15 Best Plants for the Strip Between the Sidewalk and Street
The narrow strip between the sidewalk and street can be a frustrating place to grow anything. Pavement reflects heat, soil dries quickly, and passing feet can damage plants. In colder climates, road salt creates another challenge.
Often called a planting strip, parkway, boulevard, or hellstrip, this space can become an attractive garden when you choose plants that suit its conditions.
The best choices combine a manageable size with the right tolerance for sunlight, drainage, and local weather. Low ground covers soften the edges, compact flowers provide color, and ornamental grasses add texture.
These 15 plants offer options for different situations. Choose a few that share similar growing needs and repeat them along the strip for a cohesive planting.
1. Creeping Thyme
Botanical name: Thymus praecox and other low-growing thyme varieties
Best conditions: Full sun and freely draining soil
Creeping thyme creates a low carpet of small leaves and seasonal flowers. Its compact height makes it useful beside sidewalks where taller plants would feel crowded.
It can soften the edges of a planting strip or fill spaces between larger plants. Creeping thyme is included in Utah State University’s parkstrip demonstration garden.
Choose a low-growing variety and provide good drainage. Where people regularly cross the strip, install a proper walking surface rather than expecting the plants to tolerate repeated trampling.
2. Low-Growing Stonecrop
Botanical name: Sedum species and cultivars
Best conditions: Sunny locations with good drainage
Low-growing stonecrops offer fleshy leaves in shades of green, blue-green, bronze, and red. They provide texture even when they are not flowering.
Look specifically for mat-forming varieties. Plants sold under the broad name “sedum” vary considerably, and upright forms need more room.
Utah State University includes stonecrops among water-wise landscape plants. Check the hardiness and mature size of the selection before buying.
They are particularly useful in small planting pockets where a larger perennial would overwhelm the space.
3. Compact Catmint
Botanical name: Nepeta × faassenii
Best conditions: Sun and well-drained soil
Catmint produces soft foliage and blue-purple flowers that fit naturally into an informal roadside garden. Once established, it tolerates dry conditions.
Choose the cultivar carefully. Some catmints form broad mounds, and North Carolina Extension notes that this hybrid can spread as much as three feet wide.
Compact selections are easier to accommodate in a narrow strip. Plant them far enough from the sidewalk that their flowering stems can arch naturally without obstructing pedestrians.
4. Perennial Salvia
Botanical name: Salvia nemorosa
Best conditions: Sun and well-drained soil
Perennial salvia adds upright flower spikes without the bulk of a shrub. Shorter cultivars work particularly well where you want color but need to preserve clear views.
It tolerates dry conditions once established, and its flowers attract pollinators.
Repeat small groups along the strip rather than scattering individual plants randomly. Check both flowering height and mature width when choosing a variety for areas beside driveways or street corners.
5. Threadleaf Coreopsis
Botanical name: Coreopsis verticillata
Best conditions: Sun and well-drained soil
Threadleaf coreopsis brings yellow flowers and fine-textured foliage to a street-side bed. It works well where you want a light, airy appearance.
This perennial tolerates heat, drought, and relatively infertile soil. Some varieties form sizeable clumps, so compact selections are preferable in narrow spaces.
Pair it with plants that have contrasting foliage, such as low stonecrop or small ornamental grasses. Leave enough room for its mature spread.
6. Blanket Flower
Botanical name: Gaillardia aristata and suitable perennial hybrids
Best conditions: Full sun and excellent drainage
Blanket flowers provide warm shades of yellow, orange, and red. Their daisy-like blooms bring color to sunny planting strips.
They are suited to dry conditions, but drainage is important. Avoid planting them where water collects after rain.
Check the label before buying because blanket flowers include both perennial and annual selections. A compact perennial variety is often the more manageable choice for a permanent sidewalk planting.
7. Compact Yarrow
Botanical name: Achillea species and cultivars
Best conditions: Sunny, relatively dry locations
Yarrow combines finely divided foliage with broad flower clusters. Shorter varieties can add color without creating a tall screen beside the street.
Compact yarrow selections appear in Utah State University’s parkstrip demonstration garden.
Choose a species or cultivar appropriate to your region and allow room for spreading growth. Avoid selecting solely by flower color: mature height and growth habit matter just as much in a restricted space.
8. English Lavender
Botanical name: Lavandula angustifolia
Best conditions: Full sun, excellent drainage, and a suitable climate
English lavender adds fragrant foliage and purple flowers to a planting strip. Compact varieties can create an attractive repeated pattern.
It is a better candidate for a dry, sunny verge than a low area that collects runoff. English lavender is used in Utah State University’s parkstrip demonstration garden, but regional suitability still needs checking.
Leave enough space around each plant for its mature shape. Crowding lavender against pavement makes maintenance more difficult.
9. Sea Thrift
Botanical name: Armeria maritima
Best conditions: Full sun and well-drained soil
Sea thrift forms compact cushions of grassy-looking foliage with rounded flower heads held above them.
Its small scale makes it useful near the front of a strip where larger plants could spill across the sidewalk. The RHS recommends sunny, well-drained conditions.
Plant small groups for a repeated border. Despite its coastal associations, do not assume it will tolerate unlimited deicing salt or persistently saturated soil.
