Flowers and More Bloom in WPC’s Community Gardens

This spring, from Pittsburgh’s North Side to Otter Street in Franklin, Venango County, and nearly 200 other neighborhoods across the state, WPC’s Community Conservation Program made a difference in the places Pennsylvanians live. More than 5,000 volunteers, working together with WPC, planted and nurtured 350,000 flowering plants in community gardens that enhance the daily experience of millions of people. Ranging in age from 8 to 80, these volunteers transformed neglected and sometimes blighted urban lots into colorful corners of living landscape, enjoyed by commuters and residents alike.


All the volunteers agree that planting is fun and deeply satisfying. But they also know these gardens are about more than flowers and trees. Each garden site represents a three-way partnership among local residents, local government, WPC and, more importantly, each one engages local people in “Hands-on” improvement of their own neighborhoods. The gardens build community pride and help local people acquire the confidence to improve their home environments even further. Community gardens are tangible assets that dramatically demonstrate the connection between healthy environments and healthy communities.

Always, the goal of a community garden is to create a sustainable green enhancement for the community, with a long-term commitment from the partners to help maintain the site. Experience has shown that the gardens often become the starting point of transformation...not only for the whole community, but often in the lives of the folks who come out, rain or shine, to tend and plant. At the 2004 Garden Season Kickoff celebration hosted in March by WPC for the Garden Stewards who help coordinate planting and caretaking, stewards shared stories about how gardens have led to positive change. The stories emphasize the success of this program in fostering community; introducing people, especially children, to the natural world; dramatically improving the appearance of urban places, and generating spin-off activities that further improve the community.

As you drive or walk by these gardens, remember that each garden holds dozens of stories. Here are a few examples:

A community garden in the Allegheny County suburbs is so admired by the community that a couple asked to be married there last summer.
A teacher who helped start a garden at her school described how the planting led to incorporating the garden into science lessons, and then to planting other gardens such as a medicinal plants garden for teaching purposes.

A steward who has been volunteering for more than 10 years at his community’s garden described how the initial planting has expanded into teaching opportunities where children learn about the natural world and community service.

A steward from a small town reported that her involvement in the garden organizing eventually led her deeper into community service...and now she is the town’s mayor!

At a garden site where city children were helping plant, a thunderstorm sent the children back into their school. After school was dismissed for the day, one mother appeared with her two children and explained that her son was so disappointed that he begged her to return. The family helped finish the planting that afternoon.

A first-time steward in a city neighborhood recalled an afternoon when she was preparing the garden for winter last fall. A group of young boys from the neighborhood appeared and asked if they could help. After working hard and clearing the site for the winter, they asked if they could help again in the spring. The steward wound up taking the group down the street for ice cream.

These are just a few of the experiences that have enriched the lives of Garden Stewards and volunteers. To take a virtual tour of our community gardens, visit our website at www.paconserve.org and click on Growing our Communities. If you feel the urge to get involved, contact the Community Conservation Program at (412) 586-2324.