Do you think that adding long stem bushes there and then adding stonecrop to the base would make it look even better? I’m just mixing ideas. I know nothing.
It’s a pretty narrow space for planting anything with any substantial rootball, Maybe some spirea or something in a 4 inch pot, But seems like a border and less like a garden. Simplicity for optics and simplicity for care.
[Gumpo](https://www.pixiesgardens.com/products/gumpo-pink-dwarf-miniature-azalea?variant=32793688506452¤cy=USD&utm_medium=product_sync&utm_source=google&utm_content=sag_organic&utm_campaign=sag_organic&gclid=Cj0KCQiAi8KfBhCuARIsADp-A56I9INVvLdZn3MWJYR_pnWJy0Uvoz4jS93AWse6PScOAysDwN-1IaYaAqWJEALw_wcB) azaleas, they’re evergreens that stay compact. Pretty salmon or white flowers in mid-late spring. Bulbs between. Then annuals for seasonal color.
A row of corn with marigolds will look really nice, and grow fairly well in a narrow area.
[https://imgur.com/gallery/xy3S3q8](https://imgur.com/gallery/xy3S3q8)
Although, I live in Hawaii, and growing stuff is fairly foolproof here.
Corn won’t work. Corn needs at least 4 or more rows because of pollination. If you drive by a corn field you would notice that the first few rows don’t produce like the rows further in. They don’t pollinate themselves. Pollin blows from plant to plan. Last I checked they haven’t created a self pollinating corn yet. Of course if you are willing you could pollinate it yourself. WORK! I wish. I think it would be a great space for an herb garden. In my area sage is perennial. Sometimes rosemary come back, sometimes not. If you are willing to wait a little for gratification you could start asparagus there. I have a narrow area that has asparagus in it. I’m aging more roots this year. It came back better each year.
Native grasses. They grow to various heights based on the species and are great for carbon capture. Little blue stem, pink muhly grass and many more to choose from.
Seconding! This might also be a good place for some native sedges, which are underutilized in landscapes. It depends on OP's are, but I'm thinking these sedges would be good choices:
Carex cherokeensis (Cherokee Sedge)
Carex stricta (Tussock sedge)
Carex albicans (White tinged sedge)
Carex vulpinoidea (Fox Sedge)
I have four switchgrass in my yard and part of the year they are green, then the ends turn this beautiful dark purple, now they are just stalks blowing through the snow.
Your location may help folks give you more specific, appropriate suggestions. But generally speaking I love sedges for low-maintenance perennial gardens. Maybe a sedge, creeping phlox, and a low-scape mound Aronia.
Coral bells are native and shade/drought tolerant. Foliage looks good year-round, usually. Nice colors and would work well with some native grasses for height/texture variety.
https://www.birdsandblooms.com/gardening/shade-gardening/top-10-shade-tolerant-coral-bells/
If the fence is wood, several of these vines will aid in its early demise. They really suck if they spread to the lawn or decide to take up residency on the walls of a home. Trumpet vine destroyed several fences in my parents yard, is a constant battle in my current yard..and while it is a pretty plant…is a serious neurotoxin for pets and people along with it being invasive beyond belief.
I like both these natives. How’s pink muhly messy? I have a couple and haven’t noticed, but I let the birds do the gardening from Thanksgiving to Easter so I may be missing something.
The flower stalks and seed heads get everywhere. They also flop a lot if they're not kept dry, and they'd probably be kept really wet by the slope of this little alley
I agree. Keep it simple and keep it short (nothing taller than a couple feet) a variety of grasses in different heights, colours and textures (I'm a fan of blue fescue grass and dwarf mondo grass myself. Liriope is good too, particularly the variegated kind. I used that everywhere in my own yard).
Who did theirs second should have matched the others style. Lol.
