Video: Parkstrip flip: how to replace grass with a bee and butterfly garden

We show how we ‘flipped our parkstrip’ replacing grass with a bee and butterfly garden. The video shows how to replace sprinklers with drip irrigation using a drip retro kit which includes a filter and pressure regulator. To remove the grass we mowed the grass super low, covered it with soaked cardboard, and three to five inches of wood chip mulch. We then planted waterwise perennials through the cardboard. The video also features our other parkstrip which we flipped in the early spring of the previous year. For plantings, in the new parkstrip we planted penstemon, agastache (hyssop, hummingbird mint), butterfly ascelpia (milkweed) and the annuals snapdragon and borage to help fill in gaps and add color in the first year. In our other parkstrip, we take a look at a bit more established plantings of Russian sage and sedum. We chose these plantings because they are all waterwise and well adapted to our soils and climate. Plus, they provide bloom throughout the season, which is great for attracting not only honey bees, native bees, butterflies and other pollinators, but also other beneficial predatory insects like parasitoid wasps, which can help manage aphids and other pests in the garden.

To see more of our front yard foodscape which is featured in the background of this video, see our foodscape tours like this one from July 2019: https://youtu.be/teb87wel8gY