Knowledgebase

Community Garden Walkways #812661

Asked September 29, 2022, 5:08 PM EDT

Hello, I volunteer with a community garden in Bloomington, Minnesota. We just renovated the garden with new boxes and now we need to figure out what to do with the walkways between the garden beds. We have considered planting clover and/or some sort of bee lawn and are looking at dormant seeding this fall. Even though it is a community garden, there isn’t a ton of foot traffic between most of the boxes. We could really need some advice from someone who knows more about this and what our options might be. To give you a little more context, the walkways are wide enough to mow between and we operate on a fairly tight budget, but we will likely have some consistent volunteers to help with mowing/weeding throughout the season. I’ve attached a photo for your reference.

Hennepin County Minnesota

Expert Response

By your description it sounds like a bee friendly lawn would be a good choice between the community raised beds. You can seed late fall or early spring. You may want to establish in sections, leaving some areas unseeded so you can plant and maintain your beds in the early spring. Below is a link that gives detailed information on bee lawns. All the best with this new gardening adventure! 

https://extension.umn.edu/landscape-design/planting-and-maintaining-bee-lawn
Amy J. Extension Master Gardener - HC Replied September 30, 2022, 10:57 PM EDT
Hi Amy, I'm following up on this Q&A about our community garden walkways because we DID plant bee lawn and generic grass seed last fall and it is now growing in. We did not leave any space unplanted and will be welcoming gardeners in to plant seeds and seedlings in their raised bed boxes the weekend of May 13-14th. 

I'm wondering how we can mitigate any potential damage to the seedlings and whether it makes sense to do any overseeding yet this spring? Should we lay down boards or something to walk on temporarily (up to a few hours at a time) so we don't damage the seedlings? 

I've attached a couple photos so you can get a sense of the walkways and boxes I'm referring to. These were not taken this spring, but imagine little grass and bee lawn plant seedlings growing in.

Thanks!
Molly Turnquist Butala


On Fri, Sep 30, 2022 at 9:57 PM Ask Extension <<personal data hidden>> wrote:
The Question Asker Replied April 28, 2023, 9:46 AM EDT
I do not have any recommendations. Any traffic on newly planted seedlings that are coming up may cause them irritation. If your seed does not all take or gets damaged I would recommend seeding areas at different time (Eg: 1/2 of the path and once grown in seed the other 1/2 of the path). This will allow gardeners to still reach their beds. 
Amy J. Extension Master Gardener - HC Replied April 30, 2023, 10:45 PM EDT

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