Hope the re-wilding the median project will work! And... we should all try to be copycats of these types of projects :) Also love the story about the beavers and San Pedro river!
I love this and I hope you guys are able to continue with the weedy median! Thanks for the background info on the lawns. I hate them even more now. The beaver story made me smile so hard. Great post!
Hi Amanda and subscribers. We must be kindred spirits. My guess is that you don’t live too far from my home in Glendale CA where I have been guerilla gardening with native plants for many years. A bit of success, quite a few disappointments. The city has removed three of my trees, three have survived. Some poppies and lupine reseed. They have also quit with the herbicide, now we have lots of weeds in public rights of way. Though I prefer the weeds to poison.
Nobody has educated the maintenance folks about basic botany. They weed whack in summer when the weeds are dead and the seeds are already dispersed. If they weed whack before or at flowering each spring, they would eventually get a handle on it.
Someone planted trees in the median in my neighborhood, as far as I know, they didn’t get permission from the city. Now the sidewalks are cracking likely due to the roots. That will now be an issue that the city has to take care of with a likely cost. Also someone has been planting invasive ice plant on a park slope, which has no value for erosion control or native pollinators.
I have started a rewinding project, but after doing some initial planting, I realized that I should approach the City and tell them what I would like to do. I have prepared a plan for a larger project that I hope to discuss with the City. Because the land is a public park it’s best to get the City involved then to think it’s your land and you can do what you want.
Love your project! And especially the intention behind it—to heal this part of your Earth. Years ago the Oakland city offices were set up for cooperating with neighborhoods in “green space” concerns. If Oakland is where you are, it sounds like those city staffers are long gone. I suspect you’ll have more success winning the city over with low-to-the-ground plantings. Something that doesn’t “inspire” cranky neighbors to complain to the city about the weedy median. The city workers are trying to minimize public complaints. And staff maintenance work. So maybe a fruitful way to go is to get all the surrounding homeowners on board with a beautification plan. One that doesn’t require city tree trimming. 😉 I look forward to—in some years!—to your success. Thank you for this healing work!
Yes, that's where all this is going. I think it will produce a template for other neighborhood groups to use. We're not in Oakland, but we're in a progressive enough city that I think I can push through this wall.
It's fantastic what you are doing. I love when community comes together to push a little good environmental practice. I know a few places near me where neighbours banded together and started a group to weed and plant areas of public land near their houses. Some of our local council's here in Australia are adopting a verge garden policy which allows the little council strip outside your house to be planted so long as it sticks to some guidelines which are usually safety and mobility focused like maintaining a walkway through the verge and having plants that grow under a certain height right next to the road so people can get in and out of vehicles safely. Perhaps persuing something like that for your city would be a benefit to changing perceptions? Some areas in Perth, WA even have a map of where all the verge gardens are. A council a couple of hours north of me have an urban greening policy which is focused on restoring lost canopy and includes verge gardens and street tree plantings.
Yes, my thoughts exactly. It doesn't appear that there are standards or guidelines in place and hopefully this effort will produce some. I'd like to get rid of the need to mow this strip altogether.
I absolutely loved this! There’s something deeply hopeful about the idea that even the scruffiest median or unloved verge can become a spark for connection, curiosity, and wildness. It reminds me that rewilding doesn’t have to be grand or remote. It can be as small (and as radical) as choosing not to mow.
Thanks for the shout out, Amanda! Great post. Even though it only takes a few minutes, I despise mowing the median out the front of our house. It serves no purpose. I'm planning to ask the City Council for an exemption but I'm not holding out hope. But I'd love to turn it into a little patch of natives. It just seems such a waste of space and effort to mow a grass verge no one uses!
I'm sure @gayledallaston will have something to say on this subject.
Oh oh oh I love that the lions are in Kent and have grass for the first time ever. So fantastic! Yay!!!! Also Beavers for the win. I have a whole beaver story I must tell too. I’m going to go out it on my brainstorm list right now. So thanks for that.
Thank you so much for sharing this (frustrating albeit fulfilling) process of two steps forward/one step back, Amanda. I’ve talked for years about the resistance to change in my own work, and it’s just so true — even when it’s for the better, change is hard. Thanks for putting one thought in front of the other. Keep on keeping on. (BTW, so curious about what city you're in; I'm rewilding in Oakland and would love to know the city you're referring to.) :)
Hope the re-wilding the median project will work! And... we should all try to be copycats of these types of projects :) Also love the story about the beavers and San Pedro river!
I believe it will work and exceed anyone's wildest expectations. I actually have a lot that I want to do with it. Yes, please copy away!
I love this and I hope you guys are able to continue with the weedy median! Thanks for the background info on the lawns. I hate them even more now. The beaver story made me smile so hard. Great post!
