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Oramental grass for parkway...
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Posted by lou_midlothian_tx z8 DFW, Tx (My Page) on Wed, Aug 6, 08 at 10:15
| Is anyone growing them in parkway aka hell strip? I'm thinking about ripping up grass, about 2/3rd of the strip and plant several trees with some cheap ornamental grasses between them to fill in space. I was thinking of maybe get rid of enough dirt so that the ground sits slightly below sidewalk level so that the water runoff will go into the area giving them extra water without wasting any water whenever I water the lawn as it is sloped down instead of water running down the sidewalk. I'm not all that familiar with ornamental grass and seems that there are plenty of them to choose from.
Any recommendation? I just want something that is easy to grow with minimal care. Thanks. |
Follow-Up Postings:
size of parkway...
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| Forgot to tell you that it's 6 feet wide and 120 feet long. |
RE: Oramental grass for parkway...
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RE: Oramental grass for parkway...
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| In Coppell they use Mexican Feather grass in the median along Sandy Lake road, which is even worse than a hell strip and it does well there. Your situation might be a little moist for this stuff tho. I really like the way it waves in the breeze. It is planted with Wax Myrtle, Desert Willow, and some other native trees. They all are doing well in the median. |
RE: Oramental grass for parkway...
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| Thanks ltcollins. That will help me out. Debndal - I used to have Mexican feather grass but I think they died last year cause it rained too much??? I think they are great but it'd take a lot of them to fill in all the space. I was thinking about getting a few that would eventually get huge to save $$$. I have plenty of time to decide till winter. I haven't figured out what trees to plant either. |
vetiver grass - re: oramental grass for parkway...
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| Vetiver Grass. Without doubt, my favorite ornamental grass is vetiver grass. It gets big, looks great, has a deep tap root to 13', can take drought, standing water, wind, salt spray, grows fast, is a great privacy hedge/grass, etc. I have two big clumps of it that I planted less than 5 years ago and they are about 8' x 4'. And the best thing is that it is a non-invasive plant! |
RE: Oramental grass for parkway...
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| Lou, if you want to combine trees and grass, you probably will want trees that don't cast a great deal of shade. Desert willow would be perfect. Plus, they take about the same water as most grasses. Perhaps you should consider mixing grasses. Pink crystal grass is lovely and doesn't get too big. Mexican feather grass is good. Most ornamental grasses are clumping grasses, so you will have to wait a while for them to fill in. |
RE: Oramental grass for parkway...
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| I'm doing desert willows and gulf mulhy. It's a xeric grass. I have some in a hot,dry spot right now. My house is going to be so pink! LOL! PJ PJ |
RE: Oramental grass for parkway...
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| ltcollins, That is IMPRESSIVE root growth! I've gotta wonder if trees can grow at all with them around!!! :) I am so tempted to try them in caliche soil for the fun of it. Prairie paint brush - I was thinking about planting 'Nanjing Beauty' cypress which is an hybrid between bald and montezuma cypress which I have some growing in the container right now. It is basically upright type, probably planted about 30 feet apart. I figured I'd plant cheap small ornamental grass between them that would eventually get 4-5 feet wide. I don't really want to do very much work in that area. I just have to find someone willing to cut grass up with sod cutter. No exception. The problem is that the trees are too small for my comfort to be planted there. I don't trust kids and dogs to leave them alone so it may have to wait for another year probably. It couldn't hurt to plan big project that far ahead! |
RE: Oramental grass for parkway...
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| PJ, you MUST add pink crystal grass! It has lovely pink "blooms" in the spring/early summer. Then your muhly will kick in! Oh, so pretty in pink!!! |
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