Hellstrip

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A small section of terrain positioned between a roadway and a walkway, frequently designated for vegetation or decorative planting
2. A slender area of earth found adjacent to a street and a sidewalk, often used to enhance the visual appeal with flora
3. A narrow strip of land located between a roadway and a pedestrian path, typically utilized for planting greenery or decorative elements

Etymology: The strip of ground between a sidewalk and the curb has a name that sounds like a curse because, for the people who had to tend it, it often felt like one. The term "hell strip" was coined by American horticulturalist and author Lauren Springer Ogden, who used it in her 1994 book "The Undaunted Garden: Planting for Weather-resilient Beauty." She described long stretches of these narrow plots, owned by the city but expected to be maintained by homeowners, and her phrase caught on. The compound is simply "hell" joined to "strip," with no older sense or folk tradition behind it. Ogden's coinage predates a rival name, "devil strip," which is also used in some regions. The New York Times later credited Ogden with the coinage when it covered the strip in 2010, and the term has since spread through gardening writing.