He was tired of seeing overgrown junipers on a traffic island in his northeast Grand Rapids neighborhood attract trash like a magnet, so Daniel Monsma rolled up his sleeves and did what he knows best: turn the earth and plant.
And some unexpected things happened after Monsma converted the tattered patch of public space into a tidy little paradise where Comstock Boulevard meets with Union Avenue and Aberdeen Street. Last fall someone spread new bark mulch anonymously, and a carpet of tulips came up this spring where none had been before.
"I don't have any idea who planted all those bulbs last fall, but they look fantastic," says Monsma, 45, co-owner of Monsma Landscape & Maintenance Inc. in Ada. "Maybe the same person or people who put down the bark."
Though the who is still unknown, the why isn't. Monsma and the mystery benefactor, other area landscapers and the Friends of Grand Rapids Parks, guerilla gardeners who cultivate without public money or accolades, all want the same thing -- to keep the city beautiful.
And by the sounds of things, their number in metro Grand Rapids is growing.
"We did a good deed that unexpectedly inspired others to add more beauty to the neighborhood," Monsma says with pride.
Resisting the Drought
There's no doubt that times are tough, and public funding is tight for the extra things that make a city sparkle -- many are cringing at what may happen to city parks and public spaces if the Grand Rapids income tax increase doesn't pass next week. But increase or no, it's harder to keep a gardener down than a crocus after the first warm spring rain.
Local landscape companies are gearing up for volunteer projects this weekend for Arbor Day, a national observance several decades older than Earth Day that is celebrated with tree plantings and sprucing up parks on the last Friday in April.
And Friends of Grand Rapids Parks, a nonprofit formed last year to help manage and preserve the city's 2,000 acres of public parks, has set Saturday May 15 as the date for volunteers to groom the parks. Friends of Grand Rapids Parks drew more than 300 volunteers at 16 city parks a year ago at its inaugural "I Love GR Parks" event.
"We do this out of a sense of civic responsibility and to promote Arbor Day," says Eric Nelson, outside sales representative for Lincoln Nurseries, Inc. in Grand Rapids and a member of the Association of Grand Rapids Landscape Professionals. "People need to remember we are the original green industry. If you're concerned about reducing carbon dioxide in the environment, plant a tree."
Members of the association are working with the city of Grand Rapids Parks and Recreation department to recognize Arbor Day, says Mark Witte, a landscape designer and horticulturist with Witte Lawn Maintenance, Inc. in Wyoming. Four large transplant trucks provided by association members are scheduled to roll into Lincoln Park on the city's Northwest Side Friday to plant several red maple cultivars weighing several hundred pounds. The city says about 40 trees are scheduled to be planted at Riverside Park.
Association members have other community projects lined up for Friday, including tree planting at Northern Trails elementary school on Leonard Street NE, east of East Beltline Avenue.
Inspiring a Sense of Beauty
One concrete example of the association's efforts can be found at Mulick Park on Rosewood Avenue SE. Association members from Procare Landscape Management, Inc. in Byron Center worked with nearly a dozen residents to trim trees and overgrown shrubs, plant new trees and perennials.
"This is my favorite time of year, especially with flowers in bloom and trees budding out," says Tom O'Connor, 25, who admired the foliage at Mulick Park recently during one of his mid-day walks with "Sparty," his golden retriever. A transplant from Detroit, O'Connor came here two years ago for a construction job and has since made Grand Rapids his home.
In 2009, the local association planted more than 60 trees as part of the Plant Michigan Green campaign, started by its parent organization, the Michigan Nursery and Landscape Association. And members last year helped replace ash trees at Riverside Park that succumbed to the emerald ash borer.
"It was nice working with the parks because the budgets for the city are very tight and they have had significant damage from Emerald Ash Borer over the years," says Rob Bakhuyzen,landscape designer and sales manager Bakhuyzen Landscape Management in Byron Center. "Every little bit we or others do to help out is important, and it has a positive long-term impact.
"When we planted a tree at a park near Fulton Street cemetery, we had people from the neighborhood stop to watch and thank us. We hope what we do will motivate people to do something on their own."
The Forecast: It's Catching On
A number of smaller-scale efforts citywide projects take place with more regard to the weather report than the calendar.
Out walking her chocolate lab "Koko'' recently on a sunny day, Cathy Helms slows to admire the blooming trees and tulips on the southwest corner of Ball Avenue and Bradford Street NE.
"It is absolutely beautiful," says Helms, 63, who lives in the older, working class neighborhood in the shadow of Kent County Jail. "I didn't even know it was here until I expanded my walking route last year."
The "it" Helms is referring to is the Grand Ideas Gardens outside the Kent/MSU Cooperative Extension office. Built by volunteers, the six-year-old garden boasts labeled plants, shrubs and trees, benches and brick-paved walks.
"I do notice people sitting on the benches there, enjoying the garden and hopefully it inspires people in the neighborhood," Helms says of the Grand Ideas Garden. "It perks the neighborhood up and maybe gives people some incentive – 'what can I do in my own yard?"'
"When we began the garden, the neighbors all came over and thanked us," says Kent/MSU Extension horticulture educator Rebecca Finneran, a driving force behind the Grand Ideas Garden. "They were glad to see the improvements and perceived their home value would go up."
Community gardens have a similar effect; they increase environmental awareness and get people out of their homes to interact with neighbors. It's happened in Eastown, the Cherry Hill district, West Grand Neighborhood, Heartside and East Hills.
"We want to get a foundation of residents doing more," says Tom Almonte, Grand Rapids assistant city manager. "It could mean that a group of neighbors volunteer to keep a city park in good condition. We desperately need our community to come together to ensure that some of these services remain viable."
For Monsma, it was simply a matter of taking pride in his neighborhood. After noticing the neglected traffic island about a quarter mile from his home, Monsma submitted a landscape design to the city Department of Streets and Sanitation, which approved the project after determining the plants would not be a vision obstruction for motorists.
He cleared the 45-foot by 30-foot property and planted drought resistant and salt tolerant plants such as ornamental grasses, butterfly bushes, giant onion, globemaster and mountain garlic. Since the initial planting, Monsma has continued to weed and spread fresh mulch on the island.
The efforts, he says, are having a ripple effect in the neighborhood.
"From the beginning, there has been no more trash (on the island)," Monsma says. "And I just knew I could do something better there."
Former Home & Garden Editor for The Grand Rapids Press, John Hogan is a journalist with more than two decades of professional experience covering everything from homicides to hostas.
Photos:
Landscaped Traffic Island (3)
Dan Monsma( (2)
Courtesy Photo by Rebecca Finneran, MSUE Horticulture
Courtesy Photo by Rebecca Finneran, MSUE Horticulture
Photographs by Brian Kelly -All Rights Reserved