Please help my ugly driveway!

[ninjapoodles]

Any ideas as to what I can do to beautify the hideously ugly approach to my house appreciated. The constraints:

Zone 7b
Rocky--extremely rocky--soil
Partial to full shade
No way to irrigate

I'd be happy with an ivy, a ground cover, a climber, shrubs, anything. Secondary to that, I'd love some sort of "screen" plant to put in this area between my property and my neighbor's, along the fenceline.

Here's another angle that shows the drive, and illustrates another challenge I have for this property...look at all the wasted, barren space! It makes me CRAZY! Grass grows right up to the edge of the fence, and then just stops dead. Nothing grows in these "paddocks." Erosion is insane, with huge amounts of sandy soil being washed out onto our driveway during every single rain.

SEE??

 

[DrakeMaiden]

I wonder if you could make some kind of a rain garden to collect the runoff and grow some suitable native plants. After the plants establish, you wouldn't need to water them in the summer, but they should absorb the extra water in the rainy season.

It is kind of hard to tell what is your property and what is the neighbor's. Do you just have the small patches on either side of the driveway, or did you decide to fence off the driveway from the yard?

 

[DrakeMaiden]

Here is some info on rain gardens . . . and a list of native species for rain gardens in your area!

You could choose to extend your downspouts to flow into the rain garden, or you could just try to passively collect runoff from the lawn that is already causing problems. Good luck!

 

[inchworm]

I think it's a lovely driveway - it's just the fence that's not so attractive.

Inchworm

 

[ninjapoodles]

I wonder if you could make some kind of a rain garden to collect the runoff and grow some suitable native plants. After the plants establish, you wouldn't need to water them in the summer, but they should absorb the extra water in the rainy season.

It is kind of hard to tell what is your property and what is the neighbor's. Do you just have the small patches on either side of the driveway, or did you decide to fence off the driveway from the yard?

Everything in the pictures is mine. You got it right--the driveway is fenced apart from everything else.

At the bottom of this hill is my house, and it is set apart by some SERIOUS terracing. The only place that water collects is right around the north side of the house. There is a koi pond there, and lots of boggy plants--I do need to put more of the Asiatic lilies and Elephant ears, etc. in the space between house & landscaping.

 

[ninjapoodles]

I think it's a lovely driveway - it's just the fence that's not so attractive.

Inchworm

All the more reason that I'd like to "camouflage" the fence. The fence must stay--that's non-negotiable. So I have to do what I can to pretty it up, if possible.

 

[DrakeMaiden]

Nice pond!

Just to clarify, a rain garden is not a pond. A rain garden is sunken (dug down) and can collect extra water when it rains, but the rest of the year it is dry like the rest of the landscape. Rain gardens are just ways to put runoff to use.

I guess I am mostly suggesting that you move some earth around to solve your runoff problem, which may or may not appeal.

I think pretty much anything shrubby you plant would make the fence less obvious.

 

[Purple Strawberry]

Maybe take down the fence or plant bushes along it. Boxwood's or Gardenia's?

 

[patandchickens]

It sounds and looks to me like the 'paddocks' are being severely overgrazed -- not, I know, compared to what a lot of people do, but you are on a part-shaded hillside and thus just can't get away with as much overgrazing without starting to lose large quantities of soil to erosion. The more topsoil erodes away, the more useless what remains will become (you get to where it's basically exposed subsoil with little nutrient content).

Honestly, if there are animals in these paddocks, I would say you've just got about 2-3x as many animals as the land can support, sorry.

To *some* extent you might be able to get a bit more grass growth in there (and thus less erosion) by doing what you can for the soil -- have soil tests done, fertilize appropriately, spread organic matter (multiple thin layers), reseed, and keep the animals off the thus-treated paddock for hopefully a full year to let the grass roots regrow.

Sorry 'bout that, but if you don't take care of the soil, it doesn't take care of you and your animals... no way around it.

As far as the aesthetics of the driveway: I'd look at your property and others in your area on similar ground, and see what grows best in part-shade. THen plant a buncha that There may be some shrubs you could use to line the driveway -- even honeysuckle if its invasiveness is not too much a problem in your area.

The suggestion of adding rock riprap to control runoff and erosion along the driveway is a good one. If you install it with a number of 'pool' sections along the driveway, interspersed with shallower sections, instead of the way people usually do (one homogeneous sweep from top to bottom), you will slow the water down and increase its penetration into the soil. Again, plant with whatever does best in your area. (For difficult sites, especially ones that are really hardcore serious difficult growing conditions, I think it is better to make plant selections based on what you SEE being can't-kill-it-with-a-stick hardy in similar conditions in your exact area, rather than guessing based on plants' usual preferences).

Good luck,

Pat

 

[bid]

I like the driveway, it's not hideous. Iron plant is something that grows well in shade or dappled light and is an evergreen as well. Drought tolerant also. Day lillies in sunnier spots. Iris, gladiolas, butter cups etc.

You have quite a job ahead of you based on the length of the driveway. Slow and steady, a little bit at a time. See what works and what doesn't.

For the fence:
Honeysuckle, jasmine, confederate/carolina jessamine...just a few climbers that are low maintenenceand drought tolerant that will also bloom and last year after year. I am not a big fan of ivy, but it does help with erosion control which is a primary concern to you.