apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I might consider putting a nice fence in the middle to dissuade the u-turns, and then some shrubs for a little curb appeal in the wider space. If you put grass, then you're going to have to mow it - which will only take a few seconds, but I suspect will always feel like a chore!

I would put a low hedge between the sidewalks, something like boxwood but works in your climate. Between the sidewalk and your driveway a massing of that same hedge at the street and house, but broken up with low plantings of seasonal flowers or groundcover, and a couple of stepping stones between drive and walkway.

A tree at the front of the wider beds would be nice, also. If you can coordinate with neighbors to do the same tree at each driveway that would be even better.

I have a similar situation in Portland. We planted layered bulbs down the center for year round appeal and edged them with Irish moss and succulents that can be stepped on.

The space is impractical for tall plantings. Also if people are drving into your space to do a turn around it would appear that they are doing so out of necessity, and any planting there would be futile, since they would most likely run over it. That said the only planting that I think would look interesting would be mondo grass. It will have some form and be easy to care for. Good Luck.

What about some kind of ground cover like moss or grass?

Thyme
Korean Grass
Scotch Moss
Blue Woolly Speedwell

I would go with moss. Low maintenance and pretty as well.

Doesn't seem wide enough to plant anything, does it? I'd say just gravel in the middle narrow strip between the front doors, with a nice pot of something right by the wall. Maybe a little row of succulents, just to add a bit of green. In the wider strip you could do a row dwarf English boxwoods. Don't do a tree - the roots will explode through the pavement. And yes don't forget the stepping stones between the garage and the walk. What a challenge! Good luck.

What about building long narrow raised beds? This will enable you to plant all sorts of things and (hopefully) inhibit people who are turning around in your driveway from running over your plants. Without info on what kind of sun exposure this gets it is difficult to recommend plants.

Since you'll probably be stepping over the plants a lot between the drive and front walk, put in ground cover that doesn't mind footsteps. But don't stop there:

Currently, the 3 drives appear to be one continuous, wide driveway on which it's OK to drive a car. You need to make it obvious that that isn't the case with the plants, and some moss or ivy won't be obvious to someone swinging their car around. Space out a few taller, hardier looking plants or shrubs to deter those cars.

If all the walks have some plant life between them, and not solely yours, it will look even less like a giant driveway, so if your neighbors are receptive, encourage them to do the same and offer your help if they doubt their green thumb.

2 or 3 tall planters, shaped like taller windowboxes and evenly spaced down the strip, will discourage drive-overs. If there's a 'visual barrier' then people don't perceive that they can drive over it

For beautiful groundcovers:
Blue Star Creeper *
Creeping Thyme *
Creeping Mint *
Scotch Moss
Succulents

Some will bounce back quickly (*), if someone drives over them, some won't.

Plant a single row of any of the smaller varieties of daylily, hemerocallis. Tough attractive leaves and some varieties have very long blooming season.

I wouldn't plant anything even moderately high in those narrow spaces unless you have zero intention of ever opening the car doors while it's outside the garage....

I agree w/ the above: plant low groundcovers such as Thyme, Sedum, Primrose, etc. Your local garden center would be the best resource to suggest specific plants that would thrive in your environment.

ok... if you and your neighbor are amenable to this idea... noone says you need to keep those ugly concrete slabs... sledgehammer it up and put in a flagstone pathing. sit can undulate to give it a more organic feel, you can even use the same kind of tiles that they used on the lower facade of your townhomes. that would open you up even to bring just your walk closer to the driveway and open up yours and the shared space to pigger planting options... check your CC&R's to be sure, but ya, people always forget that they don't have to keep the sidewalk kind of thing out front!
check out http://garden.lovetoknow.com/wiki/Decorative_Stepping_Stones

Mossy moss!

I like the idea of using planters. But the first thought I had was that you could install a low trellis and plant some sort of climbing vine. I am not much of a gardener, but my gut feeling is that they don't need a whole ton of root space.

You'll need to be able to open your car doors.

For the skinny strip between the doorways, you might consider planting in containers. Window boxes are narrow and would fit there well. They'd be portable in case you needed to remove them for some reason.

If you belong to a neighborhood or homeowners association, you'll have to check the rules before you do anything permanent.

A couple of trellises will deter people driving through the area...just put some type of climbing plant on it and let her rip! Or get with your neighbors and see what ideas they can come up with. It'll give you a little bit of privacy between the neighbors and you.

Or, how about one of those picket fences, and you could hang window boxes on them w/ some flowers?

I would think about using wood planters. It's a great fence/plant alternative. You can also build or find them on casters so you can change them out or move them around.

bamboo!

those pencil width decorative ones that have no leaves and can be densely packed to create a fence. i can't think of the name...

There's a reason there's gravel there. Any plants will get driven over. It's just not a great space to garden.

I agree that you shouldn't put anything too bulky or tall there, as it will be super annoying when getting in and out of the car and will make walking it awkward.

