Parking Strip Gardening - Notes

1/7/2013

Out of the Wilds and Into Your Garden
Beyond the Lawn
Parking Strip

C.M. Vadheim and T. Drake
CSU Dominguez Hills & Madrona Marsh Preserve

Madrona Marsh Preserve
Gardening with Western L.A. County Native Plants
January 3 & 6, 2009
Project SOUND - 2009
© Project SOUND © Project SOUND

The parking strip can be one of the But the times, they are a’ changin’
greatest gardening challenges
 It’s the first thing you see
when someone visits
 People walk all over it; dogs
poop & pee on it
 It may be very shady – with
lots of tree roots; or a hot,
dry desert – bordered by
sidewalk and street
 And you may not even own it!

The time-honored solution
was to plant a grass lawn

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1/7/2013

Despite the challenges, the parking strip The parking strip garden requires a careful
can be an important asset design plan
 Soil is often poor:
 Construction ‘dregs’ often put here
 Compacted by foot traffic & road construction
 Opportunity to increase your
 Tree roots from street trees
growing space - particularly  Dog pee
important for small S. CA lots
 Water is often difficult to control
 May be difficult to get water to strip
 Serves as a design transition
 May be drainage issues (drainage from
from the street to your home sidewalk, street)
 Water Zones for existing street trees
 May be the sunniest place in
 Light can often be a challenge
your garden  Full sun – hot & dry
 Quite shady – if have street trees
 An opportunity to increase
the livability of your  Underground utilities, fire hydrants
neighborhood – change to  Aboveground utilities; city has access rights
interact with your neighbors  Often an unusual – challenging – size/shape


Parking strips are public places…. Some rules for a ‘reasonable’ parking
strip gardening plan
 Safety
 Provides good visibility for vehicles &
pedestrians
 Does not impede foot traffic on sidewalks
 Does not impede passing/parking of
vehicles
 Allows safe exiting from vehicles and
access to the sidewalk (if adjacent
parking is permitted)
 Is not dangerous: poisonous; sharp; trip
hazards
 Water conservation
 Promotes infiltration, not run-off
 Aesthetics
 Conforms to ‘weed abatement’ regulations
 Looks ‘appropriate’ for neighborhood
 Fits with rest of your front yard

http://www.bringingbackthenatives.net/slides/Rheuark/Rheuark-Pages/index.html © Project SOUND © Project SOUND

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1/7/2013

Steps for designing your ‘New CA Parking Strip’ First things first – what are you allowed to
do with your parking strip?
 Get to know your local regulations  Check your city’s current
 Assess your site: regulations - lots of
 Pedestrian traffic patterns variability between cities:
 Location of above/underground utilities, water & sewer  Who owns the parking strip?
lines, fire hydrants, etc.
 Existing vegetation (that will remain; e.g. existing trees)  What are your
responsibilities for upkeep?
 Sun & shade patterns; soil conditions (texture; pH)
 What are you allowed to do
 Design and locate the ‘pathways’ with your parking strip; what
permits are required?
 Choose an appropriate planting design
Most cities have this information
available on the city’s website

Parking strip regulations vary by city –
and are changing… Torrance municipal code
 SECTION 75.1.6. PLANTING VEGETATION AROUND TREES.
 Hardscape (walkways; steps;
 No person shall plant or grow or cause to be planted or grown any
rocks; planters; etc) ivy, geranium or other vegetation to a height of more than eighteen
(18) inches above the top of any curb, sidewalk or ground on,
 Size of plants: often are height against or around any tree upon any parkway in the City. For the
restrictions (18”; may be 3 ft for purpose of this Section, the term parkway shall include that area
plants other than trees) of any public street between the curb or other edge of the
pavement and the private property line.
 Types of plants:
 ARTICLE 2 - VISIBILITY AT INTERSECTIONS (Added by O-
 Street tree: almost always a 1288)
‘street tree list’ or specific SECTION 75.2.1. OBSTRUCTING VISIBILITY PROHIBITED.
regulations; city may own the  No person owning or in possession of real property shall install or
street trees maintain, or permit the installation or maintenance or existence of
any tree, shrub or plant within that triangular area between the
 Other plants : in some cities you property lines parallel to intersecting streets and a diagonal line
are still only allowed to plant joining points on said property lines twenty-five (25) feet from the
grass; other cities may require intersection of said property lines or within twenty (20) feet of
permits for non-grass said property lines, which growth prevents or interferes with a
alternatives driver of a vehicle approaching the intersection on one street
seeing a vehicle approaching the intersection on another street.

