During 2020, the Piedmont Master Gardeners (PMG) formed a committee to review the organization’s work and update its direction through 2025. The resulting Strategic Plan emphasized maintaining our historical priorities and projects while increasing emphasis in several areas including:
- Increased focus on environmental stewardship and sustainability
- Diversifying our membership and community client breadth
- Forming community partnerships with like-minded local organizations.
The result was several new projects where we partnered with multiple community groups. One example, Schoolyard Garden Projects, was featured in the September issue of The Garden Shed. It presented our inspiring work at three Albemarle County elementary schools. This article focuses on another community project, the PMG landscaping partnership with Habitat for Humanity of Greater Charlottesville (Habitat). Habitat is another community group with whom we were able to establish common goals of science-based sustainable horticulture education, diversifying partners and clients while connecting with like-minded community organizations.
Forming the Partnership
After strategic plan approval, we identified Habitat as a potential partner. It turned out to be a positive connection for both sides. Habitat’s main function is helping low-income families improve their living conditions through home ownership when they commit to training, work hours and regular mortgage payments. Their focus is on home construction and preparing member families for success as homeowners and community members. Landscaping the homes and training new occupants in maintaining their landscapes was not previously a priority. Both Habitat leadership and PMG investigators quickly agreed that PMG could help improve the horticultural education as well as the landscape quality and appearance for new Habitat homeowners. A partnership quickly formed.
The initial agreement was that PMG would work with Habitat and Habitat families to design front landscape gardens, select plants which Habitat would purchase and transport to housing sites, and work with families, Habitat workers and volunteers to do the planting. It included providing training on care and maintenance to assist families in maintaining the appearance and value of their properties. PMG also committed to making a modest contribution to the landscaping costs for each home. The first landscaping was done in 2021.
The First Two Years
During 2021, Habitat completed, and PMG helped landscape 4 homes located in Charlottesville and Albemarle County as far south as Esmont. They included two single family homes (see one in the lead photo) and a duplex. Where in the past, homes were landscaped with traditional shrubs, PMG was able to convert shrub and perennial choices to predominantly native plants, while providing space for favorite non-natives when families expressed such a desire. We educated planters and improved practices to include adding compost to plantings to help improve the compacted clay soils at all the homes. Also, adding mulch to the finished beds became a standard practice, and the weed reduction and moisture maintenance benefits were communicated to the homeowner families.
One of the difficulties we encountered, was making deep connections with many of the homeowners. Most were single parent families with demanding work and child support responsibilities. We dealt with that by creating written handouts that include materials to explain best planting practices, benefits of native plants, soil amendments and mulching benefits as well as ongoing care and maintenance needs.
In 2022, the project grew to landscape 12 homes, including a single family, multiple duplexes and a triplex. Project basics didn’t change, but many of the homes were located in mixed income communities – neighborhoods that were a mix of Habitat and commercial homes. This helped families see the value in our training as they included landscaping and curb appeal in their home management efforts. We were able to include children to a greater degree, and provided flowers, soil and pots for planting that they learned from and enjoyed.
During the year, we identified a couple of issues that we communicated to Habitat, requesting inclusion in their building process. Watering is a critical element of maintaining healthy landscapes, but providing exterior spigots for watering wasn’t a regular element of Habitat’s home design. After discussion of the need and benefits, the construction group began including outside faucets in all homes.
Also, gutter downspouts were often releasing rainwater straight onto the ground, causing erosion and in some cases, water buildup against the buildings. Again, discussions led quickly to improvement in practices and consideration of the environmental effects of sometimes overlooked landscaping elements.
Landscaping at the Southwood Development
In 2023 Habitat’s focus turned to a long-term, high-volume project in the Southwood development. In the works since their purchase of the property in 2007, the plan is to convert an aging trailer park into a development that includes about half market-based homes built by commercial builders and half affordable homes by Habitat or rentals by the Piedmont Housing Alliance. It is a huge undertaking that includes over 300 families in the trailer park, all of whom can be included in Habitat homes by committing to Habitat’s training, work and financial responsibility requirements. The plan includes 11 small villages to be constructed over more than a decade. In 2023, the first year of high-volume construction and move-ins, we worked in Village 1.