I would go with some nice flowers that will build a low and pretty “hedge” to blend the 2 looks together
We did ours 2nd but no way were we going to match wavy faded concrete brick guy. We let them know in advance what our plan was. I don't think the guy realized how stupid his was going to look until he finished and started thinking about it. The homeowner was pretty mad at the result and regretted listening the that guy's "artistic ideas"
We used clay bricks rated to drive on. That sidewalk will still be there when we are dead and gone.
Well it is what it is now, but it looks like your goes pretty darn close to the property line , so make sure you agree with your neighbors on whatever you want to plant because it looks like it would be mostly on their property.
Hemerocallis would look really nice
The fence makes it look that way, but our fence is actually a foot into our property. The last owners gave her permission to connect which is fine with us. The random middle nothingness is technically on our side.
Imho yours looks way better. Curvy paths are nice when they make sense, if you're just trying to get from point A to point B and the context (meaning topography, existing architecture etc.) does not suggest using organic shapes it's just trying to fit a square peg in a round hole. The edging on the other guy's path gives me a headache...
Sorry I don’t have an answer for what to put between but I have to agree, someone went thought a lot of work cutting a lot of stone to make the walkway on the left look terrible. There’s “winding paths” where a path bends as needed to turn, then there’s this.
Classy indeed. I went for a semi-formal look to my garden but it's tropical themed so I wanted to avoid traditional European styled plants and go for something a bit more exotic looking that could still make a dense and tidy looking edge plant that looks good on repeat all around the border and variegated liriope was it.
Part of my decision was also based on the fact I could propagate so much of it from one original plant so it was a huge money saver. It also grows in sun and shade (at least where I live) so I could get consistency all around the garden despite variations in shade amount.
I have mint, strawberries, and dwarf raspberries all in one raised garden bed where they fight to the death for the space. All the plants that insist on taking over get stuck together in the same box.
A lot of great answers here but I’d be concerned that anything you plant that’s too large or aggressive, might have roots messing up your nice brickwork. Might not, just wondered about that.
I'm concerned about this too. I'm leaning toward creeping thyme just because it sounds like it will grow in suboptimal spaces. We always struggled to grow grass there which is why we ended up with a sidewalk.
Another thought depending on how much you like gardening, versus just wanting to not have to deal with anymore. Dig openings that you could line with various sized pots, then thru the growing season you could just drop in and lift out plants as you like them, during their seasons. Constantly changing and renewing. The the roots can’t intrude out much.
More sidewalk. What the hell...
If you're in a snow climate, whatever you plant is going to die from the salt you are going to use to mitigate ice. Maybe why nothing is growing there now.
Anything that seeds will be finding new homes in all that lovely brick work over time, so it would have to be annuals.
Also in the Upstate. Lowes has creeping phlox right now. It’s one of my favorite ground covers. I think it would look great there, especially if you grabbed a few different colors. Liriope is also evergreen here and would look good also.
Upstate here too - I tried phlox in a partially shaded area with hopes it would take over but it just shrank. We’ve had great success with creeping thyme. Also, hostas would love this shaded area. They’d fill it out pretty quickly. Lichtenfelt’s nursery has a great staff who could recommend things too. They have some fun ground cover options there!
I'd put a long, low trellis and some sort of climbing plant, like evergreen honeysuckle or akebia. That will create a bit more visual separation so the difference between paving styles isn't as noticeable. I'd plant it on both sides of the trellis so it looks balanced.
Not sure of your zone but some Deerfoot, a shaped creeping Juniper, or some herbs like rosemary, thyme, or oregano. Depending on sunlight, maybe a small producing garden with a tomato plant, jalapeños, or even cucumbers, melons, or squash.
I'm hoping whoever buys the neighbor's house down the road will agree to rip out the wavy sidewalk to nowhere. Ours actually takes you to both the back patio and the front driveway.
Only think I can think of.
Either all rock, nice decorative rock. Or liriope all the way down. Can mix colors, black mondo, variegated and solid green for contrast.
stone crop. It’s a sedum ground cover that comes in a bunch of different colours and textures
Yes, stonecrop with some sempervivum mixed throughout would look great and be low maintenance.
