Awkward planting area, need ideas

I have an area on the side of my house that is just dirt right now. It is about 8 inches wide and 10 ft. long. It is between a cement sidewalk and the block wall between the houses. This area has no sprinkler system and the hose doesn't reach that far, so during the summer it is very dry. Now, during the winter and raining season, it builds up with "lots of water". Since it's between the two houses, it has shade in the morning, sun at high noon and then shade in the late afternoon.

I would like to put some type of ground cover in this area, but can't decide because of the watering problem. Does anyone know of a "very" tough low growing plant that might like it in this spot? I've thought of ajuga, sedums and lirope....any thoughts on these?

Thanks,
Donna

Pachysandra does well for me in dry shade..............................

http://davesgarden.com/pdb/search.php?search_text=Pachysandra

Thanks Rick, I'm not familiar with this plant, so will head to my nursery and check them out. They seem to be very hardy small plants.

I just went out and took a picture of this problem area. We have had a lot of rain for the past 2 days, so you can see what it looks like when really wet. You also can see 2 little green tops of my drainage system in this area.
You will also notice that this is my trash can storage area, so ignore the trash. lol

Donna

How about something silk? LOL I'll behave now. :)

???? Silk???? Did I miss something???? Again...............

RikerBear
Marc

Chele....Silk??

Marc, sorry I don't get it either. lol Sorry about calling you Rick instead of Marc. hehe

Donna

Oh I've been called ALOT worse than Rick :-)

And *I* am the blonde one?? LOL Buy silk flowers. They don't care about flooding or pancake dry dirt.

Have you considered any other grass type plants besides Liriope? Maybe a combination of those would be nice too. There is always cactus. ;)

Got It! DUH!!!!!!!!!!!! LOL

Oh and 'Blonde' is a lifestyle not simply a hair color my dear :-)

Silk....ok, I get it now Chele....lol I only do silk in a few arrangements in the house, and they still need care...they get very dusty!!

Cactus, I don't think so. I can just see Jerry taking the trash out in his bare feet and backing up, then a big "OUCH" and then Dooonnnnaaaa!!

I guess I could take this picture to our nursery and see what they have to say.

Donna

Chele, I got it! Ya must have to be blond.
Did I give you any of this plectranthus? It will grow about anywhere

LOL!

Blond moment. Here is the picture. I have lots of clivia that I can share too. not exactly ground cover but should like your climate even better than mine and wont get big in a hurry.

Janice, yes you gave me some of this one and the dark green with purple in it. Do you think they would grow in that area? I thought they had to be in the shade??

No thank you on the clivia Janice...it's too big for that area. I drag lots of stuff down that walkway, so it needs to be really short and tough. lol

You guys are good!

Donna

Donna, the one it the pic above is in full sun in front of my house. It will grow in the cracks of the sidewalk! Smells GOOD when you run over it with the trashcan too. I do it almost weekly. Fiona sits on mine to make her jeans smell good. Crazy kid! It is pretty sturdy. The purple one is a shade lover though.

Made me go out in the rain. Here is my "spot" between sidewalk and gravel/cement on the other side. It is wider than yours though. I turned the fine bark nuggets ( the $3 Home depot stuff) into it so it would retain more moisture. I toss some steer manure on it a couple times a year. It gets watered when I remember. Poor clivia got toasted the last heat wave. These get only about 14"tall at most for some reason.

Pachysandra mixed with lirope (variegated) would be my choice. I love them both. The flowers on the pachysandra are insignificant, but that's probably not what you're after here anyway. It's nearly as indestructible as the liriope is. I grow both and have in IL, AL and now OK.

It kills me to tell you Carla, but I dug up a large patch of the variaged lirope last month and put it into a plastic bag to plant else where in my gardens. When I went to use it, they were dead as can be. I even tried soaking them in some B-1 and water, but they wouldn't budge. This is were I had planned to put them, and forgot and started working on another flower bed. UGH....money down the drain.

Janice, I just might try putting some of that varigated Pach in that area and something else too, until it fills in.

Do you think ajuga would work here? I have a large patch that I will be digging up and moving.

Donna

I think ajuga will work anywhere. ;) What color/type to you have?

Ajuga is good depending on the variety. Some are more picky than others. You will probably not want "Metallica Crispa" or "Burgundy Glow". The "generic" variety in a broze and/or green would likely work well. "Chocolate Chip" would also if it gets a little sun.

I can't believe you KILLED liriope. I didn't think that was possible. :)

I'm not sure what the name of my ajuga is, but it's just plain green.

I was shocked that I killed the liriope too, except we were having a very hot heat wave and I had it in a plastic bag, so it might have fried in there. lol

I'm off for the day.'

Donna

SoCal, have you tried growing any of the Lamiums. There are several varieties. I have them growing as ground covers in several areas, sun, shade etc. Donna

SoCal, would you want to do some type of vine growing up the wall? Or what about a fruit tree fanned out?

I have an area like this and for years I have grown morning glories up the side of our garage and they just keep coming back. The only problem is they look bad in the winter.

Donna, I don't know why, but I seem to kill all the Laminums I buy. I don't think this area will tolerate a fussey plant. lol

Clare, I don't think I want a vine right there. My DH is not too careful around the trash area, so I need something real low, so he won't keep bumping into all my plants. All my MG's have gone to seed now and I've pulled them all out. I do like them though.

I haven't been able to dig in that area since we had all that rain. It's pretty saturated at the moment. But when it dries up alittle more, I think I'm going to try to plant some Pacy's and ajuga and just see how it all takes.

I will take a pic when I get them all planted. I sure do appreciate all the great ideas from you all.

Donna

How about something slender and tall? I can't recommend something b/c I can't think of something right now but it'd add a little height balance to the area what with that imposing brick wall and all. Bamboo maybe??

How 'bout a trompe l'oeil? I can see DG's logo as a background with its clouds, green sward and sun sprinkled with fantasy flowers and DG picnicers.

My first thought was an ivy climbing a trellis or lattice support. Next thought was...can you spare enough of the concrete area to make a wider, raised bed in this site??? Maybe to make the proportions more balanced...say....10 ft x 3 ft instead of 8 inches. It would atleast make your plant choices broader because of the "easier" size. As far as sun exposure goes, if it gets four hours of mid-day sun, I'd plant a full sun plant. Just some thoughts :) I'd love to see what you do!

Why a raised bed? I mean tall thin plants.

Unless you jack-hammer out the concrete, you'd need a raised bed in order to enlarge the planting space from 8 inches to 2 or 3 feet as suggested.

Folks, this is a walkway to the front of her house. It cannot be built out. CA builders like to leave us these little almost useless areas along the fencelines. Unfortunately, they like to dump the water from washing out the concrete bins and such there so it is usually VERY poor soil as well. My 8" strip is currently rock but it is on the side of the house with the potting bench and cactus garden, so I have a "round tuit" sticker on that area. Lol.

Janice, nicely put....lol I really like your "round tuit" sticker. I have so many of those hanging around the yard and house. hehe

I have also taken out some of the old useless soil in there and replaced it with some good soil and manure. With the rain we've had, I'm hoping it will be nice and plantable real soon.

Bluespiral, I like the idea of painting a nice "tromp l'oeil" along that area. My sister is an artist, maybe I could get her to paint something real pretty right there.

Donna

you have an irrigation mister there....
chances are it is connected to the mainfeed line with funny pipe. You can cut the funny pipe and put a tee (1/2barbxbarbx3/4threaded) and run a short line of drip tubing.

other than that, if that strip is shady enough Adiantum capillus-veneris would do fine.

dp