This underground water storage tank is a long-term solution to save money and water, reduce risk of basement flooding, and contribute to the health of our Great Lakes waterways.
Photo CC BY-SA 2.0 Adrian Benko
$5,500+
Professional
Medium
N/A
Best
Sun, Part Shade, Shade
A collection of spreading groundcovers that can be planted over your entire lot, or planted and maintained as distinct paisley patches.
Photo CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 TM Weddle
$50 to $1,000
Volunteer
Low
Beginner
Good
A colorful, full-season design creates space to accommodate social gatherings while providing privacy to neighbors.
Photo CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 Magnus Manske
$1,000 to $2,500
Intermediate
Sun, Part Shade
Make money with trees over time with this hedge-organized space for growing and selling trees within neighborhoods.
Photo © Erin Kelly, Lambert, Rotherstien & Associates
$2,500 to $5,500
High
Better
Easy-to-build side lot rain garden designed with plants commonly available at local shops and national chains.
Photo CC BY-NC-SA 2.0, Pat Dumas
A graceful double-lot solution for ongoing stormwater education and social events.
Photo CC BY-SA 2.0 Sosanna.
Volunteer + Professional
Advanced
Transforms the basement area of a recently-demolished house into a series of stepped raingarden tiers.
Photo CC BY-SA 2.0 Frank Mayfield
Improve soil quality on your bald lot with this suite of low cost and low maintenance groundcovers.
Photo CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 Philip Chapman-Bell
Luscious rain garden for lots with crushed-in-place basements.
Photo CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 Dmitry Marochko
Native meadow design for lots with clay soils.
Photo CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 Pat Dumas
Off-street parking option for those with alley access.
Photo CC BY-SA 3.0 Jean-Pol Grandmont
A floral landscape that stabilizes lead in the soil while registering your household caffeine levels.
Photo CC BY-NC 2.0 Blucolt
An inexpensive, hands-on method for improving the soils on your lot.
Save water and money with this sidelot greywater harvesting system.
Photo CC BY-NC 2.0 maggie_and_her_camera
A new, neighborhood-scaled infrastructure designed to better manage snow as it accumulates.
Photo CC BY 2.0 Hormiguita Viajera mir.
A set of guiding principles for preparing any lot for a happy, healthy, and lower maintenance future.
Photo CC BY-NC 2.0 Jurek D.
The clean, hardy, and colorful living perimeter of this lot design is easy to build and works well on multiple lots.
Photo CC BY-SA 2.0 Manuel
A clean, planted edge borders this native meadow—a pollinator-friendly option for every neighborhood.
Photo CC BY 2.0 Liz West
Embrace the poor quality rocky soils of commercial lots in Detroit with this mix of succulents in a range of painterly colors and textures.
Photo Public Domain, Leonard G.
This off-street parking design holds two vehicles with extra room for a lawn—great for sharing with a neighbor who also needs parking.
Photo Public Domain Immanuel Giel
A low-maintenance lawn custom tailored for Detroit.
Photo © Ernst Conservation Seeds
Rain garden and living fence provide a soft way to split a lot between neighbors while managing roof runoff.
Photo CC BY-SA 2.0 Raul654
Neighborhood-friendly tapestry of small and large trees reduces mowing maintenance and creates energy savings.
Photo CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 Tjukka2
Part Shade, Shade
Colorful, hardy plants form a clean and urban edge while creating a barrier to limit lot access.
Photo CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 Framboise
This theatre of seasonal design features four ornamental trees, each crowned by a seasonal rain garden.
Photo CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 Sandstein
Create habitat and improve biodiversity with this set of guiding principles for managing an existing forest patch or emergent stand of trees.
Photo © Erin Kelly, Lambert, Rotherstien & Associates.
Reduce drainage fees, manage dust, and enhance the identity of your commercial corridor with this colorful and fragrant edge-maker.
Photo CC BY-SA 3.0 ForestWander
A people-friendly green infrastructure solution that creates flexible spaces for neighborhood gatherings and manages stormwater on site.
Photo CC BY-SA 2.0 Vmenkov
This maple tree mix creates beautiful shade, fall color, and offers routes to wealth creation over time.
Photo CC BY CAFNR
Very affordable mix of warm and cold season grasses provides habitat and nesting grounds for birds.
Photo CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 Peter Gorman
A playful adaptation of the tulip fields found in the Netherlands.
Photo CC BY-NC-SA 2.0, Illia Frenkel
Three playful mounds create an area for play and informal gatherings.
Photo CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 Julia Manzerova
Temporary planting scheme improves soil health, prepares your lot for what's next.
Photo CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 Tom Potterfield
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