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How to flip your parking strip

Posted at 2:34 PM, Jan 05, 2017
and last updated 2017-01-05 16:42:25-05

1. What is a park strip?
a. It`s the odd piece of property between the sidewalk and the street.

2. Why flip it?
a. One of the hottest new trends in Utah landscapes. It`s catching on quickly!
b. The average grass park strip inefficiently uses 10,000 gallons of water per season for lawn that requires maintenance but provides nothing useful in return.
c. A planted park strip is not only more attractive, it also reduces water use by 80% or more and can be very low-maintenance.
d. A planted park strip increases curb appeal and a sense of separation from the street.

3. How do I do it?
a. Remove the lawn either by killing it with Round-Up or a similar herbicide or using a sod cutter to remove it.
b. Switch an existing sprinkler at either end of the park strip with a drip retrofit head then cap the remaining sprinkler heads; you don`t need them now.
c. Lay drip lines and plant perennials and groundcovers next to a water emitter on the line.
d. Add extra emitters or loop drip line around trees and shrubs.
e. Top with bark mulch to hold in water and reduce weeds.

4. What to plant?
a. Free park strip design plans are available or come and learn more at the Creating Waterwise Park Strips class at the Home Show!

Winter is the best time to carefully plan improvement projects and you can find one stop shopping for expert help at the show. Cynthia Bee will be on the Design Stage at the Home Show on Friday, January 6 at 8:00 p.m. and Sunday, January 8 at 1:00 p.m.