The Bedford-Stuyvesant Community Garden – formerly the Lola Bryant Community Garden – had long been known for the large quantities of fruits and vegetables – including collard greens, tomatoes, okra and pole and bush beans – that were cultivated there for many years by avid local gardeners and shared with senior citizens and others in the community. Then, in 2006, Dr. Leslie Dae Johnson – a forensic geneticist and New York Restoration Project (NYRP) patron – made a generous gift to not only restore and revitalize the site, but also to endow the garden’s ongoing maintenance.

Commissioned by NYRP, renowned landscape architect Ken Smith generously donated his design services for the renovation of the garden and worked with NYRP’s horticulture and design crews to re-envision this community space. At Smith’s onsite workshop, local community gardeners considered two design proposals, ultimately choosing one that featured raised planting beds for vegetables, herbs and fruit trees – including two apple trees, a Montmorency cherry, a peach and a Stanley plum requested by the community; shallow terraces; a central lawn for social gatherings; and an arbor made from metal scaffold tubing – a traditional garden amenity made with non-traditional materials.

After a design plan was chosen, the women’s basketball team of St. Francis College in Brooklyn joined NYRP in a series of volunteer workdays to help prepare the site for restoration. Over the course of six months, NYRP construction crews performed demolition and grading procedures on the site, cleared debris and garbage, and installed various hardscape features.

Other of the garden’s unconventional amenities include trellises constructed from glu-lam – a material typically used in telephone and communication infrastructures, which provide space for grapes and vines to grow and flourish. NYRP also created concrete pavers from recycled pieces of sidewalk and installed them as stepping stones throughout the garden. The space also features the extensive use of green walls, a boardwalk constructed from recycled materials, picnic tables, permeable-paved surfaces and a rainwater collection system sourced from the rooftop of a neighboring building.

Located in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, this 3,200-square-foot garden serves a neighborhood comprised primarily of single- and multi-family homes and is within walking distance of several public schools.