Hello! I'm located in New England, zone 6b. I'm looking to convert my front lawn to a native landscape. I live on a slight incline and started a patch with Joe pye weed, bee balm and milkweed going from tallest to shortest in height going downhill. Does anyone have suggestions with working on a slight incline? I've noticed in the past some plants may lean towards the way of gravity…would a chelsea chop help? rather than creating a vertical patch, go horizontally? Any insight is appreciated, Thanks!
by dragonflyfree7
5 Comments
Plants that are grow tightly together tend to help each other grow straight and tall. If you are keeping your plants spread apart to give them room to grow, you’ll have to expect some leaning the first couple of years. As the roots spread out and they have more stems coming up, they should be growing more straight and tall without any additional supports.
you might wanna seek out shorter plants, particularly for road-adjacent areas.
Grasses in any planting will help keep things upright— all of the plants you mentioned have lanky growth.
I would keep the grass closer to the road and plant native closer to the house. Grass along the roadway keeps visibility open for drivers and especially if your driveway is there.
Common blue violets might work well near the street, since they are short. Whenever I find them growing as weeds, I just dig them up and bury the thick rhizomes in the soil. They seem to sprout relatively well from those. Just make sure to smooth out the soil so animals like squirrels can’t dig them up, because I think they think that some other animal buried some seeds there and they end up ripping out the plant.
I’d consider a no dig fence a couple feet away from the sidewalk. Then plant taller species between the fence and your house. The fence will help keep things like joe pye and tall asters more upright. Keep shorter plants close to the sidewalk and your path.