Blend parts of these designs together to create a custom solution for your lot.
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
$50 to $1,000
Volunteer
Medium
Intermediate
Best
Sun, Part Shade, Shade
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.
Low
Beginner
Good
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
$1,000 to $2,500
Sun, Part 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
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.
$2,500 to $5,500
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
$5,500+
Volunteer + Professional
High
Advanced
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
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
Off-street parking option for those with alley access.
Photo CC BY-SA 3.0 Jean-Pol Grandmont
Better
An inexpensive, hands-on method for improving the soils on your lot.
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
Professional
N/A
A low-maintenance lawn custom tailored for Detroit.
Photo © Ernst Conservation Seeds
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