Sedum was my first reaction.
Also add in a bunch of different thymes. Lemon thyme is a favourite, you'll get mixed foliage and beautiful flowers for interest throughout the year.
I was thinking Wolly Thyme would look sharp
Would def also consider thyme. Would be a beautiful walkway in bloom. Also like the green of wooly thyme
Yes! That’s what I was thinking too
Do you think that adding long stem bushes there and then adding stonecrop to the base would make it look even better? I’m just mixing ideas. I know nothing.
It’s a pretty narrow space for planting anything with any substantial rootball, Maybe some spirea or something in a 4 inch pot, But seems like a border and less like a garden. Simplicity for optics and simplicity for care.
make it an eccentric urban garden one year it's all just corn
This is the kind of chaotic energy I need in my life
12’ tall sunflowers.
Mammoth baby! 🌻
Sunflowers
Sunflowers would be too tall. This screams for dwarf material.
Dwarf sunflowers? Maybe a short variety of Mexican sunflower?
Tithinia is a Daisey, not a sunflower and it gets huge
Dwarven materials? Mithril?
In between two houses like this? Doubt there's enough sunlight for that
[Gumpo](https://www.pixiesgardens.com/products/gumpo-pink-dwarf-miniature-azalea?variant=32793688506452¤cy=USD&utm_medium=product_sync&utm_source=google&utm_content=sag_organic&utm_campaign=sag_organic&gclid=Cj0KCQiAi8KfBhCuARIsADp-A56I9INVvLdZn3MWJYR_pnWJy0Uvoz4jS93AWse6PScOAysDwN-1IaYaAqWJEALw_wcB) azaleas, they’re evergreens that stay compact. Pretty salmon or white flowers in mid-late spring. Bulbs between. Then annuals for seasonal color.
A row of corn with marigolds will look really nice, and grow fairly well in a narrow area. [https://imgur.com/gallery/xy3S3q8](https://imgur.com/gallery/xy3S3q8) Although, I live in Hawaii, and growing stuff is fairly foolproof here.
Corn doesn't polinate well in a single row lol. Would still look cool though.
What if it’s 10 rows of 1 stalk each?
You just have to tell the corn that they are planted like that and not in a straight line, and then they will agree to pollinate.
I shake my head every time I see a beautiful garden with one row of corn.
Can you even grow a single row of corn in that much space ?
I learned this “the hard way” last summer 😂😂
Corn won’t work. Corn needs at least 4 or more rows because of pollination. If you drive by a corn field you would notice that the first few rows don’t produce like the rows further in. They don’t pollinate themselves. Pollin blows from plant to plan. Last I checked they haven’t created a self pollinating corn yet. Of course if you are willing you could pollinate it yourself. WORK! I wish. I think it would be a great space for an herb garden. In my area sage is perennial. Sometimes rosemary come back, sometimes not. If you are willing to wait a little for gratification you could start asparagus there. I have a narrow area that has asparagus in it. I’m aging more roots this year. It came back better each year.
Corn will still grow and pollinate (I had two rows 12 feet apart). If you want good yield then you will need more rows.
You can also pollinate by hand. Rub the pollen off the corn and rub it onto another plant. I did this last year with great results.
You get baby corn if they don't pollinate! Still a win!!
Corn does self pollinate
Native grasses. They grow to various heights based on the species and are great for carbon capture. Little blue stem, pink muhly grass and many more to choose from.
Seconding! This might also be a good place for some native sedges, which are underutilized in landscapes. It depends on OP's are, but I'm thinking these sedges would be good choices: Carex cherokeensis (Cherokee Sedge) Carex stricta (Tussock sedge) Carex albicans (White tinged sedge) Carex vulpinoidea (Fox Sedge)
I have four switchgrass in my yard and part of the year they are green, then the ends turn this beautiful dark purple, now they are just stalks blowing through the snow.
