What to put in narrow strip between fence and sidewalk

[Anonymous]

Just had a fence replaced and it now goes all the way down to the ground. Between the fence and the sidewalk is about 8 inches of space. It’s currently a rocky/weedy/random grass mess.

Should we just do grass seed in the fall? Would have to use a string trimmer to cut and hesitate about hitting the fence. Native flowers? Some kind of stone?

[Anonymous]

My husband likes to plant flowers there. It's more maintenance than he can handle, though, so often it's a weedy mess, but he prefers that to alternatives.

[Anonymous]

Geotextile fabric and stone.

[Anonymous]

Sounds like a perfect spot for some native/pollinator friendlyplants. How much sun does it get?

It's hard to go wrong with purple coneflower, monarda and muhly grass.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sounds like a perfect spot for some native/pollinator friendlyplants. How much sun does it get?

It's hard to go wrong with purple coneflower, monarda and muhly grass.

I put in a counter for pale purple coneflower, butterfly weed and prairie drop seed, with one or two prairie larkspur for show.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Geotextile fabric and stone.

Well, that's an option. A very sad and sterile one.

[Anonymous]

What is the fence material? If wood, you will have to be more careful about your choices.

[Anonymous]

We have a low ground cover of evergreen creeping phlox (moss phlox) with spring bulbs, summer and fall perennials spaced along the line for season long interest. It was like that when we moved in. It changes all year long, so I like it. some of the perennials will come up on both sides of the fence, which I like.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What is the fence material? If wood, you will have to be more careful about your choices.

It’s wood for ground contact.

It’s mostly shaded by a large tree and is on the north side.

The strip is pretty narrow and the sidewalk gets a lot of traffic so we hesitate to put anything that’s tall and might encroach in the sidewalk path. I would love to do black eyed Susan’s but the two types we have wouldn’t fit in the space. Also agree that stone is sterile though easy.

[Anonymous]

Day lilies! Indestructible and beautiful when they bloom.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sounds like a perfect spot for some native/pollinator friendlyplants. How much sun does it get?

It's hard to go wrong with purple coneflower, monarda and muhly grass.

That’s going to overhang and block the sidewalk.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Day lilies! Indestructible and beautiful when they bloom.

Is there a non-invasive day lily?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Geotextile fabric and stone.

Well, that's an option. A very sad and sterile one.

It’s going to be hard to find anything that won’t look straggly in 8 inches.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is the fence material? If wood, you will have to be more careful about your choices.

It’s wood for ground contact.

It’s mostly shaded by a large tree and is on the north side.

The strip is pretty narrow and the sidewalk gets a lot of traffic so we hesitate to put anything that’s tall and might encroach in the sidewalk path. I would love to do black eyed Susan’s but the two types we have wouldn’t fit in the space. Also agree that stone is sterile though easy.

I would be careful then -- you have wood in North facing shade touching the ground, which means it will stay wet and rot faster/attract termites, especially if you start putting a bunch of plant material right up against it.

"Narrow" is pretty subjective, so how many inches are we talking?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is the fence material? If wood, you will have to be more careful about your choices.

It’s wood for ground contact.

It’s mostly shaded by a large tree and is on the north side.

The strip is pretty narrow and the sidewalk gets a lot of traffic so we hesitate to put anything that’s tall and might encroach in the sidewalk path. I would love to do black eyed Susan’s but the two types we have wouldn’t fit in the space. Also agree that stone is sterile though easy.

I would be careful then -- you have wood in North facing shade touching the ground, which means it will stay wet and rot faster/attract termites, especially if you start putting a bunch of plant material right up against it.

"Narrow" is pretty subjective, so how many inches are we talking?

^^sorry, I see 8 inches.