Turning a Hellstrip Into a Pollinator’s Heaven.

Beyond our home’s property easement is a space owned by the city or county.  Property owners are required to maintain this area. The typical landscape choice is grass. It is easy to mow, and it is green, right? But it is also an opportunity to create a little bit of heaven.

This rectangular space along the front of your home is used for entering your yard, deliveries, and by the mailman to reach into your mailbox. But can it be useful for something else?

Depending on your landscaping style, and if you are not in an HOA-ruled community, what about turning that small strip into a pollinator garden?

Benefits of a Florida pollinator strip include colorful flowers seasonally and no need for mowing or pesticide use. A selection of native and non-native annuals and perennials will provide ample diverse resources for butterflies, birds, and other pollinators. The cons will be a need for rainfall or another water source and more oversight to catch weeds as they germinate (and they will come). Pollinator gardens are not “no maintenance.”  

Designing a pollinator garden always starts off with soil testing, assessing sunlight, and a clean palette. Do not be apathetic and halfhearted about ensuring that your garden is weedless before you start. No need for landscape fabric. It is worthless keeping weeds out and will be a source of frustration in the future.

Owner: Ellie Dorritie, Hellstrip in Buffalo, NY. July 2025.

Once you know what you are working with, then you can select your plant palette and whether you want to start with seeds or plants. It is up to you. Planting seeds is less expensive; just remember that planting seeds will require monitoring and mulch to reduce the weed factor. (they will come.)

If you can afford it, planting annuals and perennials provides an instant effect that will give you satisfaction. I like to go with a combination of two-thirds plants and one-third seeds. Mark your seed areas with signs so that you do not pull sprouts up thinking they are weeds.

Start off with clearing a small area and as you have success, each season you can continue to remove your grass and substitute flowers and shrubs. Planting a heavenly area in your Hellstrip will be divine for pollinators. They will come.

The previous homeowners enjoyed a long, narrow lap pool and bulky firepit in their backyard. The new homeowners, with a three-year old boy and new baby girl, wanted a play area for the children and a place to watch them. My clients asked me to redesign the backyard. What could they do?  

First, I had to determine if the outdoor bench was in the ground permanently. Having the crew dig down to the bottom of the legs, and finding no cement, we knew that the bench could be dug up and flipped. The firepit was heavy but once the metal center was temporarily removed, we could roll it into place. My contractor’s crew worked very hard and rearranged the seating to face the pool.

 The landscape was then rearranged to border the new seating by transplanting the bottlebrush and the Lakeview jasmine and cutting back the Jatropha trees. I added low maintenance shrubs like fragrant tea olives, and colorful flowers like plumbago, hibiscus, and whirling butterflies. Final touch was to add the necessary zoysiagrass that can handle the children’s Little Tykes play toys and Tonka trucks in the gravel bed.  Playground transformation complete.

My design tip? Think outside of the bench, I mean box. Having a landscape that works for you means checking out all possibilities and finding a way to accomplish what needs done.  Also, find a contractor who is willing to dig out the box. Thanks, Mickey and crew!