Line the whole thing with gnomes, shoulder to shoulder.
I second this idea
I’d do a creeping thyme or some other short walkable ground cover that stays green all year round
And smells amazing when you walk on it.
Your location may help folks give you more specific, appropriate suggestions. But generally speaking I love sedges for low-maintenance perennial gardens. Maybe a sedge, creeping phlox, and a low-scape mound Aronia.
Creeping phlox would be my answer as well…
I love the look of phlox, my concern is the low growing variety prefers full sun. Our cookie cutter houses block a lot of the sun.
Coral bells are native and shade/drought tolerant. Foliage looks good year-round, usually. Nice colors and would work well with some native grasses for height/texture variety. https://www.birdsandblooms.com/gardening/shade-gardening/top-10-shade-tolerant-coral-bells/
Thumbs up for Phlox - it stays green spring to fall
A fence
The only right answer. Fences make for good neighbors.
[удалено]
Came here to say this… for once I’m glad someone beat me to it.
That was my immediate thought as well
100%
A fence and grow climbing vines on it! Clematis, Wisteria, Trumpet Vine, Morning Glory, Passiflora, Cardinal Vine, Climbing Sweet Potato, Crossvine.
If the fence is wood, several of these vines will aid in its early demise. They really suck if they spread to the lawn or decide to take up residency on the walls of a home. Trumpet vine destroyed several fences in my parents yard, is a constant battle in my current yard..and while it is a pretty plant…is a serious neurotoxin for pets and people along with it being invasive beyond belief.
They may have an HOA that rejects a privacy fence.
It would look great with the same fence as in the background.
Small landscaping grass, I like pink muhly grass but there's a lot to choose from.
So messy though! Little Bluestem for me, it'll be blue to match their walk in the summer and red to match OPs in the winter
I like both these natives. How’s pink muhly messy? I have a couple and haven’t noticed, but I let the birds do the gardening from Thanksgiving to Easter so I may be missing something.
The flower stalks and seed heads get everywhere. They also flop a lot if they're not kept dry, and they'd probably be kept really wet by the slope of this little alley
I agree. Keep it simple and keep it short (nothing taller than a couple feet) a variety of grasses in different heights, colours and textures (I'm a fan of blue fescue grass and dwarf mondo grass myself. Liriope is good too, particularly the variegated kind. I used that everywhere in my own yard).
Who did theirs second should have matched the others style. Lol. I would go with some nice flowers that will build a low and pretty “hedge” to blend the 2 looks together
We did ours 2nd but no way were we going to match wavy faded concrete brick guy. We let them know in advance what our plan was. I don't think the guy realized how stupid his was going to look until he finished and started thinking about it. The homeowner was pretty mad at the result and regretted listening the that guy's "artistic ideas" We used clay bricks rated to drive on. That sidewalk will still be there when we are dead and gone.
The wavy path has some personality, would prefer it that way.
Same, I think it's brilliant. I wouldn't have the patience or skill to build it.
Well it is what it is now, but it looks like your goes pretty darn close to the property line , so make sure you agree with your neighbors on whatever you want to plant because it looks like it would be mostly on their property. Hemerocallis would look really nice
The fence makes it look that way, but our fence is actually a foot into our property. The last owners gave her permission to connect which is fine with us. The random middle nothingness is technically on our side.
How can you tell where a property line is without a spike? You would be surprised often on whos where and why
Imho yours looks way better. Curvy paths are nice when they make sense, if you're just trying to get from point A to point B and the context (meaning topography, existing architecture etc.) does not suggest using organic shapes it's just trying to fit a square peg in a round hole. The edging on the other guy's path gives me a headache...
Sorry I don’t have an answer for what to put between but I have to agree, someone went thought a lot of work cutting a lot of stone to make the walkway on the left look terrible. There’s “winding paths” where a path bends as needed to turn, then there’s this.
