The small, narrow wedge of land along the Cadman Plaza off-ramp of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, largely shaded, provides the pleasures of intimacy with nature and a great variety of gardening opportunities. Apple, apricot, and nectarine trees, raspberries and blueberries, and perennial herbs are among the diversity of plants. Dense plantings in areas of differing character provide a constantly
changing array of focal points as well as rich habitat for birds and insects. Tall trees are kept pruned to maximize light on vegetable gardening plots at the Garden’s center. Self-sowing violets, queen-anne’s-lace, coneflower, black-eyed-susan, asters, and others, contribute to the vitality of the Garden. The only water source is a hydrant across the street. The Garden is managed holistically and tended communally by a committed group of member-gardeners. A beehive is managed by member-gardeners with beekeeping training. The site is what remains of a private backyard taken over for highway construction in the 1960's and then left as a dumpsite. Old apple trees and antique roses remain from earlier times, and a thorny honey locust has grown from seed. Other woody plants, including a native Pagoda Dogwood and two Siberian elms, were put in randomly by city workers. In the 1980’s, neighbors cleared the debris and planted lawn grass, which, in the 90’s, reverted to a mass of mugwort and other weeds. Since 1994, a new crop of gardeners has removed weeds, shaped terrain and pathways, and installed plants of edible and ecological as well as ornamental value, while continually amending the silty fill soil. Stepping stone paths and retaining walls have been constructed of found rocks and cobblestones. Curbing stones dumped in a pile long ago have been put to several uses, including sidewalks outside the fence. A home-made children's playhouse became the Garden's 'Little House' serving as storage shed and the Garden's charming centerpiece, and, when it deteriorated, the member-gardeners built a newer larger one. More recent projects have included rebuilding the compost system, rebuilding old cast-iron benches, building a stone retaining wall to make an area for communally harvested herbs, creating a 'hugelkultur' mound for planting fruiting trees and shrubs, and building a toolshed. Next we hope to complete the irrigation system.
