garden plot corner

made a tiny berm out of all the leaves I raked and the grass I cut from the garden bed!

Privet also does just fine as a hedge, and people in the UK actually use it for this purpose. Ironically, that’s where I’ve seen privet growing—along borders, so people who hate privet might as well leave the stuff unless it’s in their way.

I would just do the cover crops along with some nitrogen fixers for several years.

PS – I would keep getting the lawn clippings and use them to mulch my plants.

Try this search engine for native plants in your zip code.

Try clover again for the fall and winter. You can sow clover seeds until late spring. If necessary, you can start back again in mid summer.

I don’t wait for rain, but when I see there’s going to be a few days of rain, I try to get some seeds out there before it rains. A few days of rain might give the seeds a good start, and then, you could mulch the seedlings to help them make it to the next rainfall. You could use a handheld tool to cut competing plants like grass and use them as mulch. If you can spend a little time every day or week, then you’ll figure out what works.