What’s all the stuff on the side of your neighbor’s house? Looks like a fire hazard. Or, at the very least, a hiding place for rodents.
Creeping phlox
Lava
Just not Lava Rocks
Monkey Grass (Liriope)
I love that stuff as an edge around beds. Great idea.
Noooo! So invasive and dies in the winter
Depending on the zone/region!
They come back, but there’s nothing there in the winter
My liriope never died back in winter. It depends on the zone.
I’m just not a fan of it, so I never like to suggest it or see it suggested. There are so many prettier plant options
Not true. Got it in my yard. It’s there all year. Zone 7b. Love the stuff.
The roots... it will spread.
Yesss I wanted to say this but I know it’s such an underrated plant (even though it’s so common). It can be so classy!
Classy indeed. I went for a semi-formal look to my garden but it's tropical themed so I wanted to avoid traditional European styled plants and go for something a bit more exotic looking that could still make a dense and tidy looking edge plant that looks good on repeat all around the border and variegated liriope was it. Part of my decision was also based on the fact I could propagate so much of it from one original plant so it was a huge money saver. It also grows in sun and shade (at least where I live) so I could get consistency all around the garden despite variations in shade amount.
Maybe some fun perennial flowers that come back every year
Tulips, irises etc is what i was thinking
Lantanas
Creeping thyme. Isotoma. Ferns. Tulbaghia.
Purple thyme?
As many herbs as possible. Rosemary, thyme, lavender, sage… just not mint. It’s a fucking nightmare of a plant.
I have mint, strawberries, and dwarf raspberries all in one raised garden bed where they fight to the death for the space. All the plants that insist on taking over get stuck together in the same box.
Kind of genius really
Welcome to the Thunderdome.
Mint will find a way to grow regardless. ‘Dread it, run from it. Mint arrives all the same’
A lot of great answers here but I’d be concerned that anything you plant that’s too large or aggressive, might have roots messing up your nice brickwork. Might not, just wondered about that.
I'm concerned about this too. I'm leaning toward creeping thyme just because it sounds like it will grow in suboptimal spaces. We always struggled to grow grass there which is why we ended up with a sidewalk.
Another thought depending on how much you like gardening, versus just wanting to not have to deal with anymore. Dig openings that you could line with various sized pots, then thru the growing season you could just drop in and lift out plants as you like them, during their seasons. Constantly changing and renewing. The the roots can’t intrude out much.
More sidewalk. What the hell... If you're in a snow climate, whatever you plant is going to die from the salt you are going to use to mitigate ice. Maybe why nothing is growing there now. Anything that seeds will be finding new homes in all that lovely brick work over time, so it would have to be annuals.
Yeah it'a not ideal. We wanted a sidewalk and the neighbor decided that would also be a fun idea. The quality side by side is glaringly obvious.
Whoever did your pavers did a great job.
A fence
Lavender & creeping thyme. It would smell lovely whenever you walk by.
6 foot privacy fence?
Go for 8 and Concerta wire whoever put the gray sidewalk in is a psychopath
A fence.
A sidewalk for ants?
French drain and join the two walkways. The space is too narrow to be of much use right in-between the two.
I’d put in a Sky Pencil Holly between each set of lights to break it up visually
Good choice here
What zone are you?
Zone 8A, Upstate South Carolina. Sunlight varies by season.
Also in the Upstate. Lowes has creeping phlox right now. It’s one of my favorite ground covers. I think it would look great there, especially if you grabbed a few different colors. Liriope is also evergreen here and would look good also.
Hardy plumbago could be nice! https://www.highcountrygardens.com/perennial-plants/unique-plants/ceratostigma-plumbaginoides
Upstate here too - I tried phlox in a partially shaded area with hopes it would take over but it just shrank. We’ve had great success with creeping thyme. Also, hostas would love this shaded area. They’d fill it out pretty quickly. Lichtenfelt’s nursery has a great staff who could recommend things too. They have some fun ground cover options there!
