The document proposes a community gardening initiative called "Plant It Forward" that aims to beautify urban areas with flowers and share perennials between established gardens and those in need. The group wants to divide and share plants from their gardens with other communities that lack green spaces. They propose partnering with the city of Brookfield to maintain and garden median strips along Calhoun Road, sharing a quarter of the divided perennials. Excess plants would go to organizations signing contracts to continue the initiative. The goals are beautification, community engagement, and increasing access to gardening.
2. W HAT ARE
WE ?
We are a group of gardeners that wants to share
our love of gardening.
We want share plants with other communities
that are not fortunate to have established
gardens.
We want to divide and conquer the concrete
urban jungle with flowers and hope.
12. L ET ’ S NOT REINV E NT THE W HEEL
Guerrilla gardening
Dig and Divide by Mark Cullen
Bellefonte PA
Florence Eble farm
13. G IVE US Y OUR M EDIANS
Calhoun Road in Brookfield
This would be our pilot gardening program
Let us have access from Bluemound Rd. to
Gebhardt Rd
All beds will be maintained by a group of avid
gardeners and supervised volunteers.
14. W E DO ALL THE WORK … FOR
FREE
How can this program possibly work??????
Simple
We maintain your garden beds in exchange
approximately for ¼ of the perennials in the bed.
Period.
15. J UST A THOUGHT
“Do all the good that you can, by all
the means you can , in all the ways
you can, in all the places you can, at
all the times you can, to all the
people you can, as long as you ever
can.”
John Wesley
What can you do?
16. DO ALL P LANTS Q UALIFY ?
Ideal perennials should be dividable and self
sustaining ,low maintenance plants.
Plants that do not meet that criteria will not be
discarded but they will be placed in permanent
homes, not fostered.
17. W HO WILL RECEIVE T HE
E XCESS PLANTS
Community organizations that have the desire
but not the funds to create community gardens
All organizations that receive that plants will sign
a contract that states …
“Plant it Forward”
“Experiencing gratitude motivates beneficiaries to repay
their benefactors and to extend generosity to third parties”
McCoullough(2008).
18. G ARDENS ???
“Gardens are intensely local” Blair(2009)
“Urban gardening has long been used as a strategy
to” take back the community” in areas of high poverty
and civil unrest.” Krywko(
Tending plants has not only significant therapeutic
value, but also provides opportunities for
socialization, increased self esteem, and competence,
while producing something of value for the
community. Myers, (1998).
No matter what age, people share the need for
sensory stimulation, social interaction, opportunities
for self-esteem and self worth, and positive enjoyable
experiences. Goff,(2004).
19. HTTP :// PLANTITFORWARDPERENNIALS . ORG
This sign will be a part of all participating gardens
Pedestrians will be able to go to site and trace
the origins of the plant
Brookfield is the first municipality that is being
offered this opportunity…wouldn’t it be great to
trace back the origins of this effort to our
community
20. T RACE THE PATH OR YOUR
P LANTS
Brookfield
Sherman Park (Milwaukee WI)
Washington Heights
Sheboygan
Michigan
The World
We want to teach and share our knowledge of frugal and conservative gardening to both the public and private sectors. We want to show others how to get the best and most efficient use of plants that already exist in their community, and, in turn,
Calhoun Rd was expanded in a project that took over 5 years for completion, the price tag was over 20 millions dollars? Does this look like the result of a million dollar project? Not to me, It looks like a typical, neglected highway. Yet it is actually the main road through Brookfield, where city hall and the library are located. This is the same street where residents gather in the summer to watch the fourth of July parade. Just a side note, today, on May 24th I saw two individuals, presumably employed by the city spraying for weeds. Though it is nice to see an effort being made, spraying for weeds is not the answer for this boulevard in need of rejuevenation.
Does this look like the 62 million referendum that taxpayers voted for? The landscaping for this improvement was done by Paragon Design of Milwaukee. When I visited their website, I was not surprised to see that they did not even put Brookfield Central on their resume. Sadly, this is what students at Brookfield Central are greeted by everyday. Brookfield Central is located directly behind city hall. I have presented pictures of two of the main roads in Brookfield.After I took these pictures, I counted how many dead plants were part of the landscape. 40% of the lilacs of the eastern berm at BC had died, 25% of the spirea were dead. This does not even include how many plants were “nearly “ dead.Why even take the time to plant these bushes if they are not planted correctly. Brookfield Central even has a greenhouse connected to it, why not put it to use, and grow plants from seedlings and improve the overall appearance of the school.
