Gravel to Green

Several days after unearthing that huge piece of slate, Miss V and I were digging at the same location when we hit something solid. We'd been through so many episodes of pulling out cobblestones and bottles, we were sure it was just more of the same. We approached the digging from various sides and just as I slid and almost fell, we realized it was something smooth.  To our great surprise, it seemed as though the large piece of slate had reappeared - just about a foot deeper. We swept away the soil until the entire shape was revealed: narrower and a bit longer than the original one. But it was buried deep on one end. Optimistically we prepared a place for it near the other slate, with hopes of enlarging our patio. Now, all we needed was to assemble another team of strong men. October 1st was a sparkling day, and we were lucky to find two new friends of the garden, willing and able to help us. Had it not been for the persistence of Mr. C and Mr. R, this second piece never w...

All of us who've been involved in the planting of The Footbridge Garden have concentrated on the front sections, because there was a nasty piece of slate wedged in packed dirt by the supports for the footbridge. It was large, but I always hoped this piece could be moved, so we renew the soil, and put in a focus plant and a trellis with climbing vines. But, how to move the slate? Miss V and I had dug around it, and made a place for the slate to be moved, but we could not even budge it. We needed help. So, one day, our friend Mr. H offered, and brought along Mr. J. for some added muscle. After a few tries, we called for more strength.  When Mr. D. J arrived, it suddenly seemed possible. There was some huffing and puffing, and then, it was in place moved directly under steps for a 'patio'. What a great feeling! Thanks, team! Then, I got to work connecting the path to the newly positioned slate with some makeshift steps.  At Home Depot I found some ...

See how far we've come? It's amazing! Visitors to the garden seem to be a regular thing now, and if I have my camera, they usually find a place on the path to pose. It all starts with their interest and questions about the plants, the names of flowers, which ones will winter over, and so on. It doesn't take long for me to ask for a photo op. In early September I was honored by a visit from Mr. Kenton, the Constituent Liaison of Council Member Jimmy Van Bramer. We'd spoken several times, when I was trying to get to the bottom of who actually owns (pays taxes) on the land. The answer is the City/MTA, but it appeared to be untended - probably because it's such a strange shape in an odd location. Sanitation would come by periodically and haul off the tires and debris tossed there on a regular basis. Now, let's hope they don't confuse Little Zebra grass with Ragweed!  Mr. Kenton was most curious about the garden project, as his office is very interested in...

A trip to Home Depot with Mr. S. (garden charter member and  cattus protonus )  resulted in the first evergreen for the Footbridge Garden. How exciting! But now, to prepare the soil.  Thank goodness for the non-stop help of Mr. B a few days later, we got the twice-the-rootball-sized hole dug. It was another archeological experience, with the unearthing of two intact vodka bottles and two extremely heavy 19th C granite cobble stones. I wondered, just HOW heavy? But, it made making the hole much easier as each foreign object was tugged out of the way. Then, we filled in the surrounding area around root ball with the organic soil   from a bag, mixed with the composted manure.  Finally it was time to stand back and admire it, AND to water, of course.  The label says it could reach 15 feet high, so we made sure to set it so it would not bump into the stairs, and in a spot where it will eventually cover up the stair support - a distracting eye...

As the heat of the summer seems to have lessened a bit, it's time to see which plants have survived. During my time away, a host of waterers added the precious liquid to the plants  - who continued to be battered by the punishing sun, with over 90 degrees most days. Thanks to all who gave their time and rolled those barrels of water over the often rocky pavement to get near the garden. One sad thing to note is the loss of plants - not due to lack of care - but to the nearby weed spraying of chemicals by the LIRR, whose fence we have as a boundary. Those plants near the fence started looking a little bad - reported one conscientious waterer - but on inspection yesterday, I saw all the weeds directly next to the garden on their side of the fence were dead, taking with them several nearby plants. Alas, but, that's the risk, I guess. Now we know. Enjoy the photos I took right before leaving on vacation. Be sure to use the magnifier to see the photos at their best. It's ...

Friends stop by to see what we're up to. Mr. R chats as Miss V takes a breather. Miss V is one of the Footbridge Garden's loyal friends and workers, and has helped do some of the most important work: digging. Because we have a whole spectrum of debris to sift through, it's not a simple thing to put a plant in the earth. First we have to dig. And, what an experience it's been. Two different days we started off thinking it would be easy, and ended up in a sweat with many exclamations, "Look what I found!" To give you an idea, here's a simple list of what's been in the dirt: Lots of broken glass A variety of perfectly intact whisky bottles - 8 or more Rocks of all sizes pieces of wood old railroad parts, including stakes, bolts, etc. pieces of clothing syringes knives cement squares 19th C. cobble stones styrofoam large chunks of freeform cement metal tubes parts of bottles batteries bricks and - an umbrella! Now, the idea is to replace some of this toxi...

