Easy DIY lot design showcasing colorful and hardy plantings
$2,500 to $5,500
Volunteer
Better
Grantee
2016
Sun
Phillip Street looked to enhance quality of life through community engagement to help stabilize their community. They installed the Urban Edge to enhance their current assets by addressing the negative influences associated with blight that occurs throughout the city. They hope to add beauty, enhance color, increase privacy, engage the community around investing in the neighborhood, and display ideas for land use in the community.
Roberta Bivens
Volunteer
Denise Tanner (community resident)
Urban Edge
Unknown
Double Lot
478, 474 Philip St Detroit, MI
Prior to beginning the project, the lots we worked with had a lot of landfill items that were hard to remove with standard equipment. The first step was the clear those lots out and determine what type of soil we would have work with on the lot. After clearing the lots, we learned that the lots were full of mostly clay soil. Learning that, we next cleared the lot of the clay dirt and filled it with soil and plant food. Once that was completed, our lot was ready to have the Urban Edge Lot Design installed. To install the lot design, we followed the instructions provided online.
How were community members involved in the process?
Community members became involved by cutting, helping to plant, and with the watering and weeding of the flower beds.
Yes, although we followed the instructions provided in the lot design, we did substitute some of the flowers and trees with those we believed would be more aesthetic to the residents.
Yes
Beautification
We received permission from the City of Detroit General Services Department to utilize the lot for beautification.
We, as a community learned to work together to plan a project, implement the project, and move forward with it to plan the maintenance. We also learned that digging into vacant lots can pose many obstacles to completing a project that involves plantings.
The community saw the obstacles we were facing and offered their support to get the job done, which was great.
We received funding from the Detroit Future City Working with Lots Program
N/A
A big challenge in implementing the lot design was the removal of the heavy debris that was on the lot. We were nevertheless able to work as a team to get the debris out.
To water the garden when needed and weed and thin it out when needed.