This is the Florence Eble Farm located in the town of Brookfield. This 33 farm was donated to the town of Brookfield in 1998 with the conditions that the land never be sold or developed. This garden is now maintained by exclusively volunteers. It is estimated that more than a dozen volunteers spend approximately 500 hours on the upkeep of the grounds. The vegetables that are grown on the property are donated to food banks. Last year, the 40* 60 ft plot(fenced in to protect the veggies from the deer) produced approximately 1500 pounds of vegetables.All of the flowering perennial plants are resistant to deer and also can survive the ever changing climate of southeastern Wisconsin. Jim Kavemeiier, park system manager for Waukesha County says that the Eble farm” shows how private and public can work together to provide a great community asset” . He also state that “they hope to maintain the rural island so that people can remember and understand the heritage of the area.Not a bad days work for a group of dedicated volunteers.
This is what a well maintained berm should resemble. Simple, easy to maintain and deer resistant. This actually an entrance to a private subdivision, but if we as a city to do not maintain our berms, we could lose potential taxpayers.
This is also located on Bluemound Rd in Brookfield
Eble Farm is located at a bustling intersection on Bluemound Rd. Driving by the never ending profusion perennials bursting with color is a joy for myself and many of the other commuters that drive out of their way to pass the farm.
Let plant it Forward Perennials help the blighted boulevards of Calhoun Rd. and of Brookfield Central High School.
I was recently at the Brookfield recycling center, where I spotted 4 large clumps of daylilies by the front gate. The friendly workers laughed and said ”we were saving these for you.” I promptly went home and divided those for clumps into 20 smaller clumps and planted them in a flower bed that I share with my neighbor. Now according to my program, the woman could have just as easily gotten in touch with us,and we would have picked up the plants and fostered them in our foster farm for plants. These daylilies that I rescued from the dump will fill out and look fabulous in approximately 2-3 years. They will be ready for new divisions and maybe new homes at that time.
I am located just 100 yard from Calhoun Rd. Obviously it is possible to maintain lush and colorful landscaping.
You have seen the success of Eble Farm. It is now time to turn our attention to the very roads that this building is located. We will divide and replant and rejuevenate the bouldevards.
We will keep the plants the we acquire in one of our foster farm. These plants will be nourished and divided and prepared to go their new homes.This is not a short term program. This is a program of life long gardening. As long as the municipality agrees to participate in the program, any plants that are currently being fostered will be available for the municipality to use in the municipal gardens. We will not strip the beds of flowers but instead make use of the vegetation in the beds, fill in “dead spaces” and use flowers and vegetation that have exceptional blooming ability. Normally, in our program we hope to supply other communities with the excess perennials but in the case of the perennial beds of Brookfield, you currently need every plant that you already have!!
I can garden!!! I can teach others to garden I can’t write out a large check, I can’t offer up a vacant inner city lot, I can’t provide truckloads of dirt to refurbish worn out soil, but I can use my love of gardening to help others experience the joy that I receive. I can help the city of Brookfield by helping them maintain what they have already planted. I can help others by using my knowledge to grow what is already available. The solution for Brookfield’s boulevards might be just a stones throw away. So all of you today, go home and plant this daylily, perhaps in your own yard, or perhaps for a neighbor or your church. Go to this website and record how and when and where this lil guy ended up. Who knows, maybe in a few short years, Brookfield will be known as the daylily capitol of the world.
My hopes by making an organization sign a contract is that they will continue to nourish the plants and look to the long term of the day that they are required to also provide plants to future organizations. Will there be any repurcussions for a person not passing the plants forward? Not from me, not from our organization. This program is not intended to punish anyone, just encourage them.Right now Brookfield, I do not see that you will have any excess plants You actually need every healthy plant that you have, and probably quite a few from my own private stock as well.
Community gardening is one of the most satisfying activities. This is even more so, it creates community among communities. In these tough economic times, we should do all that is possible to create unity among cities and organizations.
Little signs in medians encourage citizens to look up program and participate( add pic of makeshift sign)
You may ask, how will my plant end up in Michigan
Talk about the economy(how much each city can save by using my program).
