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An outstanding neighborhood garden in Walnut Hill earns a feature article in Old House Interiors,

Neighborhood Community Gardens

Mitchell Park Domes Show Schedule

Involve Your Kids

Other Garden Spots to Visit

Good Garden Sense

The Urban Tree House Milwaukee Project

Gardening Tip Links

Make your backyard wildlife friendly

 A Spring Project can make your summer and fall more enjoyable. Now is the time to do a garden or landscaping or yard cleanup and organization project that will reward you all summer and fall with outdoor living pleasure. Trim your hedges and bushes. Plant perennials or annual flowers. Clean up those fence-hugging and foundation-hugging weeds. Add a piece of garden or lawn sculpture. Take a look at your property from across the street and pick a sorry-looking aspect to improve and add that needed "curb appeal."

Work on a phase by phase beautification plan, and work to realize one phase each spring. Be sure to plan projects that fit your budget and energies - bite size improvements that pack a mouthful of pleasure.

Try to get the whole family involved in brainstorming the project, and, in its enthusiastic execution.

 


 

Our (4) Community Garden Plots
updated 7|09|2004

The Walnut Hill Neighborhood Association constructed a new community garden during the spring and summer of 1999. It is located on the east side of the 1700 block of N. 35th Street at the south end of the stretch of 5 adjacent empty lots south of St. Andrews. It was plowed, covered with fresh topsoil, staked out into plots, and landscaped with bushes along the sidewalk and a nice sign. At 42'x130' it has space for several gardeners. The garden was fenced in and completely planted in the 1999 season. [pic] The size of the garden was doubled for the 2000 season by expansion to the north. This Spring (2003) begins its 5th year.

Meanwhile a new, smaller community garden was built on the NE corner of N. 33rd and W. Galena in Summer 2002 and was fully planted. [pic] This year (2003) is its 2nd year.

An older community garden, on the north side of Vliet Street between N. 28th and N. 29th streets has been flourishing for several years, but in 2003 became the site of new single family home construction. But one in the 1900 block of North 28th, which had been unplanted the last few years, was replanted in 2003.

In 2004 a new community garden has been established on the NE corner of N. 32nd and W. Cherry Streets. If you have an interest in a plot in this garden, or any of our other neighborhood Community gardens,

contact Dave Boucher at

In the Washington Park Neighborhood, the Triangle Community Garden, in a triangular alley-bound space between W. Roberts and W. Sarnow, N. 37th and N. 40th, has been in cultivation for twenty years. See map.

The two groups most susceptible to food insecurity are children and seniors, and many gardens are being grown by these two groups. Everyone benefits.

For "inspiration" check out a poor neighborhood community garden in Chicago run by teens and another on Chicago's south side tended by pre-release inmates serving time for drug related offenses - with the harvest going to feed the homeless.

Articles on Neighborhgood & Urban Gardens

Article on Milwaukee's Urban Gardens

Links to other Community Garden Projects around the country.

Urban Gardening in Tempe, AZ (Phoenix)

Another "Walnut Hill Garden Club" in Hanover, MA

Community Gardening on Vacant Lots in Seattle, WA

a Neighbor-owned Co-op Garden Center for our Neighborhoods?

Story Hill Garden Club (Story Hill is on the bluff overlooking Miller Park, south of Bluemound)

 


 

Involve your Kids in Gardening!

Encouraging young people to take responsibility for a part of a family garden, or perhaps a window box garden (see article below) can go a long way towards building self-esteem, personal identity, and a sense of responsibility. Let each young person decide what he or she wants to grow and tend. Giving them a full say in the decisions over their own plots - and a say in the overalll family garden operation - will put "Miracle Grow" into their own personal development.flowers. Here are some topics to start thinking of in terms of getting your kids interested.

