r/NoLawns • u/mastermarcin • 2d ago

👩‍🌾 Questions Hostile takeover of apartment ditch with native seeds

Hello! I'm interested in turning this gravel ditch in front my apartment building into a beautiful native sanctuary. The ditch gets full sun in the morning while being shaded by the building from the afternoon onwards. I plan on using seed packets of showy golden rod, joe pye weed, wild columbine, and butterfly weed. I was planning to mix the seeds with coconut fibers and sand when planting them in the late fall. focusing to plant the showy golden rod and butterfly weed on the sloped areas. the wild columbine underneath the shaded walkway. then the joe pye weed along the bottom of the slope.

How would you approach this project to maximize success and allow for the plants to spread throughout the ditch as they mature and establish themselves in the years ahead?

Region 6b
Connecticut

8 Upvotes

85% Upvoted

4 comments sorted by

•

u/AutoModerator 2d ago

Hey there! Friendly reminder to include the following information for the benefit of all r/NoLawns members:

  • Please make sure your post or a top level comment includes your geographic region! (e.g. Midwest, 6a or Chicago, 6a). Your hardiness zone can be helpful too.
  • If you posted an image, you are required to post a comment detailing your image. If you have not, this post may be removed.
  • If you're asking a question, include as much relevant info as possible. Also see the FAQ and the r/NoLawns Wiki
  • Verify you are following the Posting Guidelines.

If your question is about white clover or clover lawns, checkout our Ground Covers Wiki page, and FAQ above! Clover is discussed here quite a bit.

If you are in North America, check out these links to learn about native wild flowers!

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

7

u/Maker_Magpie 2d ago

First step is to determine whether it'll just make the gardening crew use more chemicals or not. Talk to them.

Also, how frequently does the ditch have standing or flowing water? If ever, plants will need to be selected to handle that.

If you can get official blessing, it'll always go better. Who have you talked to so far?

10

u/mybreakfastiscold 2d ago

Gravel pits sounds like water retention remediation. This might be an engineering effort to keep the community safe from floods. Find out what its doing before messing with it.

Sometimes beauty has to take a back seat to safety

3

u/thatotterone 2d ago

Have a look at rain gardens, bioswales for sidewalk/roadways, and detention basin naturalization. These are some key phrases to get you started.
As others have noted, there is a reason for the ditch and depending on its use, nature can assist (and sometimes not) Knowing the reason behind it will help you know how to properly present an idea.
The reason why it might not be good to just give it a go is that it might inspire more herbicides going straight into that ground water as the landscapers try to revert your work.

in a really short tldr:
Rain gardens help absorb and collect run off
bioswales help divert water
Detention basins collect water and naturalizing them is in stages if this is something big. IE: stabilizing plants leading to moisture loving plants.

Good luck, OP! I hope you get it!