Barb Strunk has written eloquently in recent newsletters about the merits of replacing grassy parking strips with native plants, other ornamentals, edibles, and trees. She argues that a diversity of plants—especially when grown without the need for pesticides, herbicides, and gas-powered equipment—is highly beneficial to society in feeding the birds, bees, and insects that form the basis for our food web, which in turn helps mitigate climate change by increasing the absorption of CO₂, not to mention enhancing awareness and appreciation of the bounty of plants available to Northwest gardeners. An instructive video entitled “Creating a Pollinator Habitat” that aired at the end of July (publicized on the BWNA website blog as well as in the Friends of Wilshire Park newsletter) provided detailed information for how to get started on this kind of project. For those who missed it, most of the information presented in the video, including a do-it-yourself manual, is available on the Pollinator Parkways website (www.pollinatorparkways.weebly.com).
Fall is coming, and the very best time to create the conditions for transforming a lawn is during the rainy season. Read on the Pollinator Parkways website about employing the “lasagna method” to smother grass by covering it with newsprint or cardboard, compost, and mulch—by far the easiest way to create a bed ready for planting in the spring.
Got questions? Contact Nancy Mogielnicki (nancymog@gmail.com) or Barb Strunk (wolsey_9@hotmail.com).
Editors Note: A resident contacted the board via the “Contact Us” page of the BWNA website (www.bwnapdx.org) regarding Barb Strunk’s article in the July-August issue, “The Potential of Parking Strips,” to register a concern about parking strip gardens blocking passage from the sidewalk to cars parked on the street in front of a residence. Barb’s reply: “My recommendation is to build in a pathway from sidewalk to street, which I’ve done in my own parking strip garden.”