Philadelphia Green Helps Build Community Gardens

The Philadelphia Green project is a part of the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society and has organised city greening projects in downtown areas and Philadelphia neighborhoods for over 30 years. Philadelphia Green is the largest urban greening project in America and not only develops city landscaping, urban spaces and community gardens, but uses the horticultural expertise of the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society to provide food for the city’s hungry through the City Harvest Project.

The Pennsylvania Horticultural Society (PHS) organises the annual Philadelphia International Flower Show and half the proceeds from this world renowned garden show are donated to Philadelphia Green to support ongoing city landscaping, grow or build community projects, contribute to teaching and learning experiences and support the variety of projects required to make the city of Philadelphia sustainable.

Projects to Build Urban Parks and Community Gardens in Downtown Philadelphia Neighborhoods

Urban greening and the development of urban parks and community gardens are just one of the tools in the move towards environmental and economic renewal for the neighborhoods of downtown Philadelphia. The range of volunteers assisting neighborhood greening varies from schoolchildren, local youth to teachers and members of the local communities. This great variety and age group of local community members is not only creating an attractive neighborhood but also helping to build community spirit and a sense of ownership.

There are over 400 community and neighborhood gardens in Philadelphia, some of these are:

• Strawberry Mansion Community Garden
• Las Parcelas
• Kensington
• Mill Creek Farm
• Germantown

The first and second photographs on this article illustrate the transformational type of work Philadelphia Green can perform. The photographs show before and after of just one Philadelphia Green project: the Spring Gardens, a community garden at 19th and Wallace Streets.

One of the recent Philadelphia park refurbishments is Saunders Park Greene and the city’s beautiful Azalea Garden refurbishment and regeneration has created a lovely inner city space. Annual contributions towards the maintenance of the Azalea Garden are raised by proceeds from the yearly garden party. 2009 also saw the restoration of the rain garden at Liberty Lands Park.

Every year thousands of Philadelphia community volunteers gather to green, clean and maintain over 100 community parks of the city.

Details of Some of the Philadelphia Green Urban Greening Projects for 2009

The following lists just some details of Philadelphia Green urban greening and Philadelphia neighborhood projects for 2009:

• Developed more than 7million square feet of formerly derelict vacant land
• Fed around 900 of the city’s hungry by donating over 54,000 pounds of fresh fruits and vegetables grown in the community gardens via the City Harvest Scheme run by the PHS
• Received a $1.65 million grant to plant more than 8,000 trees in Philadelphia and the surrounding counties
• Planted more than 1,000 bare root trees across Philadelphia
• Partnered with Philadelphia Water Department to improve stormwater management which included restoring a two acre rain garden at Liberty Lands Park
• Led over 2,300 volunteers in planting trees and clearing up 68 of Philadelphia neighborhood parks
• Provided training to teachers under the Green Teachers Program
• Led educational tours of its Green Roof Construction
• Developed a planter program for the Avenue of the Arts Inc
• Issued a City Parks Handbook aimed at enabling community groups to transform local parks and build community gardens
• Participated in the Keep America Beautiful campaign and provided information and literature.

Horticultural societies are not just about meetings of garden enthusiasts and the organization of flower and produce shows, the Philadelphia Green model shows just what can be done by a partnership between a pioneering urban greening team and city council.