  • a vegetable garden plot
  • a window box of herbs & spices
  • a butterfly & hummingbird garden
  • spring/summer projects
  • teach nutrition, develop a taste for fresh produce
  • teach salad preparation, vegetable dishes
  • take kids to garden shows & the domes & parks & garden centers
  • if child buries a pet in the yard, encourage him or her create a little memorial garden
  • encourage adoption of the public part of the premises
  • assign one of your children to weed tree sprout patrol (see below)

 

 

Good Gardening Sense 

Not just for Homeowners Anymore! Gardening is for renters too!
Renters of the world rejoice! You can garden too! See the window box gardening article below.

Use your Fences to Full Advantage

Fences, along with paved paths and retaining walls etc., are classified as "hardscapes." But no matter what kind of fence you have, you don't have to just let it just sit there. Here are just a few options to get your imagination going.
  • Plant flower beds along the fence
  • Hang a flower basket from the top of each post
  • Vines can really soften a chainlink fence
  • Dig up the grass under a fence and install a row of inexpensive patio blocks to make mowing and trimming easier
  • If you have a wood fence, be playful the next time it needs painting
  • If you have a chain link fence and the fabric needs replacing, consider a more expensive upgrade to a green vinyl coated fence fabric.
  • Use a fence as a backdrop on which to hang home-crafted water-resistant sculptures and other works of art
  • Install a row oflow voltage outdoor lights along the fence to highlight flowers and other objects worth highlighting

Tree Sprouts - Learn to recognize them.

Seeds from trees take root where they can. If it is in the path of the lawnmower, that is no problem. The ones that survive and frequently become all but unrootable before you take notice, are those that take root along fences and foundations where, if left unchecked, they can do considerable damage. Throughout our neighborhood, you can see young trees that are growing right next to a building foundation.

Prevention is the easiest and most effective cure. First learn to recognize the tree seedlings when they are still only a few inches tall, under a foot. Then get in the habit after each good rain of going out on patrol, looking for these seedlings, grasping them close to the grounds, and pulling them out slowly and firmly in order to get the whole root, often as long as the part of the plant above ground. The ground has to be soaked to release its grip on the roots. Once you've let them grow a foot or more, it becomes progressively more unlikely that you will be able to uproot them. Dandelions are fairly harmless in comparison.

Tree seedling patrol is a good task to turn over to a youngster.

Apply Pesticides Responsibly

Pesticides can be very harmful to animals. If you apply pesticides to your front lawn, be a good neighbor and post a mini-sign available from your garden center to the effect that pesticides have recently been applied. This warning need only be in place for a couple of days. Pet owners walking their dogs, for example, can be on the alert for such warnings. Of course, there is no way to discourage stray animals from treated areas.

Renters must Cut Grass too

It is a common myth among many renters that cutting the grass and shoveling the snow are duties of the landlord. But in the City of Milwaukee, unless it so specifies in a written agreement with the landlord, these responsibilities belong to the tenant. This task becomes easier if a renter forms a pool with others to own and maintain mowers and shovels. Or renters can contract with neighborhood kids who have access to mowers and shovels to keep the property in their custody mowed and shoveled.

Gardening & Recycling

Yard sculpture & outdoor furniture "treasures" from recycled "trash" - decorate your home, express yourself, get your kids involved, and do it for a song, all by using your own or someone else's "trash" with a helping of creativity!
 


 

Gardening TipLinks

  


 

Mitchell Park Domes Floral Shows for 2005
 Show Schedule and themes subject to change without notice.

Through Sept. 11, 2005, The Family Robinson

The classic tale comes to life amid lush tropical plants and brilliant summer flowers. A "treehouse" platform lets you immerse yourself in the scene. On the overlook, discover the shipwrick that began this adventure.

Sept. 17 through Sept. 18, 2005 - Fall Orchid Show

with the Wisconsin Orchid Society
Orchids for show and sale. Advice from expert growers.

Sept. 24 through Nov. 6, 2005N - Wisconsin Autumn

Discover rural Wisconsin painted with the golden glow of chrysanthemums. The farm at harvest time never looked so good!.

