I proudly planted a garden in my boulevard this summer and I could not be more excited about it. It’s a conversation starter with neighbors and complete strangers walking by. It’s simple, colorful and adds a little spice to a previously forgettable (mostly) green patch located between the sidewalk and the street.
The city of Fargo is giving boulevard gardening a chance this summer by having passed an ordinance to allow (with mindful guidance) the opportunity to swap out underutilized space with productive and lively beauty.
Many have stated you simply should plant gardens in your backyard and leave the safe, familiar, unusable patch of grass known as the boulevard alone. My backyard is surrounded by magnificent shade producing trees. Trust me, I’ve tried to grow various flowers and vegetables in my backyard and my greener-than-it-was-before thumb with the knowledge I have gained over 10 years in this yard, cannot make plants that need sunlight survive in the shade. I’ve had my fill of hostas and ferns.
Now I have a thoughtful garden (plans for Phase II next season) with flowering native pollinators growing quickly as they feed off the sunlight, happily hanging out for all to see their beauty and purpose. I understand that people like to tend to their grass lawn and it brings them joy but it doesn’t for all of us. This ordinance provides a great opportunity for us to bring some character to our neighborhoods while helping out nature along the way.
