This is a nice follow up to the segment we did with New Urban Farmers here in RI who are cultivating ugly urban lots into community gardens. If you have not looked at their work, take a look at their site.
We love the reuse of wasted, barren sometimes abused pieces of land. This creative investment in nature beautifies cities while increasing the value of the adjacent lands. They also act as an attraction and mecca for the neighborhood.
Send us your stories on similar developments in your cities:
Reinvent RI: Using vacant lots to cultivate a greener city
PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- It doesn't look like much from afar, just a fenced-in plot of land on a vacant block in the West End.
The site is surrounded by clumps of artemesia, spikes of mullein and other weeds. A pile of tires sits in one corner of a crumbling parking lot near rotting wooden pallets and other trash. Mill buildings rise up like walls on all four sides.
But inside the fence is an unexpected sight: 293 plastic pots lined up in neat rows. Nearly all have young trees growing in them. There are locust and American smoke bush saplings, tulip poplar and scrub oak, black cherry and viburnum, 26 varieties in all.
"We know of no other urban tree nursery anywhere else in the country," said Ray Perreault, a program director with Groundwork who's in charge of the nursery. "This is a unique way of growing trees."
The nursery will serve multiple purposes. It will supply trees to property owners around the city as part of a long-term project to enhance Providence's tree canopy. It will be a pocket of green space in what was once an industrial area that is slowly gentrifying. And it will be a place to train workers in tree care.
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