r/GuerrillaGardening

A couple months ago I posted about the tiny traffic island we started planting at 24th and 10th in Chelsea. You all blew it up, and it genuinely changed what this garden became. So, an update and a question.

What's new in the bed: 170 bulbs are going in this month: alliums, snowdrops, camassia, narcissus. Hoping for a ridiculous amount of spring in about 50 square feet.

A storm in August flattened the Joe Pye; we staked what survived, and we're leaving seed heads up for the birds this winter. The sedum has gotten huge, the lavender thrived, and the Japanese anemone gave us its first flowers on September 2. Then one suddenly went crispy and droopy after a recent heavy rain. We're hoping the roots are still alive. Some successes, some mysteries.

The bamboo fence got rebuilt properly with tarred bank line and square knots after the twine kept slipping. The solar lights in the gazing ball got stolen, so that feature is now analog. We're also collecting seed from the bed—very small harvests, but satisfying to think some of this could end up growing somewhere else. We gave away 50 seed packs of nicotiana, Joe Pye, and purple coneflower at a street fair last week.

The grant: CitizensNYC gave us a Community Leaders grant. We're thrilled. We're also aware of how we got here. We've put about a lot our own money into this, we had the time, and we had the confidence to walk into a very fancy building and ask for water. Most of the people we've met through the garden look like us and live where we live. Chelsea is a lot more than that. Asking forgiveness instead of permission, and getting away with it, isn't something everyone in this city can do.

So we don't want to decide what happens with this money on our own. We want to ask more neighbors, and we'd love input from this community too. Many of you have done this with way less: no money, no permission, no friendly building super.

If you've had a small grant for this kind of work, what actually made a difference, and what got wasted?

How have you brought in neighbors outside your own circle without it turning into a photo op?
Would you spend it on this garden, or use some to help other people's projects?

One idea is to make the island available for little artist installations, with money to actually pay the artists. Another is to help someone who's already caring for a neglected patch and could use supplies or an extra pair of hands. Nothing decided yet.

If you're in NYC and know an artist, a neglected patch, or someone who wants to get their hands dirty, DM me. And if you've tried something like this and have advice—or a cautionary tale—I'd love to hear it.

I recently (mid-September) removed about 120 pounds of Jubata Grass seedheads from a ~0.5 mile stretch.
I chose this section specifically because it wasn’t infested, just pockets of plants that can still be potentially managed.

Notes on Jubata (from cal-ipc):
• Short-lived seedbank (~6 months)
• Only reproduces through seed
• Each seedhead can produce up to 100,000 seeds
• No taproot
• Plant lifespan is 10+ so full plant removal is still necessary, seedhead cutting just stops it from spreading

Its limited seedbank and reproduction means that seedhead cutting could be an effective control method (hoping to test this with this little experiment).

Initial takeaways:
• Cutting too soon results in picture #3, but a little too soon is better than too late
• People really appreciate invasive removal, I had way more people thank me while doing this work than trash pickups
• The more we normalize this work, the more people will feel comfortable and empowered to get involved
• I always caution random people doing work without training/knowledge but it’s hard to mess up cutting a seedhead as long as it’s being disposed of properly

Jubata Grass Cortaderia jubata vs Pampas Grass Cortaderia selloana:
• Jubata doesnt require male-female reproduction like pampas, so Jubata tends to spread much easier
• Jubata is typically taller, at 2.5 times the size of its leaves. Pampas is more proportional with leaves
• Pampas tolerates wider climate variance, Jubata prefers more consistent coastal climate
• Jubata displays more purple when immature
• Jubata typically blooms from July-Sept, Pampas is usually September and later