13 Hellstrip Solutions

Even a small plot of land can add beauty in all seasons and serve as a pollinator habitat, says Evelyn J. Hadden, author of Hellstrip Gardening.This waterwise hellstrip garden in Boise, Idaho, features yucca, lavender, and both white and yellow flowering varieties of buckwheat (Eriogonum). 

Hellstrips are a simple solution for making a walkway more welcoming, says Carmen Johnston, owner of Carmen Johnston Gardens and Nectar & Co. in Georgia. She believes the big beautiful blooms, like this hellstrip she saw in Fairhope, Ala., are just as essential as the path they border. The walkway helps guests get where they are going, but hellstrips help them get there with a smile on their face, she says.

When growing curbside edibles, raised beds can add fresh soil to avoid heavy metals or particulates that have deposited over many years but don’t dissipate. This hellstrip garden, featured in the book, Hellstrip Gardening, is in Portland, Ore.

A formal design, with crisp edges, geometric shapes and symmetry across the sidewalk, makes this Portland, Ore., hellstrip worthy of slowing down and stopping to take a look. The garden is featured in the book, Hellstrip Gardening (Timber Press).