The Full Service (Native) Grass Station
Thanks for scanning to learn more. So what is this? This is an installation of six species of fully native plants designed to provide habitat for local pollinators and beautify this corner of town. Enjoy the plants, and click around the site to learn more!
Tough plants for a tough spot.
This esplanade is a tough spot for plants: it's got full sun bouncing off the asphalt on all sides, road sand and salt all winter, plow spray, and foot traffic all year round. The good news is that native plants are tough! Every one of the six species planted here loves these conditions and can handle it just like true Mainers. Tap any of them to learn more.
David J. Stang · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Of all the species planted here, this one was planted the most densely, designed to be the backbone of the installation. In late summer it throws a purple haze over the top of the bed that you can see from across the road, then it goes tan and holds that color all winter. It's low, tough, and completely at home in sandy, lean soil like this.
Rob Routledge, Sault College, Bugwood.org · CC BY 3.0 US · Wikimedia Commons
Funny name, right? It's called "poverty" oat grass because it actually thrives in ground too poor for much of anything else. Fully mature, the seed heads and spikelets can look a bit like oats, too.
Krzysztof Ziarnek, Kenraiz · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
This plant, which will stay green for most of the year, grows well in footpaths, hence the name and why we placed it on the outer edge here. This is another tough plant that handles compaction, salt and being stepped on. Bring it on.
Krzysztof Ziarnek, Kenraiz · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
This is a beautiful, upright grass. Blue-green through summer, then copper in October, and it stands up through the snow. Little Bluestem is the tallest plant in this installation, growing up to 3 feet, and providing ample curb appeal.
Cbaile19 · CC0 · Wikimedia Commons
This plant will provide some nice pops of color. It's planted in tight groups rather than scattered, so it will look intentional instead of chaotic. The groupings of plants will also help pollinators see it from afar. It is a milkweed, which makes it a monarch host plant, so be on the lookout for butterflies here.
Eric in SF · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
You likely see goldenrods everywhere in Southern Maine, bursting with yellow gold blooms in late summer and fall. This species is unique though, for a few reasons. As you might guess based on its inclusion here, Gray Goldenrod prefers poor sandy ground. It also stays relatively short compared to other species, and still puts on a show at the end of the growing season.
Who Shows Up
Kenneth Dwain Harrelson · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Judy Gallagher · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
jrcagle · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Paul Danese · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Worth the wait.
Because this planting is primarily warm season grasses, it peaks late in the year, but it's worth it! See below for a bar chart on what to expect month to month.
Designed specifically for this space.
installed
straight natives
Washington Avenue
A Forgotten Hellstrip
This strip was ugly and ecologically useless before. In order to set the stage for this planting, the turf of crabgrass and shallow low value weeds was removed by hand. The soil revealed underneath was sandy and dry, the type of stuff that falls apart in your hand. The weeds already growing here told us what kind of ground it was before we dug anything: lean, compacted, gravelly. Knowing that was key to designing this planting, as these six species were picked to match those conditions.
Edges on purpose
First, we thought about the edges. Poverty Oatgrass was chosen to run along the parking lot side, and Path Rush runs the sidewalk side. Defined edges are what make a loose, naturalistic planting read as deliberate rather than looking like somewhere nobody mowed.
Mostly grass
For the rest, we chose mostly grass, and not just because Local Leaf is a full service grass station ;) Almost 90% of the plants here are grasses and rushes. Grasses hold a planting together with a beautiful, texture based interest that lasts into the winter. The flowers sit in tight pockets inside the grass instead of being sprinkled evenly, so they look full and intentional instead of chaotic and random.
Planted densely
Everything is planted densely by design. Aside from providing a healthy, finished look, planting densely provides natural weed control, as weed pressure is challenging on a site like this one.
Straight species
Every plant here is the wild form rather than a variety bred for bigger flowers or different foliage. Let's let nature do its thing.
It gets better with time
What starts as tiny plugs in Oct 2026 will fill in dramatically by next summer. By year three this planting will read as one continuous planting, mature and naturally suppressing weeds on its own.
Using native plants, we design beautiful, functional landscapes that bring balance, beauty, and life back to the natural spaces we hold close to our hearts.
The Local Leaf esplanade is 100+ feet of hellstrip along Washington Avenue, one of the busiest corners in Portland. Six species, 365 native plants, installed October 2026.
Have an area you'd like to transform into beautiful habitat? Let's chat!