10. Blue Fescue
Botanical name: Festuca glauca
Best conditions: Sunny, well-drained sites in suitable climates
Blue fescue forms rounded tufts of blue-gray leaves. Its color and shape contrast with flowering perennials.
Colorado State University includes it among water-wise ground-cover options.
Use it as an ornamental clump rather than a walkable lawn. Before planting an entire strip, check how it performs locally, particularly where summers are very hot and humid.
11. Blue Grama
Botanical name: Bouteloua gracilis
Best conditions: Full sun and relatively dry soil
Blue grama offers fine foliage and distinctive seed heads. In suitable regions, it can give a planting strip a natural, grassland appearance.
Colorado State University identifies it as a water-wise option and notes that it does not tolerate shade.
Check the mature height of your chosen variety, including its flowering stems. Ornamental selections may grow taller than expected, which matters near intersections and driveways.
12. Prairie Dropseed
Botanical name: Sporobolus heterolepis
Best conditions: Sunny strips with enough width for mature clumps
Prairie dropseed forms graceful mounds of fine leaves and develops warm autumn color. Established plants tolerate drought.
It grows slowly, so patience is part of the planting plan. Avoid placing young plants too close together simply to fill the space immediately.
This grass is better suited to wider sections of a strip. Allow its arching foliage to develop without hanging across the walking surface.
13. Pennsylvania Sedge
Botanical name: Carex pensylvanica
Best conditions: Partial shade to shade, with average to dry soil
Street trees and buildings can make a planting strip too shaded for sun-loving flowers. Pennsylvania sedge offers an alternative for suitable conditions.
Illinois Extension lists it for partial sun or shade with average to dry soil. Its fine foliage creates a soft ground layer.
Treat it as a planted bed rather than a replacement for heavily used turf. Keep a separate crossing where people need regular access between parked cars and the sidewalk.
14. Creeping Phlox
Botanical name: Phlox subulata
Best conditions: Sunny, well-drained edges
Creeping phlox forms a low mat that becomes covered in flowers during spring. Pink, purple, and white selections offer different color combinations.
Penn State includes it among native plants suitable for sunny, dry areas.
Use it near an edge where its spreading growth can remain within the bed. Combine it with later-flowering plants to maintain interest after the spring display finishes.
15. Coral Bells
Botanical name: Heuchera species and cultivars
Best conditions: Sheltered, partly shaded locations with suitable moisture
Coral bells provide colorful foliage in shades such as burgundy, caramel, green, and silver. They can brighten a shaded planting without relying on flowers.
They need more careful placement than the toughest dry-site choices. Monitor moisture and avoid waterlogged conditions, especially during winter.
Choose a sheltered section rather than an exposed curbside position receiving intense reflected heat. Match the cultivar to your local conditions.
Check the Site Before Planting
Before buying plants, measure the strip and observe it throughout the day. Note the sunlight, drainage, pedestrian routes, and available space around street trees.
Check your municipality’s requirements before altering a public right-of-way. Confirm any restrictions involving plant height, utilities, access, and existing trees.
Keep views clear around driveways and intersections. Leave access to hydrants and utility equipment, and account for the mature size of every plant.
Where winter deicing is common, investigate salt tolerance separately. Drought tolerance does not automatically mean a plant can tolerate salty runoff. Salt can also affect soil structure and water movement.
Design a Planting That Is Easy to Maintain
Choose two or three compatible plants and repeat them instead of filling the strip with unrelated varieties.
For a sunny, well-drained location, a possible starting combination is low stonecrop, compact salvia, and small grass clumps where space permits.
For partial shade, consider Pennsylvania sedge with coral bells in suitable sheltered pockets.
Keep mature foliage inside the bed. Add a clear walking surface where passengers regularly step out of parked cars so they do not need to walk through the planting.
Give New Plants Time to Establish
Even water-wise plants need attention after planting. Check moisture while their roots establish and adjust watering to rainfall, drainage, and the needs of each species.
Remove competing weeds and avoid crowding young plants. Around street trees, avoid damaging roots or raising the soil level over them.
Observe the planting through its first summer and winter. Notice where water collects, where people cross, and where snow or road salt accumulates. Use those observations to improve the design.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the strip between the sidewalk and street called?
Common names include planting strip, parkway, boulevard, tree lawn, verge, and hellstrip. The name varies by region.
Which low-growing plants work well in a sunny planting strip?
Creeping thyme, low-growing stonecrop, sea thrift, and creeping phlox are options where climate and drainage suit them.
What can I plant in a shaded sidewalk strip?
Pennsylvania sedge is worth considering for suitable dry-shade conditions. Coral bells can work in sheltered locations with appropriate moisture.
Are drought-tolerant plants also salt-tolerant?
Not necessarily. Drought and salt are different stresses. Check salt tolerance separately where plants receive deicing runoff or snow pushed from the road.
Can these plants tolerate foot traffic?
Most should be treated as garden plants rather than walking surfaces. Provide a clear crossing wherever people regularly need access.
Do I need permission to plant beside the street?
Requirements vary. Check with your municipality before changing a public planting strip, particularly near utilities, street trees, intersections, and access points.
