Three playful mounds create an area for play and informal gatherings.
Photo CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 Julia Manzerova
$2,500 to $5,500
Volunteer + Professional
Medium
Beginner
Good
Sun, Part Shade
A graceful double-lot solution for ongoing stormwater education and social events.
Photo CC BY-SA 2.0 Sosanna.
$5,500+
High
Advanced
Best
A clean, planted edge borders this native meadow—a pollinator-friendly option for every neighborhood.
Photo CC BY 2.0 Liz West
Volunteer
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
Low
Sun, Part Shade, Shade
Transforms the basement area of a recently-demolished house into a series of stepped raingarden tiers.
Photo CC BY-SA 2.0 Frank Mayfield
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
Intermediate
Native meadow design for lots with clay soils.
Photo CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 Pat Dumas
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.
Better
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
Choose-your-color native meadow with a crisp hedged edge.
A low-maintenance lawn custom tailored for Detroit.
Photo © Ernst Conservation Seeds
Temporary planting scheme improves soil health, prepares your lot for what's next.
Photo CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 Tom Potterfield
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.
Off-street parking option for those with alley access.
Photo CC BY-SA 3.0 Jean-Pol Grandmont
An inexpensive, hands-on method for improving the soils on your lot.
A floral landscape that stabilizes lead in the soil while registering your household caffeine levels.
Photo CC BY-NC 2.0 Blucolt
$1,000 to $2,500
A barber-inspired pattern designed and cut into a lot using lines, edges, shapes or images.
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
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
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
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
