Originally named St. Marks Monastery, this 1,700-square-foot garden was initially maintained by local monks. In 2008, New York Restoration Project (NYRP) received a generous grant from The Home Depot Foundation to re-imagine this green space. To create the visionary design for this garden’s restoration, NYRP’s in-house design team –in conjunction with landscape architect Art Kleinman from the RBA Group – worked with community members for more than six months to plan and finalize a garden design that met the neighborhood’s diverse needs.

Local residents requested that the garden provide a space for children to learn about nature. As a result, NYRP created New York City’s first-ever, certified Nature Explore Classroom. Designed to be a magnet for neighborhood students to play, explore and engage in NYRP’s ever-expanding environmental education programming, the garden beckons children to enter – but provides all who visit with a sensory and singularly stimulating experience.

Following a narrow path that winds invitingly between the soaring walls of two neighboring buildings, visitors first encounter beautifully planted beds of perennials, shrubs, scent-filled flowers and herbs, and a variety of trees. Along the way, additional details continue to unfold – including a children’s performance stage, birdhouses, play areas and tables and benches for crafts projects, reading or an occasional picnic. Finally, at the back of the space and across a grassy lawn, the garden reveals its most unique feature – a fantastical two-story, Tudor-style playhouse tucked beneath the sheltering branches of a grand and carefully preserved shade tree.

In May 2009, NYRP Founder Bette Midler and Executive Director Drew Becher joined community members, Arbor Day Foundation Nature Explore Outreach Director Susie Wirth and President of The Home Depot Foundation Kelly Caffarelli to celebrate the opening of The Home Depot Community Garden. The festivities were also attended by 20 students from P.S. 155, who participated in the first environmental education lesson to take place in the newly renovated garden.

Located in the East Harlem section of Upper Manhattan, the garden is in close proximity to numerous schools – including P.S. 155, P.S. 112 and P.S. 206 – and several New York City Housing Authority developments – including the Jefferson and Wagner Houses – in a neighborhood whose residents are primarily of Hispanic and African-American descent.