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1/7/2013

The ‘visibility triangle’ is used by many cities to Street trees  Don’t plant anything without city
approval; city will usually direct the
determine height requirements for intersections planting & placement of street trees
 Learn your city’s regulations: species,
characteristics & placement
 Anything within a
specified distance of  If you want to plant a native tree: see
the apex of the street if it can be added to the approved list
angle must conform to
height/planting  Qualities of good street trees (in
regulations addition to being attractive):
 Single trunk
 Often varies by speed
 Can be pruned up: 7 ft above sidewalk;
limit: 25-45 ft is
14 ft above street is common)
common for residential
 Not hazardous: weak wood; sharp
streets
seeds, etc.
 Varies by city: know  Non-invasive roots; roots that don’t
your regulations damage sidewalks, roadways
 Water-wise (now figures in most
cities)
 Non-littering when possible
http://www.flickr.com/photos/11525626@N00/32409044/

Access features are the first items to locate
on your design plan Pedestrian access: safety & design
 They determine where & what you will plant Safety first - parking strips are
 They require careful placement public areas
 Public safety  Should allow for easy access to parked
 Location of utilities; street trees vehicles
 They are often the first thing you install  Should be placed to provide reasonable
access to the sidewalk: some suggest 1
 They have an impact on the ‘looks’ of the per car-length
parking strip garden  Should be adequately wide (2-2 ½ ft);
or 1 ½ ft. in addition to curbing)
 Should stay reasonably dry in rainy
season
 Should provide a firm footing for
walking
 Ideally should be pervious to water;
allow water to percolate

http://blogs.thenewstribune.com/getgrowing/2007/05/25/parking_strips_what_s_a_homeowner_to_do

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1/7/2013

Pedestrian access: safety & design Pedestrian access: living walkways
Design - many hardscape
 Native sod-forming ‘grasses’
options to complement
the rest of the garden  Non-native ‘walkable’
groundcover plants:
 Concrete pavers (with or  Corsican mint - Mentha requienii
without vegetation; crushed  Baby tears - Solierolia soleirolii
rock)  Corsican sandwort - Arenaria
balerica
 Natural stone (flag stone; http://www.smgrowers.com/imagedb/Carex_praegracilis.jpg

PV stone)
 Creeping thymes:
 Brick (set in sand)  Mother of thyme (Thymus
serpyllum)
 Woolly thyme (Thymus
 Crushed rock/ decomposed pseudolanuginosus )
granite  Elfin thyme (Thymus praecox)

 Shredded bark; woodchip  Silver Carpet (Dymondia
mulch (even just between margaretae)
widely-spaced plants)  Chamaemelum nobile 'Treneague'
(non-flowering)

Parking strips are usually narrow; often,
fewer species is better….

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/topic/la-hm-sidewalk2006may18,0,3338874.story

http://www.bringingbackthenatives.net/slides/Rheuark/Rheuark-Pages/index.html

No matter the location, low maintenance
 Design can be similar to rest of yard or different and proper scale are crucial.
– it’s separate enough to be treated either way

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1/7/2013

New CA Garden ‘Parking Strip Combo
Palettes’

 Based on sun, drainage & Water Zones
http://bammorgan.blogspot.com/2008/04/payne-foundation-garden-tour.html  Include a limited plant palette:
 Heavy on evergreen species
“It's good to select evergreens for the parking strip,  All are low-growing
accented with herbaceous plants. A strip that is completely  All are hardy on parking strips
bare in summer or winter is not only uninteresting, it's an
invitation for weed seeds to germinate.”  You can mix & match within a palette, depending on your needs
 Palettes can be used to create either a formal or informal design

Each palette includes three types of plants:
A common parking strip challenge…
 Group 1: Backbone plants
 Spreading evergreen species
(mostly); many < 2 ft tall  Existing street trees –
 Take up 60-80% of parking strip moderate shade
area
 Choose 1-3 from list  May be pine needles –
 Group 2: Contrast plants slightly more acid soil
 Add interest and fill space
between backbone plants  Soil compacted; roots
 Take up 10-30% of area
 Need a low groundcover
 Group 3: Color plants that looks fairly tidy
 Mostly plants with good flower
color
 Take up 10-20% of area
 Particularly important during
Where would you put walkways?
first several years What material would you use?

