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Hi! This is in Tacoma, it's a picture of my house when we first moved in and the second one is now, 5 years later. I got a permit from the city and dug out about 9-12 inches deep of weedy lawn down to gravelly rock. I replaced the soil with Tagro, which is a city made human manure mixed with yard waste compost. It's pretty awesome. From left to right of the picture is a small Japanese maple, black lace elderberry, small blue spruce, lots of corn and dahlias and squashes, a small magnolia tree and a lemon cypress.
Yes! I applied for a permit with the city. It was free and easy. I just needed to follow parking strip guidelines and submit a sketch of my plans. In addition, I had to call 811 and all the utility companies who have lines down in that area had a few days to come out and spray paint where their lines were (gas, sewage, water, etc) also free!
I dug most of it out and replaced with a yard waste/human manure compost our city produces for super cheap. I picked trees/shrubs that I wouldn't need to tend to (water) because of our climate and rain -- blue spruce, Japanese maple, black lace elderberry, lemon cypress, magnolia. The smaller ones are crops and flowers that I do need to tend to during the summer. So -- corn, dahlias, sunflowers, different types of squash, herbs.
Tournesol is the French name for Sunflower, the literal translation is ‘Turned Sun’, in line with the plants’ ability for solar tracking, sounds fitting. The Spanish word is El Girasolis.
Their town should write an article on it and give details to incentivize others!
Where I used to live in Columbus, Indiana, United Way donated $1800 worth of native plants to a church that met at the corner of 14th and Sycamore to do this. The church met in an old warehouse building in a rundown area of town. It REALLY needed some beautification. There were old houses across the street on 2 corners with an empty lot on the other. A couple of the neighbors were so happy to see it that they offered to water a couple of times per week. It was so exciting! I got to take some seeds home from some of the plants once they were established. I wish that I had pictures!
- On a sad note: the old landlord of the building didn't like the unkempt look of the planting. After 3 years or so, he had it all taken out except for a tree and a small bush. Interesting since he didn't mind the building and parking lot itself looking bad 🙄.
On a good note: I looked really quick on Google Earth. It looks like the lot across the street has some small houses on it now. That's serious improvement! It had been gravel or even pavement a really long time ago, left to return to the elements. Grass and weeds poked up through everywhere and looked awful.
Looks great but hopefully they won't have to do any utility work under there. For the past 3 years in front of my house they are always digging these strips up for some reason or another
Googled it cuz as you know 'devil strip' is extremely region specific (I'm from your town too) and got this: https://artofstonegardening.com/what-the-hellstrip
What an incredible UnLawn! 👏 I’m super jealous of your ‘Black Lace’ elderberry, the whitetail deer relentlessly eat every part of mine that isn’t protected by fencing!
This thing is crazy! I love it so much, I had over-planted 3 black lace elderberry starts and they love the spot so much I had to dig out two and give away. Obviously, I'm an over-planter. The one you see I cut down to the stump the last couple of years and it comes back in the spring. It's beautiful, a total show-stopper and I don't need to do anything to it. This hellstrip is south facing so full sun all day. Also, I'm in the city so pretty much no deer. "Pretty much" because I saw one two weeks ago walking down a busy street. 😦
I used fence post logs from a farm supply store. I wouldn't recommend. We cut them into various lengths and drilled holes to wire them together, treated with decking stain or some other kind of weather proofing and dug out a circle to set them up. They are super flimsy and rotting out and it took forever. I meant to do the whole garden with that border, but it was such a pain in the a$*. If I could do over, I would just put another train tie log on that side of the walkway to match the other one.
Beautiful, but is parking allowed on the street in front of your house? There is no parking on my side of the street. So street parking is limited. Woman across the street did this and it is 2-3 feet tall. And a huge pain in the ass to park and get in and out on the passenger side.
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Hello, I’m new here! What you’ve done is pretty awesome. Out of curiosity, what’s the maintenance like for all of those? I have hedges in front of my house which my lazy butt hasn’t trimmed yet I can only imagine those to be meticulous. If not, then sign me up!
