what area of the country are you in?

I am in Los Angeles -- Highland Park, which is near Pasadena.

I'd loosen the soil to a depth of about 6 inches. You'll have to dig deeper than that if you want to install some big plants. If you use the lava rock as a top dressing, that'll help control weeds. I wouldn't bother with an irrigation system if you can reach the "hell strip" with your garden hose. You might want to check with the city code enforcers before you start, to make sure it's OK to plant there. Sounds like a great project. Good luck.

Thanks for the advice. Hopefully, I'll be back to post some pictures. Here goes nothing.

Hello again. Question about weed cloth: on my hell strip, I have concluded that I am going to dig 6", put down about 1-2" of 3/4"gravel, then a cactus soil mix (1 part organic, 4 parts coarse sand/pumice/DG, etc) and then a topping of various size lava rocks. Where in there would you put down weed cloth?

Similarly, I am laying down a concrete paver path where I would like to grow some sedum in between some pavers. I have been told to dig down 4" and lay 2" of bedding sand and then the pavers, then broom sand on top. Would you guys put down weed cloth beneath the sand? Weed is kind of a huge problem in our yard, and I'm trying to be preemptive as long as we're already digging and clearing stuff up. Again, appreciate all the advice.

I don't use weed cloth, after years I figured out it doesn't keep out the weeds-some of them will break through or just grow under it, it breaks apart and you pick out little pieces, it comes uncovered & is ugly. Then again weeding around the cactus/succulents/spikey things really sucks!
Tally HO!

Ditto what Beachplant posted about the shortcomings of weed cloth. I've always heard that it would be placed on the surface, then covered with top dressing such at gravel, wood chips or lava rock.

I'm not an expert on laying down pavers, but I do have a couple books that recommend putting down a layer of gravel and then sand on top of the gravel to make it easier to level them. Honestly, I don't know if it makes any big difference.

i say, let the weeds grow! it adds diversity.

ltecato, I have heard the same about laying the weed cloth close to the surface and then making incisions where you want to plant. But in the case of succulents that like to spread and multiply (I'm hoping at least), this wouldn't work too well, no? Well, I guess therein lies the problem -- the weed cloth doesn't recognize what's a weed and what's a "good plant" when they behave the same way. I think I may just go ahead and lay the weed cloth on top of the gravel and beneath the soil mix for the hell strip and beneath the sand for the walkway and hope that the depth of soil and weight of the pavers keep them in place. Not sure how much good they'll actually do in terms of weed prevention...

blutarski, if that's the case, there's hella-diversity on our hellstrip right now!

I constructed a cactus/succulent strip along either side of the walkway up to my house. First side I dug down about 8" and ammended heavily, and then put over weed cloth since I, too, hate weeds. The good thing now that I look back on that side is there are virtually no weeds in that planter area.. the bad thing is weed cloth is a pain to dig through to plant the other plants, and it also helped retain a bit too much moisture for some plants.

I eventually did the other side of the walk and changed some things- no weed cloth first of all and I ammended down to over 15". This side ended up being a whole lot easier to deal with, and with my haphazard watering practices, I still have no weeds (soil pretty much too dry, and now too pack with plants for weeds to squeeze in). So I agree, too, that weed cloth was not worth all the hassle it was to put in, nor was it a good thing for the succulents and cacti.

"You might want to check with the city code enforcers before you start, to make sure it's OK to plant there"
That seems very important to me. I have heard horrible stories about a planted sidewalk strip and the problems with the city code enforcers of the city of Whittier (and seen the before and after).

Jordi

what´s that plant that comes and goes at center left of picture 3, 5 and 7 (something like a blue-green leaf shrub)??

very nice garden, very full. love it. those who have walking problems (limp) would only go down that narrow way by crawling it. that would be a happy horrible death, if you tripp. lol

Holy moly! That is some cactus strip. Well, my ambitions are certainly much lower than that, more along these lines:

{{gwi:542804}}

By the way, anyone know what those little furball clumps are? I will definitely check with the city first. There are other sidewalk strips on my street that people have planted in or switched out to all gravel -- whether they checked with the city first, who knows -- but at least I know I'm not the only one.

lzrddr, how did you amend your soil? Would you definitely recommend going down at least 15" then?

The plant that 'comes and goes' is a Cyphostemma juttae, and sometimes it's leafless and sometimes its leafy. Right now the new reddish leaves are coming in (great plant).

Ammended the soil with #12 sand (pretty large grains), pumice, perlite (only since I didnt' have tons of pumice), some bark and the rest is cactus soil. Unfortunately the original soil is nearly pure clay so when its wet, its really wet... and when it's dry, its like rock (bone dry). NOT the best stuff to plant on.

I am in agreement with those who say don't bother with the weed block. Your top cover will undoubtedly wash away over time and expose it. It's a pain to dig thru for new plants. It DOES NOT do much to control weeds after the first season. Bermuda grass will ALWAYS come back, no matter what you do. Be prepared to pull it for the life of your garden. One way I've found to pick weeds near spiny plants is to use a very long forceps (giant roach clip). This works surprisingly well.
Here are a few shots of my similar project. The gold D.G. really sets it off, in my opinion.
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Totally cool pics, ya'll must live in dry climates. Your strip might dissuade unwanted visitors too, an added bonus!

I saw a lady on a gardening show one time, she said if you have weeds you don't have enough plants. So I bought more plants LOL! But it's true, more plants=less weeds.
Tally HO!