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1/7/2013

New CA Garden ‘Parking Strip Combo Creeping Barberry – Mahonia repens
Palettes’

 Based on sun, drainage & Water Zones
 Include a limited plant palette:
 Heavy on evergreen species
 All are low-growing
 All are hardy on parking strips
 You can mix & match within a palette, depending on your needs
 Palettes can be used to create either a formal or informal design R.A. Howard @ USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database

Creeping Barberry – Mahonia repens In the wild – a groundcover plant

 Western U.S. to S. Canada
 In CA:
 Foothills of the coastal
ranges, Sierras
 Locally: mountains in San
Diego
 Often on dry slopes or
canyons in grasslands,
shrublands, open forest
 In many plant communities:
riparian, sagebrush,
chaparral, pinyon-juniper,
mountain brush, oak, aspen,
pine, and conifer
communities

http://www.swcoloradowildflowers.com/Yellow%20Enlarged%20Photo%20Pages/mahonia%20repens.htm

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1/7/2013

Characteristics of Creeping Mahonia Roots of Mahonia species
are special
 Size:
 1-2 ft tall
 spreading – 2-4 ft wide  Widely used as medicinal
 Growth form:
 as an antiseptic and healing
wash or poultice on wounds,
http://www.localharvest.org/oregon-grape-root-tincture-
mahonia-repens-C2926

 Sprawling woody shrub; spreads via
stems (stolons or rhizomes)
tincture of root
scorpion bites
 Evergreen  As a tea or tincture:
 Rather stiff appearance  Coughs, fevers
 Enteric infections, especially
 Foliage: bacterial dysentery
 Leaves holly-like  Kidney problems
 Dark green; old leaves may turn
purple/red in winter  Roots & bark produce a yellow
natural dye
 Roots: deep rooted; can resprout
from root crowns
© 1984, H. Tim Gladwin
http://flickr.com/photos/92071270@N00/497458613
http://flickr.com/photos/22731657@N03/2743052389/

Flowers are showy against  Soils:
the dark leaves Plant Requirements  Texture: any, including heavy
clays
 Blooms:  pH: any local; does fine with
 In spring - usually Apr-May in acidic soils – OK under pines
lower elevations of our area
 Light:
 Depends in part on temperature
 Part-shade to full shade
 Flowers:  Will flower and fruit best in part-
 Bright, intense yellow shade (like under trees)
 Small (1/3 inch or so); but in
dense, showy clusters  Water:
 Sweet scented – to attract the  Winter: good winter water
native pollinators (bees, others)  Summer: Zone 2 once
established; Zone 2-3 or 3 for
 Fruits: first 1-2 years
 Waxy blue when ripe
 Tart – but make wonderful  Fertilizer: use an organic mulch
jellies, sauces (pine needles are ideal)
 Birds love them!! (robins,
finches and towhees)
 Other: tolerates heat; easy to grow
Charles Webber © California Academy of Sciences

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1/7/2013

Creeping Barberry Growing native
 Most often used as a low woody groundcovers
natural groundcover
 Evergreen; low-growing  Choose a species with a
 Easy to grow moderate growth rate (will live
 Fills in to cover an area longer than quick-growers)
 Interesting, attractive foliage  Space plants appropriately:
 Bright spring flowers; winter http://www.wsu.edu/~lohr/wcl/gcovers/mahoniar/wmaredes.html
 Distance should be ~ ¾ of the
http://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=MARE11
foliage color plant’s mature diameter – allows
 Great under trees; other shady a little overlap
areas  Can plant as close as ½ mature
 In a woodsy garden; or creeping diameter for quicker cover
over a low stone wall  Mulch, mulch, mulch
 To attract fruit-eating birds  Weed regularly
 Fine in pots/planters  Start selective pruning early
 Anywhere you might consider  Consider using filler plants:
(shudder) planting ivy  Short-lived grasses; Yarrow
http://www.elnativogrowers.com/Photographs_page/mahrep.htm G.A. Cooper @ USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database
 Annual wildflowers

Native woody parking strips: one species Grasses, sedges and other
or several groundcovers can provide
 Single species:
 More formal, tidy looking an interesting mix…..
 Entire area has same cultural
requirements
 ? Easier to maintain
 Looks more like a conventional ‘single
species’ parking strip

 Several (2-3) species:
 More interesting: foliage, flowers
 Better habitat value
 May be smarter choice – even if one
species doesn’t make it
 Allows you to include a few (expensive;
rare) species
 May be more like ‘Mother Nature’s
Garden’
http://groups.ucanr.org/slosson/documents/2005-200610656.pdf

