Hellstrips: the unforgiving areas of the garden
By Cynnie Gaasch
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The worst spot in my garden was conquered in 2006. Thanks to a clumsy twenty-first-century City of Buffalo garbage “tote” rolling over a narrow Victorian-era sidewalk twice a week, trenches of mud welcomed visitors to my garden gate April through November. After sinking rectangular pavers into the yard on either side of the existing pavement, there is now enough hardscaping to handle the trash barrel. Of course, you can’t—and really wouldn’t want to—solve everything with cement, terracotta, or lake stones, so I’ve found two other gardeners whose successful solutions of their problem areas are more complex—and creative.
Carol Siracuse and Tom Palamuso on their driveway garden
The problem: The endless wall of the house next-door made for an unattractive entrance to our garden. There was nothing to soften the transition between the house and our driveway. We only have 8.5 feet between the houses and 7 feet of that is driveway. To make it more complicated, the 1.5 feet of garden space sits on the north side of their house, so we had to plant stuff that would survive without sun.
Extra issues? Anything we planted had to go down to nothing in the winter so that it would survive a plow, and be able to bounce back when guests accidentally hit the garden squeezing down the drive in the summer. Oh, and it’s all solid clay!
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How about the actual driveway? We put in an exposed aggregate driveway with smooth concrete in squares framing it. The crosswise lines break up the bowling alley effect.
And how about the fence portion? The fence was difficult. We custom-made shelves for pots to hang off the fence. One set contains herbs, the next “million bells” (calibrachoa) blossoms in many different colors, and the third overflows with tuberous begonias. Grapevines spill over from next door as well, and that really softens the strong horizontal.
Your artful feature? Three years ago we purchased a decorative frieze at a fundraiser auction at Trinity Church. We mount that on the fence; it survives the summer well each year, and really breaks it up.
What do you still need to fix? The neighbor’s downspout cannot handle all of the water in downpours. It overflows and shreds the hosta at its base. This year we will find a sculpture to put at the base of the downspout.
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The problem: It is a small area around a tree, so I had to deal with that major root system. The tree itself takes water away from the flowers, so the area needs to be watered heavily. The hardest part, though, was training people in the neighborhood not to walk on it. To keep the bicycles off, I have a large rock at each corner. The garden has changed three times, with totally different looks each time.
What was it in earlier versions? The first time, I really didn’t know what I was doing. Part of it was arranged rocks, then a strip of grass curved through it, and flowers. The next time, I planted a lot of flowers around the tree, which I then just fenced off. Finally, I dug up the whole thing, and brought in topsoil.
How about the tree? Hawthornes are planted on streets because they are sprawling, in order to canopy the street. But on this street, with semi-trucks pulling up to the corner store, the tree got sheared off on the street side. Eventually, I cut all of the lower branches and it did look good, finally.
The solution? The plants I’ve finally wound up with do very well there; salt did not bother them. I have planted anything that works: Russian sage, yarrow, ground covers, and various sedums. Also, phlox close to the tree, bearded tongue, gooseneck loosestrife, and an evergreen that grows along the ground.
Your latest issue? Our tree had to come down after the October storm. We are trying to figure out what would be the best tree for the spot, possibly a tall, straight maple variety. The garden will have a lot more sun this summer!
Cynnie Gaasch gardens on Buffalo’s West Side, and tackles a new hell strip every year.
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