Tips for Planting a Boulevard Garden

That strip of land between the sidewalk and the street—the boulevard or sometimes, the hellstrip—offers exciting space opportunities for gardeners who want to expand their plantings. But planting a boulevard garden requires honest assessment, careful plant choices and diligent maintenance.

bee on purple coneflower
Purple coneflower is a great boulevard plant if you have sun or part sun.

Assess the Space

First things first: Make sure it’s legal to plant on the boulevard. Some cities have ordinances about plant height and other restrictions. You don’t want to spend money and time on a garden that your city or town will veto. Second, consider and respect boulevard trees. Trees on the boulevard are usually owned by the city. Depending on their type, trees also may provide wonderful pollinator habitat, utility-bill reducing shade, and water-filtering benefits. Avoid disturbing roots as you remove turf grass and put in new plants. Finally, you’ll want to honestly assess the sun and soil on your boulevard garden. If there are trees nearby, you’ve got a shady space and should plant accordingly. If road salt is an issue, consider choosing plants that can deal with that. You also may want to plant a garden designed to reduce runoff.

Plant Choices

prairie dropseed
Native plants such as prairie dropseed, front, and blazing star, rear, are great for boulevard gardens.

Once you’ve got the basics in hand, the fun part starts—designing your garden and choosing plants. Boulevard gardens can be in almost any style, but native plants and pollinator friendly ones often do best in the tough conditions on boulevards. It’s also a good idea to choose plants that have a slightly lower profile. You don’t want a tall plant to block a driver’s sight line or one that will flop over on the sidewalk and block pedestrians. Great boulevard garden plants for sun to part-sun conditions include little bluestem, prairie dropseed, purple coneflower, anise hyssop and short’s aster. If you have a solid shade garden, you may want to think about Solomon’s seal, native geranium, columbine, wild ginger, maybe a few hostas. The University of Minnesota’s classic The Best Plants for 30 Tough Sites includes lists of plants for different types of boulevards and is free to download.  Since this garden is out-front, consider adding some spring bulbs or spring ephemerals to extend the season of bloom.

boulevard garden and car
Choose edge plants that won’t flop over the sidewalk or road, such as these alliums.

Practicalities and Maintenance

When designing your boulevard garden, consider the practical stuff as well as the beautiful: is there room for people getting into or out of parked cars? Can you step into the garden to do weeding, planting or other chores? Stepping stones are a good way to add a design element that also has function. Depending on the location of your hose, you may want to think about choosing drought-tolerant plants for the boulevard.

Once you garden is planted, add a thin layer of mulch and keep the space weeded and well-maintained. Before you know it, your neighbors may be planting a boulevard garden, too! To learn more about boulevard gardens, check out the MSHS class on Hellstrip Gardening, March 8, taught by Becky Rice and Rich Harrison of Metro Blooms.

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5 Comments

  1. Emilie Quast says:

    In the bottom picture, I don’t see where the passenger is supposed to get out without stepping on plants. (exactly the issue I have with my boulevard garden). Also, the cosmos(?) turk’s caps and baptista(?) are pretty hard to see through. That is not a turning site, I get it, but with the car jackings and whatnotall, our MPD 2nd Precinct Crime Prevention Specialists have been asking people to make sure they haven’t given anyone a hidey place on a dark night.

    For what it’s worth, I once watched a young woman drag her suitcase out of the back seat of the car and plop it right on top of a new catmint. I came out of the back yard and suggested she put the case on the sidewalk across the boulevard. When she asked why, I responded that just before I’d put the plant in the ground, I’d dug in a lot of composted manure, right in that area. She moved her case.

    1. Mary Lahr Schier says:

      Good point — that garden also has slightly too tall plants.

    2. Minnesota statutes allow you to park up to 12 inches from a curb.

  2. M. Juenemann says:

    Yes, I agree that the plants are too tall as well. I’ve noticed this while driving in my neighborhood. A child or pet could come running out into the street and you would not see them until they were actually already IN the street. Even when driving the posted 20mph speed limit, it’s still a real and possible danger.

  3. Carin Peterson says:

    Can someone please explain to me ~ how is it sensible, healthy or even not terribly, dangerously unhealthy ~ to plant an Edible Boulevard Garden in the City?

    Street run off is one issue.
    Pet contributions another.

    I just don’t get it.

    Yet it is being widely supported in Mpls & St Paul.

    Help me to get there?
    To get beyond the Eww & ick factor?!

    I am 100% in on pollinators planting.
    But food?

    Thanks gardeners!

    Carin
    Carpete61@gmail.com

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