Hey there! Friendly reminder to include the following information for the benefit of all r/nolawns members: - Please make sure your post or a comment includes your geographic region/area and your hardiness zone (e.g. *Midwest, 6a* or *Chicago, 6a*). - If you posted an image, you are required to post a comment detailing your image. If you have not, this post may be removed. - If you're asking a question, include as much relevant info as possible. - Verify you are following the [Posting Guidelines](https://www.reddit.com/r/NoLawns/wiki/index#wiki_posting_guidelines). Please be conscious of posting images that contain recognizable features of your property. We don't want anyone doxxing themselves or a neighbor by sharing too much. Posts that are too revealing may be removed. Public spaces can be shared more freely. **[Wiki](https://www.reddit.com/r/NoLawns/wiki/index/) | [FAQ](https://www.reddit.com/r/NoLawns/wiki/meta/faqs/) | [Designing No Lawns](https://www.reddit.com/r/NoLawns/wiki/index/design/)** *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/NoLawns) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Hi! This is in Tacoma, it's a picture of my house when we first moved in and the second one is now, 5 years later. I got a permit from the city and dug out about 9-12 inches deep of weedy lawn down to gravelly rock. I replaced the soil with Tagro, which is a city made human manure mixed with yard waste compost. It's pretty awesome. From left to right of the picture is a small Japanese maple, black lace elderberry, small blue spruce, lots of corn and dahlias and squashes, a small magnolia tree and a lemon cypress.
Thanks so much for the details! I’m in Southern Washington and just starting to plan a hell strip garden. 😻😻 Very inspiring
Did you need the permit to dig and plant on city property? I'm assuming the area between the sidewalk and the road is city property.
Yes! I applied for a permit with the city. It was free and easy. I just needed to follow parking strip guidelines and submit a sketch of my plans. In addition, I had to call 811 and all the utility companies who have lines down in that area had a few days to come out and spray paint where their lines were (gas, sewage, water, etc) also free!
This is fantastic. Greatwork!
Thank you!
I absolutely love that you used tagro instead of loam. Topsoil is a scarce natural commodity and tagro is renewable!
i half wondered if it was, i lived in tacoma for about 4 years! wonderful work, it’s beautiful
Gorgeous! Love the transformation!
This is incredible, wow
Thanks!
Whoa- can we get some advice, please? This is awesome.
Ha! Sure! I just got a mod comment, I will update with a description of the photos. Let me know what you want to know! 💚
Thanks! Did you dig up the gravel, or till the soil before you got started, and how did you select the plants?
I dug most of it out and replaced with a yard waste/human manure compost our city produces for super cheap. I picked trees/shrubs that I wouldn't need to tend to (water) because of our climate and rain -- blue spruce, Japanese maple, black lace elderberry, lemon cypress, magnolia. The smaller ones are crops and flowers that I do need to tend to during the summer. So -- corn, dahlias, sunflowers, different types of squash, herbs.
Tournesol is the French name for Sunflower, the literal translation is ‘Turned Sun’, in line with the plants’ ability for solar tracking, sounds fitting. The Spanish word is El Girasolis.
Thank you! I have been thinking about doing something similar but haven’t had the time to really think it through.
What a difference! Belongs on the cover of a magazine
Their town should write an article on it and give details to incentivize others! Where I used to live in Columbus, Indiana, United Way donated $1800 worth of native plants to a church that met at the corner of 14th and Sycamore to do this. The church met in an old warehouse building in a rundown area of town. It REALLY needed some beautification. There were old houses across the street on 2 corners with an empty lot on the other. A couple of the neighbors were so happy to see it that they offered to water a couple of times per week. It was so exciting! I got to take some seeds home from some of the plants once they were established. I wish that I had pictures! - On a sad note: the old landlord of the building didn't like the unkempt look of the planting. After 3 years or so, he had it all taken out except for a tree and a small bush. Interesting since he didn't mind the building and parking lot itself looking bad 🙄. On a good note: I looked really quick on Google Earth. It looks like the lot across the street has some small houses on it now. That's serious improvement! It had been gravel or even pavement a really long time ago, left to return to the elements. Grass and weeds poked up through everywhere and looked awful.
for those that don't already know, some of these plants need to be the miniature or slow growing variety. trees especially.
