Front Sidewalk And Parking Strip Planting Beds

Design ideas for planting flower beds by streetside sidewalks

Sidewalk lawn strips like this are common where city owned sidewalks create a divider through front lawns. I don't know about all areas, but in our town, anything from the sidewalk out, belongs to the city. Still, regardless of who owns it, it is in the homeowners best interest to do something with it like planting a flower bed to make it appealing and match the rest of their yard and landscaping.

Creating a lawn strip on the street side of the sidewalk is easy to maintain but can be a trick to water without waste. An inground sprinkler system is best but needs to be laid in with precision with the right sprinkler heads and adjusted properly. Small sidewalk areas like this are where we see the most sprinkler waste simply because of poorly designed sprinkler systems and poor adjustment.

Of course there are other alternatives to this flower bed design such as a simple groundcover or even concrete. It's common to see large trees planted in these areas. Generally this isn't a good idea because of roots lifting and destroying the concrete. However, If you plan to put trees in a sidewalk strip next to the street like this, make sure you research your trees and know which are less likely to top root.