By July of the second year, the ROW had definitely become more vibrant. One pleasant surprise was the arrival of intriguing native species that drifted into the more welcoming soil once the dense mass of liriope roots and rhizomes was gone.
— Meg, Holt Place, Takoma Park MD
In the Beginning
My ROW was an eyesore for a long time.
At the beginning, it was a mixture of undistinguished grass and random weeds that I had to mow to keep marginally presentable, even though it was not easily accessible to a corded electric mower.
At some point, liriope moved in. At first I was pleased. The liriope looked presentable without mowing and rapidly crowded out all the previous vegetative inhabitants (except for a few clumps of Pennisetum grass I had planted years earlier).
However, I soon realized that liriope was not content just to colonize my ROW; it was spreading up the bank on the other side of the sidewalk and popping up in my front yard, too. I set forth with a digging fork in May 2021 on a search and destroy mission.
The mass of the unearthed liriope was impressive.
I was becoming more aware of the benefits of native plants and decided the ROW could be an intriguing experimental site. The conditions are pretty harsh. The exposure ranges from sun to part-shade with much of the solar exposure in the afternoon. The strip is only about two feet wide between the concrete sidewalk and the roadbed, so people getting into or out of parked cars are very likely to step on the plantings.
A Frugal Approach
As a result, I tried to invest as little as possible financially. I was able to plant orange coneflowers (Rudbeckia fulgida) and golden ragwort (Packera aurea) from divisions from neighbors.
In addition, I had Heuchera villosa in my yard that I could divide and transplant to the shadier end of the ROW as well as some purple coneflowers (Echinacea purpurea) for the sunny spots.
In the fall of 2021, I couldn’t resist purchasing a few small pots of plantain pussytoes (Antennaria plantagnifolia) from Chesapeake Natives.
By July of the following year, the ROW had definitely become more vibrant.
One pleasant surprise was the arrival of intriguing native species that drifted into the more welcoming soil once the dense mass of liriope roots and rhizomes was gone.
The tall plant in the foreground of the picture is late boneset (Eupatorium serotinum), which produces beautiful white flowers in late summer though fall and grows to about five feet tall.
A more diminutive visitor that established a foothold is Philadelphia fleabane (Erigeron philadelphicus), which has pale pink aster-like flowers in May.
Lessons Learned
As with any garden, the native plant gardener has to adjust and improvise in response to how the plants respond to the site.
In my case, the packera aurea seems not to have been able to compete with the eupatorium serotinum; it didn’t reappear in 2023.
The pussytoes look great in early spring, but then look a little dried out as the season progresses; I’ll need to move them further towards the shadier side of the ROW.
Finally, the best-laid plans are no match against the WSSC repairing its mains and their connections to one’s house. In the early spring of 2023, the WSSC tore up the lower quarter of the ROW to replace a leaking connection, obliterating most of the heucheras I had planted. I have transplanted snakeroot (Ageratina altissima) from elsewhere in my yard to fill in the new blanks. We shall see.
The biggest takeaway for me is that a garden of native plants looks more informal—and wild—than a garden based on non-native ornamentals. That is part of the delight. The polite formality of an ornamental, non-native garden and the stultifying boredom of a monoculture green lawn are no match for the exuberance and buzz of the native wildflower garden.
Next Steps
I am now trying to tackle the bank on the opposite side of the sidewalk, which became a refuge over the years for invasive species such as bush honeysuckle, English ivy, vinca and euonymus, none of which I had planted.
Beginning in 2022, I cut down the bush honeysuckle and reduced the footprint allotted to the vinca and ivy, while introducing a few native perennials such as (the very) tall coreopsis (Coreopsis tripteris).
.
Plant List
Golden ragwort: Packera aurea
Hairy alum root: Heuchera villosa
Late boneset: Eupatorium serotinum
Orange coneflower: Rudbeckia fulgida
Philadelphia fleabane: Erigeron philadelphicus
Plantain pussytoes: Antennaria plantaginifolia
Purple coneflower: Echinacea purpurea
Tall coreopsis: Coreopsis tripteris
Friends of Native Trees in Takoma 