Forest Edges — Problems and Possibilities

Imagine an idyllic suburban backyard. From the back door you are looking out over an open area of mowed turf towards a deep forest beyond. Between the turf and the trees, a meandering ribbon of native flowers hugs the edge of the canopied forest . . . but then the spell is broken . . . WEEDS!

Pulling weeds along the edge of the forest will be the main order of business for most of the next six months. But even if you don’t particularly enjoy weeding, the frequent close inspection of the “flower beds” brings with it the joy of watching the native plants grow. Since the edges are usually sunnier than the forest interior, they provide the opportunity to grow a large diversity of native plants — a “ribbon of flowers.” For this year, I think the ideal time for planting is past, so for the rest of this blog I will focus on the weeding aspect of gardening with natives.

If left unchecked, all kinds of weeds and grasses proliferate along the edges and spread into the adjacent forest. I mainly control them by individually removing each plant by hand, using a tool like a “dandelion digger” to get under roots when necessary. Native plants from the forest also spread into the ribbon of flowers and most of them are welcome additions, but volunteer shrubs and trees pose a dilemma. You must decide whether to remove them (or transplant them) and hold the forest at bay or leave them and allow the forest to gradually take over.

Another task is keeping the grass in the turf area from spreading into the flower bed. I welcome advice from anyone who has a good, inexpensive solution to this problem. (I’ve been on the lookout for 50 years.) My main method has been to use various shovels and hoes to maintain a channel (6” – 10” deep) between flower bed and turf.

The wider the ribbon of flowers, the more hours will be spent weeding (and planting during the wet season). For reasons of both time and expense, I would recommend a narrow ribbon of flowers – three feet is wide enough and more than five unnecessary.