Garden visits in Two Parts I was showing a visiting friend the Footbridge Garden last Friday, when I encountered the most honored guests I could imagine: the ladies from the Linco Garden. I was thrilled. See my second post on this blog, "The Second Inspiration " , and you'll get a sense of my first glimpse, last fall. From time to time I go down the long block and take peek through the vines at to see what's blooming. I had fully intended to write a follow up on their progress, but had been too busy watering the Footbridge Garden. However, when I saw them there, I knew it was time. I showed them our progress. Then we squeezed into the path to pose and acknowledge the garden mascot - the cat we call Tuxedo. Now it was time to visit their garden. What a treat! There are many unique things to remember as you view these photos. First, it's the property of the Linco Printing Company, a multilingual printing facility. They own the land, and it was the idea of the '...

Team Effort One of the Footbridge Garden's friends from across the street offered some unique help when he heard there was a big solid item under the earth where I was digging. "I'll send over two of my strong guys with a pry bar and get it out for you in a few minutes", he said one afternoon as he leaned over the stairs. True to his word, this morning he hastened cheerful workers to the garden, and it didn't even take a minute for them to remove it. It happened so quickly, I was not even able to snap a shot before the buried treasure was taken away. What was it? I think someone tossed some cement construction material there once, and years of other junk and dirt ended up on top, and then the ragweed took hold. But, if the Little Zebra grass and other plants are to go there, then the debris had to be dug up. And - just so you know the division of labor was equitable - the fellow on the left in the photo below removed the big slab of rough concrete, after it was ...

Footbridge Garden Continues Makeover A gigantic mound of ragweed has been growing near the base of the stairs for years. It's had a good spot: full sun, dry and windy. Since ragweed loves to grow in abandoned lots, and along roads and rails, it's been quite at home. But, now it's time to move on and out. Easier said than done. While MOST of the roots have been pulled out by hand, I fear we'll see more of this invasive and tenacious green. It's tough!

Because the footbridge is our only way in and out of the neighborhood from the 7 train, the stairs are a perfect chance to chat on the way up or down. Most of the new friends have come from an inquiry, a compliment, or an offer of help, as someone comes back from work, or is on the way. The other morning I think I had seven conversations while I tried to pull up the roots of the stubborn ragweed. (And people say New York is not friendly; huh?) As the plants grow, so grows the group!

This is The Footbridge Garden after our visitor/godmother, Mrs. Green Thumb. She affirmed the success of many of the transplants, and gave solid advise of what would work where, and bloom when. This is a peek into the vision of the garden; you can see what we have, what we still would like, and what work needs to be done. Today marks the 11th week; we have much to be proud of thanks to so many who have either watered, or given kind words. Our many visitors and future helpers will be seen in the next posts.

Some Boston common sense What a helpful visitor to the garden: the official first godmother of The Footbridge Garden. Let's call her Mrs. Green Thumb, from the suburbs of Boston, where she is head of a garden club. She's the one who offered the first plants: the Montauk daisies, which have now been in our LIC soil for 11 weeks. It was with great pleasure to welcome her help, her eye and expertise. And with her came many day lilies, more ajuga, asters, and of course - more of that wonderful home-made mulch. So we planted in the heat of another hot morning on the 25th of July. We dug more beds, replaced that nasty soil with a better mix, and did what we could in the heat. But now, things are really starting to take root. Thanks again, Mrs. Green Thumb.

A sweet 5-leafed marigold. The Footbridge Garden turns eight weeks old and the seeds, lovingly germinated in Dixie cups, have started to mature in their new beds. Sun sun sun; water brought by buckets. And just as we thought we'd never feel a drop of rain, we got a good soaking. A few days later, the first red marigold plants began dotting the greenery with bright blossoms. Our colorful community of viewers continues to grow too. Now, familiar faces descend the footbridge with a wave, a comment, and daily well wishes. One balmy evening I heard two mature gents chatting as they were walking down the steps. "Let's see what the garden is doing", they said as they stopped to peer over the stair rail. After admiring comments on the plantings, I noticed one of them sported a large pair of binoculars. "Oh, have you been bird watching?" I asked, thinking their interest in the garden was a natural extension of a day in the ...

Each day brings more green, and more budding friendships. Many people stop to admire, give encouragement and say they've noted the progress. We've already started a simple exchange of emails and phone numbers, but looks like we need a more organized way to communicate when one of us is out of town or not around. Because our watering methods are so primitive, duplicating the effort is not so efficient. Early on, several people from the Borden Veterans Residence, a block away, had expressed interest. Now, it's time to contact them again. And further down Borden Avenue is Fresh Direct - the online supermarket - where they pack up the food purchased online, and deliver it all over the entire New York area. One nice worker stopped to chat and expressed interest in getting involved. It's clear we're growing in people as well as plants! It's amazing we all have survived this week. I was away a few days and worried that the over-100 degree weather would leave most thin...