FYI for anyone who might wonder about permitting for landscaping a city-owned parkway (official term for hellstrip) in the City of Los Angeles, anything less than 42" high does not need a permit.

dav4vid, what do you have under that D.G.? I just went to the paving company to order the materials I needed, and got sticker shock on what everything cost with delivery fees. Now I'm trying to see where I can save a buck or 2. I'm wondering if I can skip that gravel layer for drainage at the base since it's so dry here, and just put down the filler and topping, both of which I'm hoping to be able to get in bags so I can just haul it in my car. Anyone have any advice on the most economical way to fill a 30' x 4' strip for succulents?

Isn't Highland Park something of a hilly area (meaning good drainage)? Why replace the native soil? Just make sure all the weeds are dead-dead-dead then amend with some pumice--maybe.

All my succulents are planted in native soil. They are much happier once I get them out of cactus mix in pots and into the ground. If you focus on planting winter-growers that want winter rain and summer dryness, you should have happy plants. They may get too happy (big!) after a while, but that's another story.

If you are worried about drainage, create berms (raised mounds) a few inches high and plant in that, to give the root systems a little extra protection. Unless you are planning to put in expensive rare specimens (and why would you do that next to a public sidewalk?), most of the common succulents are going to be content in your local clay.

Seeing as you are planting next to a public sidewalk, I would avoid plants with spines, (or boost your homeowners insurance). Looking forward to seeing how your project turns out!

Amazing yard, lzzddr!

Thank you for the tip, hoovb. It's not so much that I'm worried about drainage as it is that I don't know what I'm doing. I'm a complete novice at gardening so I'm taking all the advice I see on this site regarding cacti and succulents to heart. You're probably right that I don't need to worry about drainage so much. I'm not in the super hilly area of Highland Park, but I've never seen water pond anywhere in our yard or that strip either, even during the heaviest rains. My aim is to keep the plantings low, spare and tidy, with maybe a couple of agaves as the largest pieces, so I'm not as concerned about lushness. Really, I just don't want them to die. Or get overtaken by weeds.

By the way, does anyone know of a cheap source for lava rocks in the Los Angeles area, both for topping and as accent rocks?

Agree with hoovb that you can save money by not replacing the native soil. There's tons of succulents that do just fine in that lousy dirt. You'll want to break it up, however, and add something that will keep it workable. That could be pumice or organic matter. I'd be careful about adding sand because I've heard that can combine with the clay and turn into cement. Then again, other people say it won't, so I don't know who to believe. Also agree you probably don't need to worry about drainage.

I've had a strip for the past 10 years in L.A. and no one has bothered me. In fact they are offereing money for us to tear out our lawn and replace with catus , succulents and native plants I go down about 8" of new soil and used succulents, for scapes of color. I have mixed in cactus, also I haven't used any expensive plants, I haven't had anything stolen that I know of and don't really care, the more plants the less weeds come up, they can't reach the sun to do so. I fill in patches where needed or change plants overnight, I do it by color needed. I also use a weed and feed product. The neighbors are really interested, as plants flower year round. Something is always in flower, right now the Echinopsis, and Crassula. Norma

Thank you all for the good advice. I'm so glad I found this forum as a resource or I probably would've been too intimidated to tackle this project, and I'm sure I'll have more questions as I go. If something approximating landscaping comes out of this, I'll be sure to post pictures. Thanks again.

Hi Taco Truck,

It looks like you have Euphorbia tirucalli in the strip - IMO, that's a liability as it exudes sap that's a chemical irritant/burning element. It's a plant that you don't want around moving people so much, but if everyone's aware of it, it's an awesome plant for the landscape.

I love your idea about the strip, and it would be great to have that as an open garden, but IMO, that's the best place to have softer plants, or at least ones that won't cause too much pain.

LzdDr,

Again, great pictures of the progression - wow, to plant out C. juttae and others like that and watch them explode in growth!

Those are some amazing in home ground cactus/succulent gardens! Total garden envy! :)

lzrddr, love the garden. I would be cautious of the beautiful A. globuligemma near the sidewalk. It may be urban myth, but in an Aloe book I have it was labelled as highly poisonous. Mine look so much like A. barbadensis that I worry someone will mistake it and suffer the consequences.

Would be nice to see it today, another 5 years later (last post May 2010). Amazing photos of progression. Rina

Bill, IIRC, A. g. is poisonous when in its natural habitat because it's (almost?) always growing in ground that has deposits of chromium in it.

Rina, I agree. Jeff, I don't have to be so careful when handling mine after all? The source never stated what chemical entity was the toxic element. Off topic, I apologize: do you know what makes A. ballyi toxic. The lit. says sap toxic, "smelling of rats". I have assumed some sort of arsenic compounds.

The sap of the A. Ballyi contains poisonous hemlock alkaloids (Carter 1994). And I did not know that hemlock smelled like rats!

I remember in college my bacteriology prof said haemophilus bacteria smelled like dead mice. I asked who the heck thinks I know what a dead mouse smells like?

Izrddr. Amazing work. This is what I want to convert my front yard to. Great job.

How were you able to collect such a nice variety of plants? Any tips on what worked well and what didn't?

Joe

Bill and Crenda,

I didn't know that about A. ballyi, so thanks for the warning should I grow it again. Bill, no probably not, just watch that you don't go gnawing on a leaf in the back forty. I like the 'smelling of rats' phrase, and having smelled exactly that (I had to evict a nest of wood rats, catching and drowning them - it wasn't pleasant), I'd take the Socratic oath to not smell it again.

This post helped me in 2020! I want to put in a rock succulent garden in my backyard and you all helped me decide now to use a wed guard so thank you!