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RareFind Nursery's Garden Heroes > Nominee Listing Detail
The Garden Club of Orange & Dutchess Counties (“O & D”) has partnered with Habitat of Greater Newburgh to revitalize inner-city neighborhoods. Since 2007, O & D has reclaimed and planted gardens at fourteen Habitat homes in Newburgh, NY. Habitat helps to stabilize neighborhoods in the City of Newburgh, and gives families a chance to purchase their own home, in large part through “sweat equity”. While each site is unique, these gardens long ago were abandoned. The projects often begin with O & D members, sometimes assisted by Habitat homeowners, removing debris, which has accumulated, using picks to loosen the soil that long ago turned to “rock”, and weeding and fertilizing the neglected soil. Each plot requires different plant material and design. All plants, however, must be sturdy. Through trial and error, O & D has learned to combine bushes for structure (boxwood and/or butterfly bushes), flowering perennials (often Habitat for Humanity roses) and day lilies for color. While perhaps not challenging enough for the avid gardener’s home, these plants survive, provide life and allow the new, mostly first-time, homeowners to succeed in the garden. O & D, in conjunction with Habitat, is working to create a bilingual guide to help homeowners care for their gardens. Additionally, for the first time, O & D is going to replace traditional fertilizer with compost tea to bring life to the “dead” soil. The sense of satisfaction from taking the gardens from “before” to “after” is tremendous, but helping our community and our neighbors create their new homes is indescribable. O & D will use any plant materials that it is awarded to enhance future Habitat homes. Eight Habitat homes are planned to be completed in Newburgh in 2009.... | |||||||