The landscaping plan changed to the extent that the community is a designed development with more regulations and detailed planning than the prior homes. A commercial landscape firm designed the basic neighborhood landscape layout, including street plant selection, while Habitat hired a landscape professional to design the garden beds and select the plants to be included at each home.
PMG worked with the Habitat designer to influence plant selection aiming for a roughly 70% native plant mix. Our job was simplified as Habitat delivered the plants to each site and placed them in their approximate location in the beds. The Master Gardener role included working with Habitat to finalize plant location, guiding families and volunteers in planting them and providing verbal and written information, in Spanish and English, that covered everything from planting to longer term care, to help families maintain a healthy and attractive landscape.
We were involved in landscaping 24 homes between April and October, a big jump. Family involvement increased and the predominantly Hispanic family makeup included some experienced gardener/landscapers which was great. Habitat also provided more volunteer support to assist with the higher number of homes to be planted and provided Spanish language assistance as needed. This allowed us to expand our education element to include volunteers, many of whom came from UVA student volunteer groups.
Early in the year, we recognized that most families lacked the tools needed to provide appropriate plant care. We addressed this by providing each family a tool kit that included a trowel, weeding tool, pruner, hose, watering wand, gloves and a storage bucket. Although our Grant Committee won us grants from VCE and Bama Works to pay for the materials, our local Lowe’s offered to provide it all at their expense, making this their “Hero Project” for 2023. The Lowe’s name on the bucket communicated their participation to the homeowners. The kits were included as welcome gifts awaiting families at move-in.
Staying Involved in 2024
This year, Habitat’s construction group, along with Southwood’s commercial builders, began construction in neighboring Village 2. While the first new Habitat homes weren’t ready for landscaping until October, we participated in three Village 1 neighborhood events, that enabled us to maintain contact with families and work with them to enhance the sense of community.
In April we hosted a gardening table at the Village 1 Block Party. It included planting demonstrations for potted flowers, vegetables and herbs, as well as some annual flowers for kids to pot. It was a nice event that included several community organizations and a food truck. It was fun to meet folks in a more relaxed context than landscape planting day, while mixing with other exhibitors and community members.
In late May, we participated in Southwood Market Day. Several PMG volunteers worked to promote native plants and their environmental benefits while helping neighborhood children plant seeds in pots that they could take home to grow.
In June, we assisted Habitat and a mix of Village 1 residents, both Habitat and independent families, in landscaping a corner of the neighborhood that they converted into a “Pocket Park”. The intention is to provide a pleasant place for neighborhood gatherings. It was a nice way to meet some non-Habitat families and participate in a positive community event.
Separately, working with Habitat’s landscape designer, we prepared a brief document that summarizes the benefits of replacing non-native with native landscape plants. She passed it on to the commercial builders working in Southwood who have been using non-natives in their new homes. No commitments yet, but we are hopeful that they will show some interest in making their plant selections more sustainable.
Where we go from here
We wrapped up 2024 by landscaping 8 townhomes in October. The event included an education session and lunch supplied by Habitat. This increased the number of homes landscaped since 2021 to over 50 and has enabled PMG to spread the word on science-based horticulture, including the importance of native plants, to Habitat, homeowner families and volunteers, many of whom had little prior horticultural knowledge. We have built a strong relationship and helped improve the environmentally related practices of an important local organization that helps hard working lower income families improve their living situations. Working with Habitat personnel, homeowner families and volunteers has also helped us reach our diversity goals.
Everyone we have worked with, including Master Gardeners, Habitat personnel, families and volunteers, has expressed appreciation for their role in this positive project. The project and the relationships that have developed leave those who have played a part feeling a sense of pride in their contribution. Since its beginning, our local Habitat has placed over 300 families in homes and only 8 have defaulted on their mortgage, an impressive success rate. In each case, Habitat was able to re-acquire the homes and sell them to other Habitat families, maintaining them as affordable housing. Bringing people together to build homes and communities and helping families to help themselves is Habitat’s foundational mission. Their record speaks for itself. PMG is proud to bring our skills to support this work and we look forward to continuing our mutual relationship as Habitat expands the Southwood and subsequent developments, for years to come.