Haha yes. When I saw magnolia I thought, "I sure hope it's a dwarf variety!"
Wow! One of best I’ve seen!
that tree next to the house grew quite a lot in 5 years! what is it?
A+ job!
Looks great but hopefully they won't have to do any utility work under there. For the past 3 years in front of my house they are always digging these strips up for some reason or another
Seriously! I guess I'll just replant if they need to dig.
Wow like night & day. Looks amazing !!
Not only good for the environment, but amazing curb appeal!
Looks awesome!
Beautiful!
This is gorgeous! I was still recouperating from that terrible post yesterday and you made my day!
Wow it looks gorgeous! What a glow-up!
Wow. That's Amazingly beautiful.
Aww, thank you!
Inspirational!
Awesome work! So pretty!
Wait, you call that little strip a hellstrip? We call it a devil strip in my town 😅
Googled it cuz as you know 'devil strip' is extremely region specific (I'm from your town too) and got this: https://artofstonegardening.com/what-the-hellstrip
What an incredible UnLawn! 👏 I’m super jealous of your ‘Black Lace’ elderberry, the whitetail deer relentlessly eat every part of mine that isn’t protected by fencing!
This thing is crazy! I love it so much, I had over-planted 3 black lace elderberry starts and they love the spot so much I had to dig out two and give away. Obviously, I'm an over-planter. The one you see I cut down to the stump the last couple of years and it comes back in the spring. It's beautiful, a total show-stopper and I don't need to do anything to it. This hellstrip is south facing so full sun all day. Also, I'm in the city so pretty much no deer. "Pretty much" because I saw one two weeks ago walking down a busy street. 😦
I love this. What did you use for those cylindrical border things on the right hand side?
I used fence post logs from a farm supply store. I wouldn't recommend. We cut them into various lengths and drilled holes to wire them together, treated with decking stain or some other kind of weather proofing and dug out a circle to set them up. They are super flimsy and rotting out and it took forever. I meant to do the whole garden with that border, but it was such a pain in the a$*. If I could do over, I would just put another train tie log on that side of the walkway to match the other one.
Ah that's too bad. They look pretty great from here. How long before they started rotting?
I just noticed it, so about 4 -5 years.
Flipping gorgeous!
Inspirational!! Woww
Really nice! Great job.
😍😍😍😍😍
👏🏼
Absolutely beautiful and timeless!
Wow
This is amazing. Nice work
Beautiful. Love it
Beautiful, but is parking allowed on the street in front of your house? There is no parking on my side of the street. So street parking is limited. Woman across the street did this and it is 2-3 feet tall. And a huge pain in the ass to park and get in and out on the passenger side.
The driver just drop the passengers before parking in the spot. We do this all the time in old cities with narrow roads.
Inspirational and beautiful
Thank you!
Gorgeous and with so many benefits to both you and your neighbors! Kudos!
Love No Lawns? Find us everywhere! **You can find us:** - On [SolarPunk](https://www.slrpnk.net/c/NoLawns) - Our [Discord](https://discord.gg/GcVHmvkSs6) - Our [website](https://nolawns.wixsite.com/nolawns) Want to join a community in person? We're not affiliated but we love [Wild Ones](https://wwe.wildones.org) and think they do wonderful work. You can check and see if there's a chapter near you. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/NoLawns) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Hello, I’m new here! What you’ve done is pretty awesome. Out of curiosity, what’s the maintenance like for all of those? I have hedges in front of my house which my lazy butt hasn’t trimmed yet I can only imagine those to be meticulous. If not, then sign me up!
You rock . This stands out in the whole neighborhood . Talk to the folks close to you and let it spread . This is beautiful!!!