Starting the Footbridge Garden

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 every time I am in the space. It's actually amazing!

I never would have known so many people cared.

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The Footbridge Garden 2012

Oh, what a journey it's been. In the last post - nearly a year ago - I made a to-do list for this blog. We were so busy watering and pulling weeds, it's taken a back seat. But not the plants. We are proud to be in our third year. Yes, we have LOTS of photos to post, however, it's a problem we all have these days - sufficient time! View from the footbridge looking down, where spare tires were dumped among the liquor bottles. Recapping the season : Many good things, new plants and mega growth - and two bad events. I'll post some pictures here to show how lovely things are in general, and then, a few showing the two downers. This year, no natural wind storms, no drunk garden vandals, but spray from the LIRR weed killers (who did not see our weathered garden signs), and a very sad visit from the DOT, who cut and pulled ALL the sunflowers along the parking side of the footbridge. They should have been heading for the underpass of the LIE. What shock to see thi

Summertime 2018!

Summer 2018 and we're still going strong! With help from the community, we've got lots of new plants, and the familiar and much loved sunflowers are just beginning to blossom! So far, the LIRR has not sprayed (they did extra last year) and the DOT is not working on the bridge right now. Things are changing in the neighborhood, however, and new faces emerge who are interested in the garden, and the new businesses. Check back soon for a compendium of the best photos of the last few years. If you need to reach the garden hostess, please call: 917-727-7132, and leave a message. Sunflowers are coming. Now in its 9th year, we're still growing!

Curious Onlookers and Helping Hands

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

Gravel to Green

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