In initially seeing the pic I thought the gravel looks nice in contrast with the really white cement and the black doors, very modern looking. In keeping with that look, maybe blue fescue. Just a little more color & it's super hardy. It would survive a little run over! If you are trying to prevent people from driving and walking over the area, you could just do a simple black edge to frame out the bed.

I like morina's idea to build panels around the edges and maybe use small falling plants, but I also agree that thyme or a nice type of clover would be the cheapest and easiest way to go.

That center strip would look crisp with narrow, raised planter boxes or a boxwood-like hedge. Even 15-18" tall might be enough of a visible deterrent for U-turners. It wouldn't overwhelm the space if you left a few breaks or openings.

If you don't like the gravel on the side strips, you could replace it with small stone pebbles.

Doesn't a U-turn seem awkward with that post at the end of the walkway?

As for bamboo and for many types of trellis-vines (ivy, jasmines, etc.) they're usually pretty invasive. I know jasmine is considered a "noxious weed" in the midwest and will completely take over a yard (field, driveway) if given the opportunity. It seems to take up just as must root space as you'll let it (read: pruning), but does grow very quickly.

How about a camomile lawn? I am not sure if camomile will grow where you live, but if it does, then it will survive the occasional car driving over it, and smell lovely when one does!

I'd first suggest going to a local gardening center and looking at some of the low ground covering that is hardy in your area. Maybe talk with one of the people that work there about what are some natural plants for your area. Ferns, like the Deer Fern (Blechnum spicant), give some height and are very hardy. They, unfortunately, die off in the winter but come back at the first sign of warmer weather, the previous year's babies. So make sure not to cut ferns down since the leaves, throughout the season, drop lots of tiny seeds for the next year's growth. They also do well in sunny or shady areas. Some lower growing plants you can check out are Caladiums and small slow growing shrub-like plants. Like I said before, go browse around your local garden center and familiarize yourself with local plants. Hope that helps.

I would remove about two inches of gravel from the strips and put in narrow wooden planter on each side, interupted / surrounded by polished black river stones. There are some cool Ikea hacks doing these kind of planters cheaply (stained to match the color of your brown sideing). Plant the bamboo others have suggested in the planters. If you have access to the house through the garage (and so won't need to bring large items in through the front door) you could offset the planters so they form a continuous wall of bamboo when viewed from the side but have patches of river stone (which would be a great spot to set tea candles when company comes over) seen when one walks down the walkway.

I agree with people above. There's not a whole lot you can do to discourage turnarounds and U-turns unless you want to plant something large - then you have to hope it doesn't get run into. I'd just plant ground cover - the moss idea sounded good.

A tall planter right on the end of each gravel section will prevent people from driving across the driveways, but will not reduce door-opening space for you.

Mondo grass or Lirope.

which unit is yours, firstly? with 2107 you might have more opportunity to deter the U-turners by planting things on the right side of the driveway near the mailboxes. a 12"-18" tall planter box built into the narrower strip between the unit would be a nice separator, but I wouldn't build anything the full length of the strip between the house and driveway. a matching box the first 1/3 of the length from the street would probably be okay, then some low fluffy grasses\flowers.. and don't forget to leave a space to walk through from the driveway to the sidewalk. The lightpost might make that a bit awkward, though. It would be cool if you could enclose it inside the box, but the city might have some say in that. (I assume that's who owns the light anyways).. You may also want to talk to the neighbors and see what they think. It might be nice to have the box portions be uniform for all of the three units (with the plantings possibly varying.. or not). and of course, the dreaded homeowners association will want their say, if you have one.

I presume you don't need to worry about shovelilng snow?

My garage has a rather narrow space for the car, like this appears. You need to be able to open the car doors on both sides all the way AND get around the open door with a box or bag of groceries, etc. for the space to really function. I'd guess you need those spacers for access and if you fill them with stuff you can't easily walk on without stumbling over stuff, you may be very unhappy. I presume guests park behind you in your space? So the same holds true for them.

I think I'd consider putting down a container planter at the end of the driveway near the road, behind where people will park. And maybe add some river rocks for texture.

I have a TERRIBLE idea. But let's dream. Twin passages to the doors between walls of tall bamboo. Mysterious, dark, dangerous, romantic.

or geometric Tati-like trained espaliers of fruit, like screens

or, EVEN WORSE, lower to the ground: really darling goofy and gaudy rows of annual flowers, marigolds, petunias, too colorful and disney to step on

Mondo grass (Ophiopogon japonicus) would be very nice in the narrow centre bed. It's a very glossy dark green and only grows a few inches high, so it won't get in the way.

For the two wider beds, how about a low hedge of rosemary? It's tough, fast growing, easy to clip, the little blue flowers would complement the earth tones of the building, and you get a lovely fragrance if you brush against them. Plus you can use the leaves for cooking.

The only downside is that I don't know if you get snow, and if so how these plants would cope with that.

I am with LBhirise. Mondo grass or liriope should work.

i would plant scouring rush (horsetail)