Written by Aaron Michael - It was great to see the community come together to transform a right-of-way of weeds and dirt to a beautiful and functional National Wildlife Federation-certified native plant, wildlife-friendly and edible garden. The landscape we created in the Five Points neighborhood of Denver had the intention of facilitating community and connection to nature in the heart of the city.
The collaboration for the garden started at the end of 2023 with a meeting between Alicia Mountain of the National Wildlife Federation (NWF) and myself. First connecting with each other on LinkedIn and then meeting in-person, it was found that we could mutually benefit each others missions, realized through this project: Earth Love Gardens would lead the planning, design, and installation with volunteers for the project and the NWF would sponsor it through a grant. Aaron and Alicia then soon met with Ali Duncan, owner of Urban Sanctuary, a yoga studio in the Five Points neighborhood. As this garden would directly benefit and improve the neighborhood at-large that the Urban Sanctuary is in, Urban Sanctuary would help nurture this landscape through offering volunteers for its installation and future maintenance. This right-of-way, which was part of a privately-owned property, was graciously offered for this project. The landlord also put forward their funds to get the irrigation system up and running. Everyone was excited to start planning the project!
I first created a Landscape Design for the new garden with its intentions in mind: native plants for wildlife habitat and edible plants for people to further connect with nature in the city. Since the landscape was adjacent to the northern side of a two-story residential building and there were existing trees present, thoughtful consideration was placed on plants that could take these shadier conditions. Plants in the Landscape Design include Rocky Mountain Columbine, Bluebell Bellflower, Desert Four O'Clock, Golden Currant, Creeping Oregon Grape, and much more. The west end of the garden, further away from the building, received much more sun, so native plants such as Blanket Flower, Rabbitbrush, Yarrow, Fringed Sage, Blazing Star, and more were planned in the design. So that people walking by the garden could enjoy its fruits and further connect with it, edible plants were also planned, including Red Currant, Wild Strawberry, Regent Serviceberry (also a native plant), and more. To provide more elements of habitat for wildlife, including insects and birds, a birdbath was part of the plan, as well as large logs (which insects nest and live in the logs and birds eat them). For those who parallel park their cars adjacent to the garden, to give them room to travel (and to help avoid them from stepping on the plants), stepping stones were added so people could traverse from one end of the garden to the other. Below you see the "before" photos of how the area looked before the installation.
The garden was then planned to be transformed and installed the week of August 26th. That Monday, hundreds of plants were picked up and delivered on-site, as well as the birdbath, and about sixty heavy stepping stones! On Tuesday and Wednesday, an abundance of volunteers, mainly from the community of the Urban Sanctuary, came out to help install the project. It was inherent that everyone connected with the mission and vision of the project through the over-expected number of volunteers and the hard work they put into installing it. We first started transforming the garden by removing the weeds. Then, we added about ten yards of wood mulch. After, we planted the plants and followed up with installing the drip irrigation system. Even though it was a lot of work, we also all had a great time. This truly was a special community of people. Because of the number of volunteers we had and their selfless, hard work, we finished the project a day ahead of schedule!
Since the landscape called for logs, a nice woman who lives up the canyon in the Foothills offered Pine tree trunks that had been fire mitigated on her property. I returned to the garden a few weeks after the project's installation to place these logs (which were heavy and helped into place by some helpful members of the Urban Sanctuary community). As well, I added the finishing touches to the garden: the National Wildlife Federation Certified Wildlife Habitat sign and a sign sharing that the garden was created with Earth Love Gardens and hardworking, selfless volunteers.
The intention of this garden; the facilitation of community and connection, was already coming true in its installation. Countless people who walk by also stop to share how great the project came out and their appreciation for it. I look forward to the future where the garden continues to grow (as well as share its photos), further offering its gifts of connection to nature in the heart of the city.
I want to give special thanks to Alicia Mountain, Brian Kurzel, and Valerie Caroll of the National Wildlife Federation for all helping to make this project possible. As well from Urban Sanctuary, thank you Ali Duncan, Ally Beacom, Shanté Lamping, Dameda Jolynn, Christian Garcia, Energy, and all the other great, lovely, fun volunteers for enriching and pouring your love into this project.
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