Footbridge Garden Update: July 4, 2010 This weekend, three of us embarked on getting the gravel path laid down, and the fence begun. The fence is modeled after the British and early American fences that were made with branches- sometimes even growing trees, whose branches were trained into shapes. All things considered, these 'found' cut branches seemed to do the trick. And, for those of you who recognize what we're fencing in - yes - it IS ragweed (no sneezing yet). Eventually, it will go, but for now, it's green. More and more people are volunteering to water and keep an eye on the garden. I'll try to round up some good photos of the waterers in the next few days. Now, we wait until later in July when more promised plants will be brought in. Also, I certainly hope it will be cooler then, as our latest plants are suffering with the heat. It's predicted to be 100 this week! What a time we've all had. Rain, please.

Up from the roots: green It was March 14, when the limbs of the cottonwood tree on 51st were cut off (please see my first and third posts on the blog). I'd always intended to go over on Borden Avenue, find the entrance to the building, and talk to those running the business on whose property the tree grew. I'd driven by a few times and thought it looked closed, and I could not see the name - even though the name Diplomat Envelope Company could be seen fading on the side of the building. There was a large 'yard' and the gates were closed. I wanted to get to the bottom of WHY the cottonwood had been cut down. I'd presumed it was possible that the roots were still growing, disturbing the plumbing or the foundation. But I did not pursue it. I'd learned from a biologist friend that the vine that had surrounded the tree and grown up into the branches and onto the building had been poison ivy. Could it have been a way to get rid of the ivy...a bit of overkill, in attem...

Beautifying Hunters Point, one tiny bit at a time. Sunday the 27th marked the sixth week since the first Montauk daisies went into the ground in our Footbridge Garden. Look what's happened since! Our watering is still the big hang up. Volunteers from two buildings have been known to come with all manner of watering devices. A 5-gallon jug on a hand cart, and a garbage pail on a dolly can be seen being rolled down 21st Street. People stare. The other day, a man coming over the bridge stopped and looked at the closed garbage pail on wheels. It was sitting in the parking lot while I was watering the garden. He stood in front of it, obviously puzzled. "What's in there" he asked suspiciously. "Do you want to see?" I asked. "I'm afraid!" was his response. When he found out it was just water, he laughed, and said, "It just looked so strange, I could not figure out what it was!" But, thanks to all, it's really starting to take shape. An...

A few of the transplants in the 5 week old Footbridge Garden. The other day I got to thinking how many people I know in New York who've come from other places. They're transplants. It takes time to put down roots, feel at home, get a good foundation going, and then start to thrive and blossom. Just like this garden. The Footbridge Garden is currently made up only of transplants from friends' gardens elsewhere. From as far away as Arlington, Massachusetts, and Providence, Rhode Island, these plants have moved to the Big Apple. Only today did I receive my first plants from Long Island: a chocolate mint plant, and a small Rose of Sharon. Soon the garden will be brimming - not necessarily flowering this year, but, if all goes well, perhaps showing a blossom or more by early summer 2011.

The Footbridge Garden from above. The Plan - more or less. Here's what the garden looked like at Week 5, recently mulched, and the path laid out a bit more. So you can see some of the ideas about how the space will be divided, I've made a plan. After I made the plan I thought, does this look like Farmville? Though I am still trying to figure out who 'owns' the land, the biggest difference is, OUR garden is real! I'm checking on the names of the plants from the N.E. donors, and soon I'll have the close-ups up to see very soon. Today I got confirmation of the Rose of Sharon delivery from a supporter/neighbor, and so I'll try to get those in this weekend. This is very exciting! Any others of you out there with plants that might like to try living next to the LIRR, just let me know!

Lamb's Ear, Dahlia, and Montauk Daisy put down roots. What a great day yesterday ! A semi-anonymous supporter of the garden handed me some cash for mulch! 'Isn't this what we need? If it's so hard to water that much, then - maybe this would help hold the moisture'. Ah, great idea. I took the cash and ran for my car. At Home Depot I picked up four big plastic bags of the stuff recommended by the employee there. It seemed likely to be enough. Once back at the garden, I went through three bags in no time flat! But now the plants are snug in their pine bark beds, and will hopefully thank us all by thriving in our consistently sunny and HOT weather of late. How happy they look. I'm happy too. Tomorrow I'll upload some close-ups of the plants.

