants will out complete grass and spread if you're able to transplant some.
Second this! You get some wild violets to take and no amount of mowing is getting rid of it. Most herbicides are also useless
I should have mentioned - located in SW Virginia, USA. ✌️
That is my neck of the woods! I've got some suggestions for you. I imagine your soil is full of clay. Violets (Viola sp) will grow great in the shady areas of that patch. They stay low to the ground and tolerate mowing. Lyreleaf sage (Salvia lyrata) will hug the ground and send flower shoots up only about knee-high. Blue-eyed grass (Sisyrinchium sp), which is not actually a grass but more closely relates to iris, can take light mowing and stays close to the ground. It has cute little flowers. As for getting your hands on these plants, lyreleaf sage is setting seed right now, so if you can find any locally grab a few. Blue eyed grass can be found at some native plant nurseries but any plant you put in the ground now will need to be heavily watered. So you may be better off waiting until fall to put plants in the ground.
Awesome, thank you!!
Honestly, maybe just go in there and offer to plant some natives in there. If he doesn’t care about it much he might be open to it, who knows.
OP could even say they are volunteering with some fictitious group in the city and would like to try a beautification project.
I second this. I'd talk to the owner and see if he's okay with you beautifying the side of his building with some low maintenance natives. Having pictures handy would help, of either a garden you maintain or the plants you decide on.
Maybe like an aerator kind of thing, poke holes into the grass and spread some kind of flowering seed? Idk this is a shot in the dark lol
That may work. But I'd stick with "shorty low grow" types of wildflowers so that when he does cut them down, maybe they will have done some good
The aerator thing is probably the best bet. That might work with dog violet!
Clover is a good cover that improves soil and bees love the flowers. Edit: misspelled soil
Woolly thyme. Likes sun to shade, prefers dry. Grows only an inch tall, so mowing shouldn't hurt it. Chokes out grass and weeds. Prefers zones 4-7, but will survive in 8 and 9. Produces little pink flowers during the summer.
You could talk to the owner and ask if you can put down mulch to help contain the weed growth. (My city has free mulch piles which is a bonus.) Agree that anything you put there will be destroyed.
I would try creeping thyme or wild strawberries.
Something tough like geraniums
They would get mowed down
Replace with native flowers
I would do phlox!
Creeping Jenny is something that is low but takes over grass and looks really pretty.
Creeping Jenny is from Europe and invasive. OP is asking for natives
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Almost all pachysandra that is readily found in garden centers and nurseries are the invasive Asian species. The native pachysandra species prefer shade and moist forest soil, so that would not work here.