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1/7/2013

Kinnikinnick – Arctostaphylos uva-ursi

In the mountains of CO, Creeping Mahonia
often grows with Kinnickinnick

Kinnikinnick – Arctostaphylos uva-ursi
 Also commonly called Bear Berry
 Found throughout the Northern
Hemisphere:
 N. Asia/Russia
 N. Europe
 In North America - from the northern
half of California north to Alaska and
across Canada and the northern United
States to New England and
Newfoundland.
 In CA – mostly along the N. CA coast

 Rocky outcrops, slopes, sandy soils,
coastal dunes, chaparral, coniferous
forest

 Occurs in widely variable conditions
http://www.swsbm.com/maps/Arctostaphylos_uva-ursi.gif © Project SOUND © Project SOUND
http://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/cgi-bin/get_JM_treatment.pl?3449,3454,3542 http://blackfootnativeplants.com/inventory.html

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1/7/2013

Kinnikinnick is another low-growing woody shrub
Does well in sandy soils along the CA coast  Size:
 < 1 ft tall
 spreading: 3-15 ft wide

 Growth form:
 Evergreen woody shrub
 Very low, dense growth – mat-
like
© 2007 Matt Below  Spreads by rooting stems

 Foliage:
 Like other Manzanitas
 Leathery leaves; green but may
become red-tinged in winter
 Neat appearing – garden-like
 Good antibacterial qualities:
used for urinary, skin infections
© Clayton J. Antieau

© 2005 Steve Matson http://oregonstate.edu/dept/ldplants/aruv2.htm
 Roots: fibrous; to 6+ feet depth
Deer will browse

Flowers & fruits are pure Kinnikinnick - well suited  Soils:
Manzanita to garden conditions…  Texture: best in sandy soils, but
fine in most well-drained soils
 pH: any, including quite acidic –
 Blooms: in spring; usually Mar- fine under pines
May in our area  Light:
 Flowers:  Best in part shade; tolerates full
 Small; but in clusters shade (but less flowering)
 Pink/white  Full sun only near immediate coast
© 2007 Matt Below
 Typical urn-shaped  Water:
 Sweetly fragrant; attracts  Young plants: Zone 2-3
butterflies & hummingbirds  Winter: needs good water – deep
roots
 Fruits:  Summer: Zone 2-3 (best); Zone 2
 Little red ‘apples’ in late ok once established
summer/fall; very showy  Fertilizer: none
 Yum! : birds eat them & you can
 Other: delicate roots; don’t move or
make jellies, sauces from them
compact soils

G.A. Cooper @ USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database © Project SOUND © Project SOUND

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1/7/2013

Mainly used as a low
groundcover
 Excellent groundcover under
trees
 Fine on parking strips in http://www.yerbabuenanursery.com/viewplant.php?pid=407
http://www.tinytreasuresnursery.com/Genus/Plants%20A.htm

‘Wood’s Compact’
virtually all local cities – very ‘Point Reyes’
low-growing & looks way better
http://www.hort.uconn.edu/plants/a/arcuva/arcuva3.html

than ivy!
http://www.hort.uconn.edu/plants/a/arcuva/arcuva3.html

Several cultivars
 Looks nice cascading over a low
retaining wall available
 Combine with rocks ‘Green Supreme’
 Nice in a large pot or planter –
even on shady patios
 Great on slopes – even steep
ones!
 Fine near the ocean http://www.jamesdeandesign.com/Slide_Show/Pl
ant_Catalog/SHRUBS/

http://courses.washington.edu/ehuf331/Plant_Pages_subfolders/ERICACEAE.shtml
© Project SOUND ‘Radiant’ ‘Pacific Mist’ © Project SOUND

Management is easy… Tricks to keeping parking strip plants under the
height limit
 Choose naturally low-growing
species/cultivars
 Plant when plants are  Best: see the plant actually
young – don’t move them growing under conditions
 Mulch & weed until similar to yours
established  Talk to knowledgeable nursery
staff
 Pinch/tip-prune when
young to encourage  Start training the plants from
Photo by Richard Old, www.xidservices.com

fullness – early spring the beginning – selective
pruning & pinching
 Prune out dead/old
branches after flowering  Remember Mother Nature’s
in spring lessons:
 Don’t over-water or over-
 Easy to grow – few pest if fertilize
appropriately watered ‘Little Sur’ Manzanita  Be sure plant gets adequate
sunlight