Oct. 7, 2005, 6:30&endash;9:30pm - Rainforest Night

Explore our "Tropical Rainforest" guided only by the light of your flashlight. Sample exotic fruits and chocolates. Meet, up close and personal, animal inhabitants of the rainforest.

Program Fee

  • 6 per adult; $4 per child (age 6&endash;17)
  • To volunteer, call (414) 649-8375. Volunteers admitted free.

Friends of the Domes

 

 

Other Garden Spots to Visit

Neighborhood House Nature Center in Ashippun, WI near Holy Hill [directions] ("Central City Kids Friendly)

A Very Short List of Garden Spots to Visit while on Vacation

Washington Park Revitalization Synopsis of the Final Report

 

 

The Urban Tree House Milwaukee Project

The Urban Tree House vision is to create a growing number of community-based environmental education centers located in urban areas where many youth never get to experience, and appreciate, nature in the great outdoors of rural America. Structurally, the various UTH projects attempt to organize as partnerships of Federal and local government agencies and nonprofit community organizations. Federal and national partners include: the Bureau of Land Management (BLM); National Forest Foundation; the Environmental Health Administration; U.S. Forest Service; Environmental Protection Agency; National Park Service.

There are five Urban Tree Houses so far. They are in Washington, DC; Atlanta (under amenities), Georgia; Portland, Oregon; Salt Lake City, Utah; and now, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

The site for the Milwaukee Urban Tree House is "Lynden Hill", a 2 and a half acre full block site in the Midtown neighborhood. The block is bound by W. Juneau on the South, W. McKinley on the North, N. 22nd on the East, and N. 23rd on the West. [Map]

You can visit the site and walk through it. It rises to a tree-spotted hill towards the south, with mostly grass in the northern two/thirds. However, a sign at the top of the hill says "Prairie Under Construction" - the plan is to replace the grass with Wisconsin prairie grasses and wildflowers. There are some floral plantings at the NW corner at 23rd & McKinley. It will take some years for the project to mature. The goal is to have a nature spot in the heart of the central city where inner city youths can learn about nature and the environment and appreciate its beauty.

Story 1 - Story 2 - Story 3

 

 

Garden & Landscape Shows on Cable TV
(HGTV - Home & Garden TV)
(Channel 37 in Milwaukee [Time Warner])

 

 


 

 
Go out in your backyard and look around! Watch the butterflies and hummingbirds dance in search of nectar. Listen to the trill of songbirds. Hear the plop of a frog jumping into a pond. This isn't your yard, you say? It could be. It's not hard, and it doesn't matter where you live or how much space you have. The National Wildlife Federation's Backyard Wildlife Habitat page will help you to make your backyard more inviting to wildlife.

This new interactive site will be an invaluable resource in planning and improving your habitat. It will provide you with everything from tools to help you assess and plan your habitat, hands-on tips and projects, and listings of local wildlife and native plants, to online experts and discussion boards, and more.

Local Guide to Wildlife in SE Wisconsin / Milwaukee County Area

Take the Quiz: How wild is your garden?

Many people put a lot of work into adding variety to their gardens, mixing and matching woody plants with herbs and grasses, and choosing plants with varying heights, colors, and bloom time. This type of careful consideration can also be used to make your yard a wildlife haven for birds, butterflies, frogs, and other creatures. Native plants, having evolved in concert with our native wildlife, are the best approach to providing a hospitable habitat in your backyard. Our native plants provide nectar for hummingbirds, pollen for bees, berries for birds, nesting sites for squirrels, cover for mammals large and small . . . and are often beautiful and easy to grow.

Container Gardening for Wildlife

 


 

Gardens & Gardening Bring Peace to the Soul

Walnut Hill HOME

Washington Park HOME

Meetings - Events - News

Ethnic Heritage

Home Improvements

Renters' Page

Vacant Lot Projects

Neighborhood Gardening

EarthDay in the Hood

Our Youth, Our Future

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Milwaukee Gateway

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