Hi Amanda and subscribers. We must be kindred spirits. My guess is that you don’t live too far from my home in Glendale CA where I have been guerilla gardening with native plants for many years. A bit of success, quite a few disappointments. The city has removed three of my trees, three have survived. Some poppies and lupine reseed. They have also quit with the herbicide, now we have lots of weeds in public rights of way. Though I prefer the weeds to poison.
Nobody has educated the maintenance folks about basic botany. They weed whack in summer when the weeds are dead and the seeds are already dispersed. If they weed whack before or at flowering each spring, they would eventually get a handle on it.
Someone planted trees in the median in my neighborhood, as far as I know, they didn’t get permission from the city. Now the sidewalks are cracking likely due to the roots. That will now be an issue that the city has to take care of with a likely cost. Also someone has been planting invasive ice plant on a park slope, which has no value for erosion control or native pollinators.
I have started a rewinding project, but after doing some initial planting, I realized that I should approach the City and tell them what I would like to do. I have prepared a plan for a larger project that I hope to discuss with the City. Because the land is a public park it’s best to get the City involved then to think it’s your land and you can do what you want.
Cheers from a fellow copycat!
Love your project! And especially the intention behind it—to heal this part of your Earth. Years ago the Oakland city offices were set up for cooperating with neighborhoods in “green space” concerns. If Oakland is where you are, it sounds like those city staffers are long gone. I suspect you’ll have more success winning the city over with low-to-the-ground plantings. Something that doesn’t “inspire” cranky neighbors to complain to the city about the weedy median. The city workers are trying to minimize public complaints. And staff maintenance work. So maybe a fruitful way to go is to get all the surrounding homeowners on board with a beautification plan. One that doesn’t require city tree trimming. 😉 I look forward to—in some years!—to your success. Thank you for this healing work!
Yes, that's where all this is going. I think it will produce a template for other neighborhood groups to use. We're not in Oakland, but we're in a progressive enough city that I think I can push through this wall.
It's fantastic what you are doing. I love when community comes together to push a little good environmental practice. I know a few places near me where neighbours banded together and started a group to weed and plant areas of public land near their houses. Some of our local council's here in Australia are adopting a verge garden policy which allows the little council strip outside your house to be planted so long as it sticks to some guidelines which are usually safety and mobility focused like maintaining a walkway through the verge and having plants that grow under a certain height right next to the road so people can get in and out of vehicles safely. Perhaps persuing something like that for your city would be a benefit to changing perceptions? Some areas in Perth, WA even have a map of where all the verge gardens are. A council a couple of hours north of me have an urban greening policy which is focused on restoring lost canopy and includes verge gardens and street tree plantings.
Yes, my thoughts exactly. It doesn't appear that there are standards or guidelines in place and hopefully this effort will produce some. I'd like to get rid of the need to mow this strip altogether.
I absolutely loved this! There’s something deeply hopeful about the idea that even the scruffiest median or unloved verge can become a spark for connection, curiosity, and wildness. It reminds me that rewilding doesn’t have to be grand or remote. It can be as small (and as radical) as choosing not to mow.
Yes, and all these little small projects can add up to a big impact.
Good luck. It astounds me the level of ignorance and bureaucracy and pushback when we’re trying to make a difference for the ecosystem.
Not to mention that the city won't have to mow it once I get my way. Their staff will have a few hours back each month.
Thanks for the shout out, Amanda! Great post. Even though it only takes a few minutes, I despise mowing the median out the front of our house. It serves no purpose. I'm planning to ask the City Council for an exemption but I'm not holding out hope. But I'd love to turn it into a little patch of natives. It just seems such a waste of space and effort to mow a grass verge no one uses!
I'm sure @gayledallaston will have something to say on this subject.
City councils might start to bend once we let them know this is a worldwide trend!
Oh oh oh I love that the lions are in Kent and have grass for the first time ever. So fantastic! Yay!!!! Also Beavers for the win. I have a whole beaver story I must tell too. I’m going to go out it on my brainstorm list right now. So thanks for that.
Yes to more beaver stories 😊
Better a beaver than a tractor, and better a citizen group than a top-down city planning department. Thanks for making the global local, Amanda.
Best comment ever!
Thank you so much for sharing this (frustrating albeit fulfilling) process of two steps forward/one step back, Amanda. I’ve talked for years about the resistance to change in my own work, and it’s just so true — even when it’s for the better, change is hard. Thanks for putting one thought in front of the other. Keep on keeping on. (BTW, so curious about what city you're in; I'm rewilding in Oakland and would love to know the city you're referring to.) :)
Thank you! To maintain a little privacy, I don't publish my city. We should DM ; )
I'd love to find out more about what you're working on.
I had a feeling based on how you wrote it. Would love to connect privately. ❤️