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1/7/2013

A ‘Shady Woodland’ mix works well for many There also are mixes more suited to dry
shady parking strips that need some summer water shady situations

 Perfect under street
trees that need little
water (native oaks;
Eucalyptus)
 Combine low shrubby
native groundcovers with:
 Grasses/grass-like species
 A few low shrubs
 Even some native bulbs and
flowering species
 Look great in yards that
use other CA native plants

What to do with ‘mixed light’ parking strips For well-drained sandy soils, choose native soil-
binders as Backbone Plants
 Try a ‘Dappled Shadeland’
garden
 Yarrow (Achillea)
 Choose 1-2 backbone species
with wide light tolerances:  Strawberries
 Yarrow (Fragaria)
 Fragaria
 Mix with sun- or shade-  Silverweed
requiring species as
Contrast & Accent species  Checkerbloom
 Dichondra (Sidalcea
 Argentina species)
 flowering perennials &
annual wildflowers (at least  Native dichondra
until the other species fill
in)


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1/7/2013

Formal or informal: Pacific Silverweed – Argentina egedii ssp. egedii
the choice is yours (Potentilla anserina vars. grandis, pacifica)

 Many plants in the ‘Parking
Strip Combos’ palettes look
equally good either way
 Formal designs using CA
native plants can be
strikingly beautiful;
refreshing
 Remember that formal
designs require more upkeep
 Separate species with
barriers
 Be ruthless in keeping
species in their proper
places
 Edging between your parking
strip and the lawn next door © 2005 Dr. Amadej Trnkoczy
© Project SOUND http://flickr.com/photos/27830975@N05/3061843001/in/photostream/ © Project SOUND

Pacific Silverweed – Argentina egedii ssp. egedii
(Potentilla anserina vars. grandis, pacifica) Silverweed in nature

 Wet to seasonally wet
 Immediate west coast from areas:
AK to Baja; also coasts in Asia
 Coastal dunes & sandy
 Name nightmares: bluffs
 Formerly classified in the  Freshwater and
genus Potentilla but has brackish marsh edges
recently been reclassified
into the new genus Argentina.  Estuaries & mudflats
 Very closely related to  Wetland meadows
Silverweed (A. anserina or
Potentilla anserina), the only  Along streams
other species in the genus),  Soils: sandy to clay;
and is treated as a
subspecies of it by Jepson, may also be rocky
http://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/cgi-bin/get_JM_treatment.pl?6677,6824,6825,6827 plant growers.

© 2004, Ben Legler

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1/7/2013

Characteristics of Pacific Silverweed Cinquefoils (including
 Size:
Silverweed) & Strawberries
 1 to 1 ½ ft tall
 Spreading to 4-5 ft wide;  Close relatives – both in
old plants die – replaced by Rose family:
new
 Somewhat similar leaves
 Growth form:  Spread via runners –
 Herbaceous perennial sometimes invasively so
© 2004, Ben Legler

 Spreads by stolons (ah ha – perfect for the
(runners) producing new parking strip!)
plantlets
 Individual plants live only
 Foliage: 2-3 year
 Almost fern-like; showy
 Flowers quite similar
 Green above; silvery below
except in color
 Roots: soil-binding
http://hanamist.sakura.ne.jp/flower/riben/bara/img/ezoturu.jpg
© 2004, Ben Legler

Silverweed is easy  Soils:
Bright, sunny flowers
to please….  Texture: any well-drained sandy
or clay soil
 Blooms:  pH: any local
 Spring/summer - usually in
May-Aug in our area  Light:
 Fairly long bloom period –  Full sun to light shade
several months  Great in dappled sun under
trees
 Flowers:
 Like strawberry – only yellow  Water:
and a bit bigger.  Winter: needs good rains/water
 On stalks above foliage  Summer: very adaptable; Zone 2
 Close on cloudy days to 3; will die back in drought

 Seeds:  Fertilizer: none; likes poor soils
 Dry – attached to a core
 Other: tolerates winter flooding,
 Fairly easy to start from seed
seaside conditions, salty soils
in winter/spring – no
© 2005 Dr. Amadej Trnkoczy
treatment
http://www.calflora.net/bloomingplants/silverweed.html
© 2004, Ben Legler © Project SOUND © Project SOUND

15

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Parking Strip Gardening - Notes

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