A relaxation space for the community, designed by artists.
$2,500 to $5,500
Volunteer + Professional
Best
Grantee
2017
Sun
Faina Lerman, Graem Whyte
Volunteer + Professional
Neighbors, family, friends, volunteers, paid interns, artists-in-residence
Ring Around the GardenOrganic Bowl
Mixed Greens
Single Lot
1984 McPherson St, Detroit MI 48212
We cleared a massive amount of trees and debris from two vacant and overgrown lots, transforming them into a beautiful garden retreat and resting space for neighbors to enjoy. We created an amazing Japanese-garden-inspired ornamental garden with mini mountain mounds and pathways in less than two months.
Yes, we are artists so of course we had to put our own twist on it. We did a great deal of research on Japanese gardens and rain garden designs that we used as inspiration for the project. Graem Whyte, the project manager, created the design template using SketchUp, a rendering program, and then modified it as needed based on the unique features of our lot.
Yes
Beautification, stormwater management
We owned the lot
We rented a boom lift (cherry picker) because we had to remove maybe half a dozen sizable trees that were near power lines. We learned a lot about trees, specifically native trees.
This was a learning process for all involved. The first week of August 2017 we did workshops with youth in the community around land use and creating environments in unused spaces. We plan to host future workshops on stormwater collection systems and plant identification as part of the next phase of the Back Forty project.
No additional fundraising was done.
This project required a lot of site prep, including tree, concrete, clay removal, and a lot of manual labor (over 200 hours). The extremely dry and hot weather we experienced for most of June was difficult and slowed the process down. We worked early in the morning to "beat the heat" and into the evening, taking long chunks of the afternoon off to cool down and rest. Little rain during this time also required extra hands to make sure everything was watered. Many neighbors pitched in to help water.
Water, water, water! Weeding, weeding, weeding. We will watch how the plants and trees take and will wait until the fall to replace any that may not have survived and to plant additional trees. We have a very active community presence around the garden so we are confident that weeding and maintenance will be natural. We will also teach the kids in the community about the good weeds versus the bad weeds, and require them to pitch in with maintenance if they want to use the space. It's important that our community sees this as their space and tends to it along with us.