Boulevard gardens brighten neighborhoods and bring neighbors together. They
also provide new territory for space-starved gardeners. If you're thinking of planting flowers on your boulevard, or along your alley, you'll need to take precautions to prevent water pollution. Loose soil in a boulevard garden runs into the street, carrying nutrients that may pollute lakes and rivers.
Here are seven common-sense guidelines for planting and maintaining a boulevard garden:
- Check with your city for rules and guidelines and call Gopher State One at 1-800-252-1166 before you dig.
- Get a soil test from the University before you add fertilizer. If your soil is high in phosphorus-and most soils in the Twin Cities are--use fertilizer with little or no phosphorus. Select plants such as butterfly flower that don't need supplemental fertilizers or pesticides.
- The soil line at the boulevard border should be one or two inches below the curb.
- Plant perennials with your annuals so roots hold soil in place year round. Choose plants that tolerate hot sun and salt build-up. Examples are asters, black-eyed Susan, sedum, salvia and yarrow. For shadier boulevards, try campanula, coral-bells, day lilies and lady's mantle.
- If the boulevard is large enough, consider a two-foot grass buffer between soil and pavement. Some horticulturists recommend planting a few clusters of flowers within a turf-filled boulevard. Others suggest planting spring blooming bulbs such as scilla and crocus in the boulevard, and mowing the rest of the season.
- If you have exposed soil, cover it with two to three inches of wood-chip mulch.
- Cut perennial plants back to just above the crowns and remove debris in fall or early spring.
Info-U Home Page
University of Minnesota Extension Home
Page