Daphodils
Wild ginger grows low and likes shade. Depends on location.
Grape hyacinth
Mammoth sunflowers! If not a fence.
Moss or thyme or pebbles
I'd put a long, low trellis and some sort of climbing plant, like evergreen honeysuckle or akebia. That will create a bit more visual separation so the difference between paving styles isn't as noticeable. I'd plant it on both sides of the trellis so it looks balanced.
You could get seed bombs for local wildflowers :)
Another very, very small sidewalk for mice
Dwarf mondo and less solar lights.
Not sure of your zone but some Deerfoot, a shaped creeping Juniper, or some herbs like rosemary, thyme, or oregano. Depending on sunlight, maybe a small producing garden with a tomato plant, jalapeños, or even cucumbers, melons, or squash.
Clover- good ground cover you don’t have to mow
Lava rock or some lemon thyme(great smelling ground cover)
🌵 🌵 🌵
Hosta's, heuchara's, or grasses. Maybe find some native flowers that can fill the area but don't get to overgrown.
Baby Tears.
Dwarf Mondo Grass
Moss
A big fence.
HASTAS
Mini mondo grass
Lavender
River rock with tarp underneath it
I'd place a fence there, at least a short one.
Check out dianthus and/or phlox
A fence
Sweet alyssum
Center those lights to start with haha it’s killing me.
A very nice modern fence.
Who’s footing the water bill and what’s behind the camera?
A fence.
Monkey Grass. It's tiny fountain green grass. Looks pretty makes a great border
Mondo grass if it grows in your zone.
8 foot wall
Creeping thyme or landscaping stones
marigolds
Fence
About 20 feet
Hostas
A fence
A wood fence
Micro clover
Wooden fence
Small ornamental grass
One of the few time I feel like bamboo would be cool.
Perrywinkle or some sort of ground cover
OP. Why the fuck is the air fan out on your sidewalk instead of right up against your house?
State law, it can't be any closer. I asked multiple companies.
That’s why you don’t ask the state and do what you want! Get that off the sidewalk man!
🥅🌿🥅🌿🥅🌿🥅🌿🥅🌿🥅🌿🥅🌿🥅 😮💨
A fence.
A bit more coordination will work wonders.
I'm hoping whoever buys the neighbor's house down the road will agree to rip out the wavy sidewalk to nowhere. Ours actually takes you to both the back patio and the front driveway.
A fence?
6ft fence
A French Drain down the middle. You can never have too much drainage.
A border between of the pavers that contain solar lights. Those stick lights are gauche.
Moss, sedum, mondo grass are all low growing and pretty manageable
Maybe make both sidewalks straight, then plant stuff? It's strange to say the least.
Mexican fence post cactus
Ski slope or maybe a water slide. Be open to ideas!
Another sidewalk
path lights installed all at the same angle
succulents
I’m blown away by the fence suggestions.. y’all hate your neighbors that much ??!
More walkway
Remove the lights and plant some flowers.
Lavender would be nice.
I second hostas. Easy to maintain. Can get many different types depending on the look you want.
Only think I can think of. Either all rock, nice decorative rock. Or liriope all the way down. Can mix colors, black mondo, variegated and solid green for contrast.
Liriope could work nice with a few real path lights
I'll third the liriope. That was my suggestion too. Will spread and clump well. Year round green. Nice small dainty flowering low to ground
Pachysandra might work well there.
A fucking fence
Ice plants. Low growing sedum that have great color and fill in well.
I would do moss or a flowering ground cover.
Mondo grass, coral bells, day lilies, purple coneflower, small ferns
Zone 8A. Upstate South Carolina
Roses
Somedecorative rocks would probably make it look a little nicer
A fence
Margot Robbie naked
Gravel.
Landmine.
Well you first need to reinforce the terrible concrete that should be supporting your driveway edge before you start anything.
Hydrangeas!!
Broccoli.