Salon scaping

Behind Michael's salon, between his parking lot and an adjacent lot, lies a "hell strip" that is anywhere from 60 - 80 feet long and about 10 feet wide. The strip is city-owned but abandoned. No one kept the Johnson grass and weeds mowed so we attempted to do it ourselves (or rather I did). This got old fast and if you know me, you know that mowing is not my favorite activity anyway. So, I started landscaping it.

The area is in full blazing sun, surrounded on both sides by asphalt and the soil was terrible. I started planting roses, daylilies, iris and any leftover plants from our own garden plus anything I came across that was on sale at the nurseries. At first I thought it was going to be a hopeless disaster. I didn't have time to keep up with the weeds or water. A yearly application of leaf mulch helped but the Johnson grass and ground ivy was hard to keep under control.

As with our own garden, the plan started taking shape after a while. I had been sowing seeds of annuals like larkspur and love-in-a-mist because the seeds were cheap and it was a way to have flowers that we couldn't grow well at home. Pretty but because of the weeds, not practical. Michael suggested that I just stick to large shrubs and he was right.

One fall, I bought four River Birch trees on sale at Lowe's and added oakleaf hydrangea, ornamental grasses, buddleia and Michael's favorite crape myrtle 'Dynamite'.

Neither of us can remember when we started planting but this year, it seems like it is finally a worthwhile project. We're amazed at how things have grown since last year! I haven't had time to get the weeds under control this year until this week and I've spent the past two days weeding and spreading mulch. The good news is that the weeds are not that bad except on the end where the smaller plants like daylilies and iris are planted. The larger shrubs are keeping the weeds in check nicely.

Another hassle to contend with is a large wooded lot next door with a dead tree that keeps dropping limbs. Michael called the city about it but they would not cut it because it isn't their property. Another big limb just fell about a month ago and landed right in the border. It broke some of the Knockout roses but the damage wasn't too bad. I took the fallen limbs and used them as accents.

I would love to landscape more around the salon (like I don't have enough to do!) but the previous owner covered every square inch of the property in asphalt! Talk about no mowing!

Text and photos by Phillip Oliver, Dirt Therapy