St. Louis Inner City Xeriscape Horticultural Herb meditation garden ideas

[treeguy]

We don't have many cute animals in Detroit, unless you're fond of Norway Brown Rats. I suspect they have relatives in St. Louie... I would be interested in hearing exactly what animals would be attracted to this Stumpery?

 

[Cindylou]

I'm hoping for sponsors to take part in our
Adopt-A-Garden Space" sponsorship program so company/organization volunteers will come out and work their specific garden areas. Like the above picture where these ladies are creating a labyrinth. Adopt A Labyrinth... Adopt a stumpery, adopt a tree space, etc.

 

[Cindylou]

2020 UPDATE

There are lots of bees in our neighborhood and St Louis University wants to do a study on the specific bees which is a very rare breed. St. Louis University is assisting with our project through a grant for bees. SLU adopted the Wildflower/Bee garden section!!

Here are some pictures we took 3 weeks (February 2020) ago at the community healing and meditation Garden Park.

The two trees that were being taken over by honeysuckle have been cut down!
The stumps will be used for the stumpery.

Below you will see lots of stumps also see a couple of pictures I took at Northern Arizona State University's Stumpery garden!!

 

[Cindylou]

Pictures of ideas for our Community healing and meditation garden park

(Missouri botanical gardens stumpery area)
(A treescape design found in Lafayette Square neighborhood)

 

[Cindylou]

We don't have many cute animals in Detroit, unless you're fond of Norway Brown Rats. I suspect they have relatives in St. Louie... I would be interested in hearing exactly what animals would be attracted to this Stumpery?

I've seen hummingbirds, rabbits, cats, garden snakes. That's all thus far. Birds do love the coolness from the plants in the stumpery.

 

[Cindylou]

They do provide a lovely habitat for wildlife.

I remember going to Fountain Abbey and out of these pile of rubbish came a group of stoats (see video). Made my day - an unforgettable experience!

Thank you for sharing! That was simply cool!?

 

[Cindylou]

Oh! An eyesore... Brer Rabbit's briar patch without the thorns? A clean place for city rats? Am I missing something here"

Yes. You are missing the ENTIRE IDEA of beautification

 

[Cindylou]

Stumpery Old tree stumps lumped together


View attachment 49663

stumpery uk - Google Search

That's really cool

 

[Cindylou]

No, hugelkulture buries the wood. A stumpery is a different thing, the wood decays aboveground to provide habitat. https://www.gardening-forums.com/threads/stumperies.10944/
~~~~~


The easiest things to grow in any area are the plants that are native to that area. They are the ones most suited to live there, they want to live there! (They also help the environment more, the native pollinators evolved for them.) I saw that you do want certain plants, but if you have any wiggle room, I took the liberty of doing a bit of research for your area.

Here is a link to Missouri native perennials, suited for dry soil, that will grow to a maximum height of 6 feet. I did not specify any shade plants (2 hours or less of sunlight,) because you said the lot gets plenty of light. If you look down the right side of the page, you can reset the search for plants that bloom in different months or colors. (Might be cool to have a patch of blues, pinks, and purples, then another patch of reds, yellows, and oranges!)

Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center - The University of Texas at Austin

www.wildflower.org

As far as getting the community involved, I suggest reaching out to them through the children. (There are quite a few reasons I think that would work.) It might take a little longer to get the ball rolling, but why go to this much effort if you don't expect it to be there in five years?

I think kids are in the second or third grade when they learn the science about growing plants. I've read a thread in this forum from a mother asking what plant her child grew, because it did not look like what they said it would be - and she wanted to help it thrive - because her child grew it. (And that right there is your key! )

Might be worth a visit to your local elementary school!

If the kids (and by extension, their parents,) are partly responsible for "making that happen," they will take pride in their accomplishments. The kids will want to go see "their" plants. Schools are horribly underfunded, and someone willing to supply seeds and supplies for an educational project would not be refused. You could probably get donations from local businesses, especially if you think you could generate enough interest for a little write-up in the "Local" or "Metro" section of the newspaper! (If you have a Walmart close, I know they like to donate to projects like this. I've seen signs in their stores saying they donated to neighborhood projects.) I would also try writing letters to seed companies asking if they would donate some seeds. If every parent, teacher, and child knows that "XYZ company" donated seeds, then they will see that as a lot of cheap advertising and a tax write-off for a charitable donation.

I remember we also had a member that was in high school. I think he said he was in an Environmental Sciences class. It might be worth a visit to the local high school, it's possible that you could collaborate with one of the teachers there.

Thank you for this uplifting suggestion. I am now working with a community group who has a lady that assists me with creating my fliers, knocking on doors to recruit volunteers.

Her nonprofit has some ideas and folks we can reach out to!!

 

[Cindylou]

VOLUNTEER Opportunities:

U.S. Green Building Council - Missouri Gateway Chapter - Emerging Professionals Service Project: Community Garden Workday

 

[Cindylou]

St. Louis University students created a website for the project:

Healing and Meditation Garden Park

Veteran Women of Influence, along with the residents of the Vandeventer Neighborhood, St. Louis University, and North Newstead Association are creating St. Louis City's first Community...

vandeventergarden.weebly.com