Anybody want a garden?
The past couple of years I've tried to maintain the garden in the traffic circle at the corner of 17th Avenue East and Jefferson. It's city-owned, but it seems to be off the radar of any city department or local garden club.
In summer 2007 I lived on that corner, noticed that no one was taking care of the garden and decided to take it on. That first summer I really did a lot of work in the garden. I then moved out of the neighborhood, but this past summer I put in some flowers and did some minimal maintenance. I'm afraid it's not looking too great right now, but it's better than it used to be.
I now find myself with a three-acre yard of my own to maintain, so I am relinquishing control of the traffic circle. Does anyone out there want to take care of it next year?
There are a lot of perennials and a lilac in the middle that almost collapses under the weight of its flowers. I'll be happy to do a walk-through to point out "keeper" plants; my e-mail is akjuneau(at)charter.net.
There is a city water tap in the middle, but after repeated attempts to get someone from the city to turn it on, I gave up. (I know the city has bigger issues to worry about, but it was pretty frustrating.) The summer heat is particularly brutal on this garden, so the lack of reliable watering was a big problem the past couple summers. It would be worth another try to get the city parks, utilities or whichever department is in charge to turn that faucet on next year.
Inattentive and/or drunk drivers also have been a problem - they take out a number of plants as they unsuccessfully try to negotiate the roundabout. So, it's probably best to not plant anything right along the edge. And, there always are a few people who use it as their personal trash dump. (I didn't mind picking up a few beer bottles - but did you have to break them?!?!?)
Despite the problems, it's a nice plot in a nice neighborhood, and there are residents in the area who really appreciate any effort that goes into the garden. I hope someone will step up to give it some TLC next year.
Posted by
akjuneau on October 16, 2008 02:05 AM | Permalink
Comments
i walk down jefferson on a regular basis after work...nice job on the roundabout...
umm...you could see if the kids over at the Gloria Dei/Bike Co-op might be willing to take over.
Posted by: zra. | October 16, 2008 06:00 AM
I live just down the street from the garden and I love it. I personally am garden-challenged, if I took it over it would be an absolute mess and soon be covered in plasic plants.
I do want to say thanks for taking the time to spruce up our street. It has been a gem of a turnaround, you should feel very proud.
Posted by: traceydee | October 16, 2008 08:15 AM
I live in the area and knew that it was privately maintained.
Bravo akjuneau, it is and has been a beautiful space!
Thank you and sorry to hear that you won't be able to continue.
Now that I have said "I live in the area" please understand that as much as I would love to take on such a garden, my skills prevent me from doing so - I can barely care keep a houseplant alive.
Posted by: heysme | October 16, 2008 08:23 AM
Harbor City School has an organic gardening class. They maintain one at the united way plaza downtown..I'll bring this to their attention
Posted by: baci | October 16, 2008 08:28 AM
I too live in the hood and want to say that I've very much enjoyed your work. The milkweed there hosted quite a few monarch caterpillars this year, which was pretty awesome.
However, I probably won't be in the hood next year (hopefully buying a house somewhere; highly doubt I can afford Endion) so I can't take it over, but you should definitely talk to the Loaves and Fishes/Bike Cave peoples--maybe they could turn it into some community garden.
Posted by: Sonya | October 16, 2008 11:05 AM
Have enjoyed passing by it on way to the Lakewalk ... always wondered how it got to be there in the first place.
Posted by: eco eco | October 16, 2008 12:58 PM
Others may know more than I do, but I know the traffic circle was installed in the mid to late 1990s when the street was reconstructed. It was/is a traffic "calming" measure, along with the speed bumps on Jefferson Street.
I've seen photos of the first planting in the garden - circular rings of hostas and a circular walk of pavers, with other plants in between. Very nice.
Posted by: akjuneau | October 16, 2008 01:05 PM
My car got stuck on that exact spot during Mega Storm.
Posted by: Frosty | October 16, 2008 03:10 PM
I used to work for the City of Fond du Lac Construction and Maintenance Division during my first years of college as a seasonal. I don't know how it works in Duluth but we only cut several those types of areas. If there were complaints, then us seasonal kidz would ramble around the city cutting grass. Best of luck maintaining it! :)
Posted by: Andrew | October 16, 2008 03:54 PM
I used to work for the City of Fond du Lac Construction and Maintenance Division during my first years of college as a seasonal. I don't know how it works in Duluth but we only cut several of those types of areas. If there were complaints, then us seasonal kidz would ramble around the city cutting grass. Best of luck maintaining it! :)
Posted by: Andrew | October 16, 2008 03:56 PM
Call the city Gardner tom Kasper. Hes a great guy and wonderful to work with. Works well with neighborhoods and neighborhood gardenclubs. he'll likely have no budget, considering the situation the city is in, but he'll have a solution.
And if someone else in the neiborhood has expressed interest in helping fix the problem he may know.
Posted by: Good luck | October 16, 2008 05:16 PM
This is near Hannah House, I believe, where the Duluth Community Garden Program has a garden that's used by the Loaves and Fishes community. Maybe someone there would want to take on this garden, too.
Posted by: ms dean | October 16, 2008 07:57 PM
I know the woman in charge of the garden program. I will forward it along to her.
Posted by: sean42 | October 16, 2008 09:55 PM
akjuneau, thanks so much for all your fine work the last years. you have brought a lot of beauty and joy to the neighborhood. i'm willing to help and i recruit others if someone would coordinate.
steveo
Posted by: steve o'neil | October 21, 2008 08:43 PM