A Beautification Project for a Neglected Area

Part 1

The concept of a tree lined street with large shade trees led to the invention of the park strip planting area. City Street Trees, chosen and planted by the municipality, are designated by the city Arborist and each neighborhood usually has it’s own Genus of Tree, such as Liquidambar, Chinese Pistache, Flowering Pear, Sycamore etc………They are planted in these dirt strips between the sidewalk and the street. Homeowners are expected to care for the trees and plant the dirt areas below the trees. Park strips are usually 2′-8′ wide depending on the neighborhood.

Here is a link for Typical Street Tree types (L.A. County but many work throughout the West):

This is a terribly flawed idea. Planting large trees in a narrow park strip planting area next to paving that people regularly walk over. Invariably, residents planted lawn on the other side of the sidewalk from the park strip causing the roots of the trees to grow vigorously towards the lawns seeking water. Even without the issue of lawn irrigation the trees eventually become too large and their roots and trunks crack and uplift the paving. City Arborists didn’t help the matter by choosing some of the worst and most water seeking trees for these small planting strips. We are all very familiar with this problem.

Meanwhile, here in Los Angeles, I am helping my kids with their property and garden. Quite a bit of it is paved but we do have a few plantings areas including a park strip planting area. It is usually a weed fest in Spring and dirt the rest of the year.

I have a Grand-daughter that loves to plant seeds. She loves to water to them, sing to her flowers and check on their progress daily. She is 7 years old almost 8. I am pretty much the same just not so much singing. My kids, her parents, have no time to do any of these things so I needed a plan that will work well when I am here to help, but can go dormant when I go off to New Hampshire in mid summer. And so began the park strip planting project.

Starting the Park Strip Planting Project

Now there are a few general issues with these park strip planting areas. Tree roots and the shade of the trees can be difficult. Pedestrians and dogs walking in and over the areas is to be expected. As is dog peeing and pooping. Watering the area doesn’t always have an easy solution. Our place has so much paving that running a water line is impossible so hand watering is needed. The soil in these areas needs heavy amendment or replacement due to compaction and years of neglect.

I started the project by digging up the area and pulling out any debris, rocks and some small roots, but leaving large roots of the trees alone. I used about 5 bags of 2 cubic foot soil conditioner and added slow release fertilizer. I made flat plateaus in the center of the park strip and left a depression around the outside for water to drain into. Building up the area over the tree roots helps the seedlings and the trees.

My Grand-daughter and I planted hybrids of Cosmos, California Poppies, Sunflowers and a mystery package of “cut flowers”, she had picked out at the hardware store. I chose the hybrids to be fairly compact so the bed looks full but not overgrown.

We planted the park strip planting area in the end of February and these photos were taken April 22. The flowers are just starting to set buds- very exciting! I filled in any sparse areas with some red annual salvia, lobelia, violas and million bells from 6 packs and a few plants I had that needed planting. It is good to thin the seedlings if they are too crowded. This allows the plants to have enough room to thrive.

Edging and Maintenance

It became quickly apparent that the FedEx and UPS drivers were going to walk through our flower bed, as a shortcut to the gate so I put up some small bamboo stakes with caution tape for a few weeks till I got these nice iron wire low fences (off of Amazon) and some green flagging tape to gently remind folks to go around not through. The dogs don’t seem to be an issue. The park strip planting project is such an improvement and so much fun that neighbors are coming by to check it out.

The street trees are getting watered regularly and so they will be healthier. They don’t have heavy leaf coverage so the flowers will benefit in the heat of the day with the partial shade, but still get some good sun.

I watered every day until the seedlings developed into small plants and now I am watering every 2-3 days depending on the temperatures.

After the flowers die down, they can be cut back to the ground and the area can lie dormant till next spring. Some of the flowers will come up from seed on their own next spring plus we will also plant more seeds!

I will post some more photos as the area really starts to bloom. My next blog article will have suggestions for planting scenarios and ideas for park strip planting areas. Over the many years I drew landscape plans I needed to come up with appealing and easy care options for these areas. I have some great ideas to share with you about these often difficult to plant and maintain strips.

Avoid using cobbles too close to the trunks of trees- see my blog for information about this: