Woodland Garden Brings Peace in a Pandemic

The Coronavirus Pandemic has been a shocking awakening for many of us in all aspects of our lives. One of the ways it has affected us, is that it has made us more aware of our neighborhoods. When it has come time for a much-needed walk, many have us have either been very grateful for a nearby park or else, very aware of its absence. For me, I am not only blessed to have a pocket park behind my house, but also to be one block north from Patterson Park, considered by some to be one of the best urban parks in the country. 

Unfortunately, as we have discussed before, County residents inside the URDL do not have the same access to open space in their communities. While the City was developed intentionally and with care, under the guidance of the legendary Olmsted family (see page 3 History of the Olmsted Parkways for more details), the County was developed without the same attention to planning for publicly accessible, networked open space.  And now, during a time when many of us have felt stuck in our homes without much reason to leave the vicinity, one thing has become clear: Having a good community open space in your neighborhood makes all the difference. This is why the work we do at NeighborSpace is SO important. We take the forgotten, leftover, unwanted, never-intended space and give it intention. Most recently, that is what we have done with Cherry Heights Woodland Garden.

The first time I walked onto our vacant lot on Beech Avenue in Overlea, I was deeply disturbed. Unfortunately, I did not take the proper “before” photos and thought the world may never know what it looked like. Recently, though, I had the idea to check Google Street View which was updated on October 24^th, 2018 and this is what I saw:

The above photo shows a property that is unhealthy, unappealing and, most importantly, unusable. Fortunately, though, thanks to the strong efforts of the Overlea Community, and the help of Towson University’s Alpha Sigma Phi and Alpha Phi, Stevenson University’s Phi Mu Delta, Bridges Baltimore and Troop 16, we were able to change the narrative. Below is a picture of the property during our third major cleanup on April 6^th, 2019:

After seven major cleanups and some strong individual efforts, we have made significant progress. We have cut down dead trees, picked up bags full of trash and removed problematic invasives such as Fig Buttercup, Orange Daylily and of course, English Ivy. Most importantly though, we have created intention where it was lacking and, in doing so, bridged a gap between a community and its open space.

Our woodland garden is not complete and like any park, will never truly be complete. It will need to be nurtured regularly and with intention, it will need to be loved, cared for and appreciated. All that said, our current project does have a completed state and it will involve a number of exciting new developments. The nature playground (shown right) will be added to, a bench and stools will be added for seating, a birdhouse, bat house and little free library will be built, a permeable path will be added and signage designating NeighborSpace and the history of the community will be installed.

We would like to thank everyone who has donated their time and energy to this project; your help has been tremendously appreciated. To all of our financial supporters, your role in this project has been crucial and we ask for your continued support as we see this project to completion. More excitement to come!