Norwich Bulletin , Connecticut August 14, 2006 Collaborative effort enlivens Rockwell Street in Norwich By KIMBERLY DRELICH
NORWICH - It could have been any other street. But Rockwell Street has a little something to set it apart ---- a community garden runs through the middle of it. Plots of tall red cannis plants, yellow daisies, clusters of bright pink petunias interspersed with marigolds, ornamental pear trees and waxy red and white New Guinea impatiens reflecting the sun stretch along the length of the island in the center of the busy, two-way street. Mediterranean red grass, coleus and red sage surround the garden's light posts and pampas grass stands at each end of the 300-foot-long and 5-foot-wide garden. The idea to plant a neighborhood garden in the island of Rockwell Street surfaced when Mayor Ben Lathrop and Leland Loose of Norwich were inspired by the median strips in the middle of the race tracks in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. "We approached public works and promised we would get a neighborhood group together," Loose said. Before beginning the garden, the island consisted of wooden telephone poles and grass. The Norwich Department of Public Utilities and Public Works put in old-fashioned telephone poles, a granite curb, drains and dirt. About a dozen families from Rockwell Street and the surrounding area planted perennials and set up the garden in the summer of 2004 in the curb constructed by the city, with help from individuals such as Jim Frazer of Preston, who donated the oldest cobblestones in New England to the garden. "The city put in the curb, and the neighborhood did everything else," said Chuck Martin of Norwich, one of the residents involved in planting the garden. As spring begins each year, the group reconvenes to plant annuals. The neighborhood then sets up a watering schedule for the summer and fall in which each individual takes care of the garden for a week. "Everybody loves it," Robert Whatley, curator of the Daughters of the American Revolution Faith Trumbull Museum, said about the garden. "I'll be watering it and pulling the weeds, and people will stop by and compliment it. I think it really uplifts the neighborhood." Loose said the garden has drawn much appreciation from city residents and is an example of great neighborhood participation. "It's an effort that brought us all together as a neighborhood," Loose said. ______________________________________________________ The American Community Gardening Association listserve is only one of ACGA's services to community gardeners. To learn more about the ACGA and to find out how to join, please go to http://www.communitygarden.org To post an e-mail to the list: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To subscribe, unsubscribe or change your subscription: https://secure.mallorn.com/mailman/listinfo/community_garden
