First this
And now this
Have you noticed a change in our landscape? The year of scaffolding is over and what was desolate is now flourishing. And it’s not finished. The few areas remaining will soon be planted. Ailing plants will be replaced and healthy ones will be happier, knowing that we care about them. The garden committee and board have worked hard to make this a reality, and some residents have covered the cost of new plants. Other residents are offering to pay for new shrubs and trees.
We hear compliments from people exiting the subway, even those not living in Fort Tryon Gardens, which attests to our positive impact on the neighborhood. I’m toldthat for every dollar spent on “curbside appeal,” property values increase by fifty percent, which is not a bad ROI.
Residents now have two opportunities. The first is playing in the dirt with the garden committee when we prune, weed, and plant. Watch for announcements on our Facebook page.
The second is to take advantage of compost, which will be supplied by the New York City Sanitation Department at a time that will be announced (stay tuned). Your house plants will love you. But a word of caution: compost is not potting soil but rather fertilizer. Just a spoonful of compost makes a plant feel real good (just like a spoon full of sugar makes the medicine go down).
Meanwhile, make sure you leave your own compost in the brown bins available in the garbage areas of each building. The bins are available at all times, and the porters put them outside for pickup around 4 p.m. every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday afternoon, to be returned to the garbage area by 8 a.m. the following day.
NOTE: please refrain from putting anything PLASTIC in the bins. This sabotages the system.
P.S. We hope you didn’t miss the abundant nectarines in the tree on our 192 nd Street side. We expect to have figs next year.
Mary Jane Wilkie. Thanks to Ernie DeLia for the photos.
Thanks MJ. Good job.