One more New England trip and my car was again filled with the overflow from two friends' gardens. And, I got tips and words of wisdom about the earth to use, a good mulch to purchase if I wanted, and which plants might have to be dormant a year before flowering. As I was trying to do thing project on as little cash outlay as possible, I tried to keep purchases to an absolute minimum. With the generosity of my friends and their abundant gardens, I have not had to purchase much. More time planting, mixing the soil, and hauling water. One month later, some losses, and many successes. The Montauk daisies look like they've rooted, and we'll see if they blossom in the fall. After a rough start it seems most of the Creeping Jenny is going to make it, and the Ajuga is doing just fine. The violets are thriving - of course - and the Lamb's Ear is amazing, and has already flowered. There's a Smartweed that appears to have survived. And, I found a few small Petunia plant...

Who would have thought this little sliver of land would have elicited so many comments? I have been amazed. Even when there was little in the ground, there were curious and helpful folk commenting. A garden? There? That first day in mid-May, after I managed to get the three Montauk Daisies in the ground was a big day. And then, my first volunteer, who came the next day to help. We laid out the path, a serpentine shape ending in a point, and tried to find as many possible stones that might work for a path. Not so easy, so we just put the few we had in a general form to be dealt with later. Then we had all the other plants to deal with. Little by little we cleared the soil best we could. Daunting! But with some help, things were starting to look possible. 'Thank you.' 'Gee, it's great someone cares.' 'It will be so wonderful to have something growing here!' 'Good luck!' 'I hope no one trashes this beautiful idea.' Comments like these continue e...

Hunters Point Footbridge As one goes down the steps from the footbridge over the LIRR tracks, after passing under the LIE, there's a sliver of land the shape of a skinny piece of pizza. Since I'd been making the short trek from the No. 7 train on days I did not drive, I'd noticed this little parcel of land. How very sad; underutilized and barren. Until a clean up in early May (I've later learned it must be the MTA who cleans here periodically), it had been a dump for tires, for cans and bottles and goodness knows what else. It was truly ugly. So, until May, I thought the idea of a garden was impossible. All those tires, all those cans and terrible weeds. Then one day, the place was cleaned up, leaving it more or less with nothing there. Few weeds had begun to peek through the broken glass and metal in the soil; nothing was visible except rocks and broken glass buried in the earth. Why not make this into a garden? Well, at least, try. But how? No water in sight. A week...

My suspicions arose in early March, when I noticed the link fence that seemed to protect the magnificent old cottonwood tree (my very first post in this blog), had been ripped open. I remember thinking, why would someone do this? So, in some ways, I was prepared - unfortunately. March 14, 2010. It was a Sunday, and I was driving down 51st Avenue, as usual. As I rounded the corner from 25th Street, I could see the scene up ahead. No graceful branches about to bloom. Nothing but a truck, a cherry-picker, a shredder and a saw mill sitting right in the middle the street. I screeched to a halt. Surprised at my anger, the three guys working said, 'Well, it was causing problems in the building - and has to be cut down'. I stood in shock. They'd already taken the top branches and ground them up. They were working on the larger ones, and seemed annoyed anyone was questioning this. I was so upset by the site. It's as if I'd witnessed a murder. The men were cavalier and dism...

Hunters Point: it really isn't very green, even though the name suggests otherwise. Those trees on the hill leading down to the Newtown Creek have all but vanished with the industrialization of the area. That all started before the turn of the 20th Century, back when industries were proud to spew black smoke into the air - a hallmark of economic prosperity. Now, besides the ragweed in vacant lots - and of course - the large cottonwood tree on 51st Street, there's little green. That's just what inspired me for the second time: a not-so-secret garden, boasting tens of chrysanthemum plants, against neatly made paths of white stone. It was in October when I noticed it. Usually I had my mind on other things, driving to a destination. But now, there was nothing to do but stop when the color caught my eye. My luck, two ladies were in the garden, strolling, chatting, pointing to the plants. Out of the car, camera in hand, I got near the chain link fence that was draped with mornin...

When I first saw the beautiful tree growing on 51st Avenue near 24th Street in August of 2009, I was amazed. I sensed it had to be 75 years or more. It towered over the cinderblock buildings nearby. And, it seemed to rival the distant Empire State Building, seen in over the haze at the end of 51st Ave, where it meets the Long Island Railroad track, with the entrance to the Queens-Midtown Tunnel right behind. I thought, among all these gray and brick buildings, this is really a huge tree! What must this tree have experienced? Several days later I began to investigate the tree. I stopped the car, and got out. It seemed so very healthy, so green, so happy. I estimated the height to be about 70 feet. It was near a one-story structure, entered through a court yard on Borden Avenue. Protected by a chain-link fence that surrounded the back of the building, the tree seemed safe. Vines grew up around it and onto the building next to it. I reached up and grabbed a nice leaf, took it home and - ...