“New York, concrete jungle where dreams are made of. There’s nothing you can’t do.” The lyrics from the Alicia Keys song, New York, speak to the inspiration Big Apple residents draw from living in the city.
Project EverGreen and its donor and volunteer partners delivered a similar inspirational gift to Bronx residents with a GreenCare for Communities initiative renovation of Wishing Well Community Garden in the Bronx.
New pavers are installed at NYC’s Wishing Well Community Garden.
The two-day renovation project took place August 3-4 and revitalized the 15,000 sq. ft. garden that serves as a vibrant community gathering space, vegetable garden, outdoor classroom and oasis from the heat of the city. The donation was valued at $50,000.
“Project EverGreen and its partners were pleased to be able to provide the Wishing Well gardeners and visitors with easy entry and access from the front to the back of the garden,” said Cindy Code, executive director of Project EverGreen. “Pavers were provided to the garden in 2019 but remained unused because of lack of resources to install them. Professional volunteers stepped up to share their knowledge and skills and complete the walkway.”
Project EverGreen volunteers worked in partnership with NYC Parks Green Thumb to renovate, improve and expand access to the garden. Accessibility is particularly important at Wishing Well as several gardeners are wheelchair users.
Both gardeners and neighbors were amazed at the single-day transformation. One 98-year-old neighbor living in the apartment building next to the garden said the Wishing Well community garden brings her joy. “It’s my green oasis and reminds me of home (in Puerto Rico),” she added.
Volunteers – including Brian Tauscher from Artisan Gardens in Ridgewood, New Jersey and Mike Darling of Mike Darling Construction in Albany, N.Y. – provided crews to excavate the existing entrance, install base material and then seal the pavers in place. Existing diamond grid was repurposed adjacent to the pathway to create level areas for picnic tables, grills and chairs.
A volunteer plants new bushes at NYC’s Wishing Well Community Garden.
Donated plants were installed at the entrance and along the walkway to enhance the garden and attract neighborhood residents to the thriving garden featuring an assortment of fruits and vegetables. Neighborhood residents are responsible for maintaining the planters.
The garden’s trees were pruned, and new perennials and shrubs were added to the landscape.
Project Scope
- Excavate new walkway
- Lay base material and compact it
- Cut and install pavers to create new, accessible path from front to back of the garden
- Level and re-install Diamond Grid throughout garden
- Prune trees
- Install perennials and shrubs
- Mulch
This is the seventh GreenCare for Communities project in New York City and New Jersey since 2014. Previous projects have included Liberty Island (2014), Neighbors of Vega Baja (2017), Steven B. Paterson Filed, Hazlet, N.J. (2017), Clinton Community Garden (2019), Jackie Robinson Community Garden (2020) and Carolina Community Garden (2020).
“Community gardens are labors of love. Having highly skilled volunteers build paths and patios makes a huge difference in helping these valuable public spaces become accessible to all New Yorkers,” says Carlos Martinez, deputy director of GreenThumb. “We are happy Project EverGreen supported the vision of the gardeners at Clinton Community Garden who have worked hard for years to transform this site into a place for the entire community.”
Artisan Gardens’ Tauscher said he was thrilled to once again participate with Project EverGreen to improve public gardens and green spaces.
“Because it’s the right thing to do. We have the skill and resources, and we owe it to the city’s residents to provide healthy, cooler areas that provide a respite from the city’s traffic and heat,” said Tauscher.
Donors and in-kind sponsors for the project included Lead Donor ConEdison, New York City Department of Parks and Recreation/Green Thumb Community Gardens Initiative, Artisan Garden Landscape Construction, Diamond Grid USA, Plant Detectives, Mike Darling Construction, Cast Lighting and Turfs Up Radio.
Project EverGreen, a national non-profit devoted to creating a greener, healthier, cooler Earth that has renovated nearly 60 community parks and green spaces totaling more than 100 million square feet of living green space since 2008.
Photo/Video Credits: Aaron Dawson and Project EverGreen
