Residents Envision Landscaping Projects in Our Yards

Our properties are more than just the buildings themselves — they are part of the neighborhood fabric that surrounds them. And the yards that circle our properties are a key part of the connection between BNCLT’s properties and the rest of the neighborhood. They are a space that residents can bring to life, both for their own enjoyment and for their communities’. On March 5th, BNCLT held a landscaping envisioning workshop with our residents. The conversation was facilitated by our “clerk of the works,” Andrea Vilanova, who supports BNCLT’s collaboration with our general contractor. We discussed improvements that could be made to residents’ yards — including eco-friendly groundcover alternatives to grass, raised beds, flowers, solar-powered lights, grills, and yard furniture. In addition to envisioning what could be added to the yards, we discussed what skills residents had or wanted to develop — from watering plants, pruning hedges, building a greenhouse, painting murals, and planning cookouts. 

The yard space attached to each of our properties offers an opportunity to residents to shape their environment, but doing so is not always a straightforward process. Residents of one property talked about how their yard used to be a place for cookouts and children’s birthday parties, but had become a less active space where passers-by would throw their garbage. Together we explored: how does a group of residents turn a shared outdoor space into a place for fun, gardening, and relaxation? The answer has as much to do with the residents themselves, the control they have over their space, and the envisioning they can do together, as it does the materials available. As we have been learning at the Park Street vacant lot, outdoor spaces can foster community AND communities can foster outdoor spaces.