Tiny Gardens

Project Description 

For our project, we wanted to contribute to Hastings in a way that would both improve the environment and bring joy to its residents. Noticing the lack of biodiversity across downtown, we chose to put our work towards the empty tree pits that had become a site of matted soil and litter. Our primary goal for this project was to reintroduce greenery and color to the town’s scenery, which would also benefit our town's environment and ecosystem by promoting biodiversity. We settled on using perennial plants so the gardens come back each year and are lower maintenance. 

Outputs 

• 5 empty tree pits are now filled with perennial tiny gardens 

Outcomes 

• As a result, the perennials will attract beneficial animals into our ecosystem

• Nutrients that the perennials can access from deep within the soil will be cycled into the ecosystem for its benefit 

• As a result, the perennial gardens will improve the town’s aesthetic come springtime, and can increase the wellbeing of town residents through contact with nature

• The perennials can reduce rain runoff, due to their deep roots, and increase pollinator abundance

Process

1. We located and measured the dimensions of each empty box that could be used for our gardens

2. We determined that perennials would serve as our plants for several reasons, including survivability

3. We ordered perennial plants and flowers, and bought soil and tools

4. We organized meetings for each gardening event, coordinating with each other and the HHS Environmental Club

5. After completing the gardening sessions, we made sure to clean up and dispose of the old soil by either donating it to a flower shop or reintroducing the litter-free soil back into the ecosystem

6. In the future, we plan to work with HHS' Environmental Club to care for the gardens and maintain them

Lessons Learned

• We learned how to dispose of the older soil using trash bags as our tool for carrying all of it

•  We learned more about gardening: the proper spacing for plants, how deep we need to dig, and the type of soil we should use

• We learned how to lead a team to complete a project

Students Involved

• 2 Project leaders aged 15-24

• 11 Total project participants (excluding leaders)

• 7 Project participants aged 15-24 (excluding leaders)

Thank You's

Thank you to our parents for supporting our project’s expenditures. Thank you to HHS' Environmental Club volunteers, as well as Ms. Shandroff and Reuben Belasco, for providing us with extra gardening gloves. Thank you to our friends who provided us with trash bags for the soil, as well as their help in completing the gardening. Thank you to Francesca’s brother and his friends for their help in the early stages of our project by measuring and analyzing our potential garden plots. And thank you to Bloomberg Philanthropies for funding this project.

Before: Measuring the boxes and understanding the present environment

Our struggle with disposing of the soil: many trash bags formed holes and broke

Two of our downton garden pits, which will all have flowers in the spring