Hi,

I have one of those sidewalk strips - probably under 2 feet wide, a few dozen feet long, quite choked up with weeds & weed seeds, and very dry, due to our ongoing drought.

I'd like to make it at least slightly nicer this autumn. I'm planning on digging up the weeds and.... I'm not sure about the next step. Plan A, B or C (it's very up in the air at the moment) is to plant some annual or perennial allelopathic seeds to (partially) suppress the emergence of weed seeds. One allelopathic plant under consideration is fennel, which grows very well in this mediterranean climate.

Does anyone know of other allelopathic plants that might work? I really don't care much if the plants cancel each other out; the primary aim is to decrease the number of weeds & viable weed seeds. Cost is another primary consideration (I'm a renter). Using chemicals is not an otpion for me. I may very well persue a kindler, gentler path of sheet mulching the whole strip, since I have access to free wood chips. However, this strip is extremely dense clay, and digging would be very hard work for me. It hasn't been dug for at least 15 years.

Another factor to consider is the garden across the sidewalk - roses, salvias, echiums, etc. I know that allelopathic plants operate differently - some emit gasses thru the leaves, some thru the roots, etc. I don't want to disturb anything growing 4' away.

Does anyone have any ideas? Thanks!