Beautifying A Low Income CommunityNotification:
The first thing you must do before working in any community is to get permission or at least notify EVERYONE of what you are planning to do and why. Even if the property is abandoned or owned by the city, it is always in your best interest to take time to meet with neighborhood associations and any other groups or organizations to involve them or just inform them.
Location:
Where you decide to do a project is very important and can be based on several factors. Here are several key points to consider. Always keep all of these in mind.
A. Beautification along the primary corridor through a community will attract the most attention and can influence the most attitudes and opinions. Positive publicity is always good and you will get noticed here.B. You may be forced to limit your choices to those locations where you will get financial support. Never let this be your only determination, but it can certainly factor in.C. Choose sites that have the greatest need. You want to be able to show the greatest improvement for the least amount of time and money.D. You may need to select a site based on how convenient it will be to work there or provide on-going care.E. Remember, in spite of any and all obstacles you may face, the more an area needs beautification, the more good will come from it.It is very important that you capitalize on whatever resources are available to you in the community you are working in. Mulch, compost material, plants, will all factor in on how much bang you will get for your buck (or back).
Plants:
There are many excellent sources for free planting materials and supplies. Residents will have perennial divisions they will be happy to share.
Stores that sell flowers are often happy to let you take leftovers off their hands.
Even commercial growers will often have plants that they will dispose of when they start their next rotation.
As far as selection goes, as a general rule you will always want to select plants that are extremely hardy and low maintenance. Time and money is often wasted on creating the "perfect look" when it is entirely impractical.
Yucca is an excellent choice for providing stunning texture and an evergreen touch to your beds. Sedum is another excellent choice as it is extremely easy to propagate and grows in dense manageable clusters. I often use this with wood chips to border under or against fence rows. Daylilies make another excellent choice and the list goes on.
Projects:
There is more to beautification than just planting flowers. Here is a list of projects you could take on.
A. Sidewalk Edging - Often times in a neglected community there will be grass growing over as much as one third of the sidewalk in some areas. I have edged sidewalks where soil and sod had built up to where we were cutting away over two feet of sod that was up to 6 inches deep with soil.Sidewalk edging provides a neat appearance and also can provide an excellent source of free topsoil for using somewhere else.
B. Mulching - Putting mulch around flowers and shrubs always adds to the beauty as well as providing other benefits as well. Mulching around trees is a simple way to make a dramatic improvement and is also good for the trees. The sod that is removed is again another good source for filling in low areas or building new beds. Plant sedum around your trees after mulching.C. Bed Edging - Digging a shallow trench around your flower beds, whether they are surrounded by grass or pavement, will not only improve the appearance (in grass), but will also help retain the mulch that you apply.D. Start something that will last with the least amount of effort!Fundraising: (see page)
You know the usuals . . . . grants, donations, even a small contribution from the owner of the site you are improving. Try going to the local churches or other organizations. Remember, a whole lot of a little bit, can be an awful lot. If you could collect just 1 penny per year from everyone in the US, you would still have $3,000,000 per year to work with . .. for just 1 penny!
