I love being a sidewalk gardener on Bethune Street. When I moved into Westbeth Artists Housing, I spotted the nine planter boxes lining the block from Washington to West Streets, each tended by a different gardener. This looked like fun, so I put my name on a waiting list. (Everything at Westbeth involves a waiting list.) A few years later, the Beautification Committee notified me that one was available. My sidewalk garden is a 4’ x 5’ wooden planter box with a callery pear tree in the middle.
I was assigned my little plot of earth in the year 2000. As I watered my plants over the years, I saw the block change from a working factory across the street into a row of luxury townhouses. I grew as a gardener. I went from a being a novice, whose prior experience was limited to growing geraniums in a window box, to a veteran.
Since I’m an extrovert, I enjoy talking to people when I’m outside. Tourists stop and ask directions to the to the Whitney or the High Line and I become the friendly New Yorker. I get compliments from my neighbors at Westbeth: “Great colors.” This is gratifying, especially in a building where people often gripe about things. No one complains about someone planting pretty flowers and making the block beautiful.
I talk to people walking their dogs to Hudson River Park. I talk to people hanging out in their cars while waiting for the parking space to become legal. One woman, who was vacuuming her car, told me I had a green thumb.
The planter boxes seem more important to the spirit of Westbeth now that the complex has turned into a massive construction site. It’s stressful to live with the noise and dust and vibrations related to the renovations. Spring planting provides some normalcy and a sense of continuity. Since the building is encased in scaffolding and sidewalk sheds, which means less sunlight, I’ve had to rethink what can grow.
But after doing this for years, I know what works on this windy block, and I keep a log. I plant begonias, impatiens, geraniums, dianthus, verbena, pink splash, blue zephyr, caladium. I trim the box with Dusty Miller for a grey border. Ivy and sweet potato vines drape over the side. Two hydrangea bushes anchor the corners. (I was amazed their flowers changed colors the year after Sandy flooded the street.) Two hostas plants are my other reliable perennials. My favorite new addition is a fern, a gift from Kurt, a fellow gardener, who also supplies me with mulch.
We gardeners help each other and give feedback. If a new person takes over a box, I’m offering my assistance, making suggestions, as others did for me when I started. When I go away to the Jersey Shore during the summer, my neighbor, Terry, who tends the box next to mine, keeps an eye on my flowers. When I return from each trip, the first thing I do is check my box to see what’s popped up while I was gone.
I’ve been doing this for so long that two of the boxes contain memorial plaques for gardeners I knew who have passed on. Gardeners change and new traditions have been added. We now decorate our boxes for the holidays using discarded pine branches from the Christmas tree seller on Jane Street (and it’s good for the plants to cover them). Last December, I added pine cones and holly and colorful ornaments.
The wooden boxes and the green protection barriers were installed in the 1980s to protect the trees from cyclists chaining their bikes to the trees. The gardens are under the auspices of the Westbeth Beautification Committee, which runs the famous flea market that started in 1984, founded by Jennifer Cooke and Anne Brody. The first flea market funded the wood for the boxes, designed by Christina Maile, and built by volunteers. The second flea market funded the bench supports and the barriers.
The Beautification Committee raises money for projects around the building and they reimburse the gardeners for the flowers. The boxes have sprinklers that come on twice a day; the committee maintains them.
Planting the box every spring involves several trips to the Union Square Greenmarket, a big schlepp. I take the 14-A bus and carry back heavy bags full of flowering plants. When I rode the bus during the Covid lockdown, I worried I might catch the virus, but I enjoy gardening so much, I took the risk.
It’s a major commitment to go to Union Square and shop for the plants. When I first started doing this, I was surprised at how many plants it took to fill up a small box. Besides spring planting, I usually replenish the box during July and September.
But it’s not all fun and flora. A big problem is people sitting on the edges of the box. This crushes plants, even snaps branches. Most of the boxes have benches on one side, but there are still two sides where people sit to smoke a cigarette or eat lunch.
The other problem is the dogs. Don’t get me started on the dogs. People actually think it’s okay for their dog to pee on the box as long as they don’t pee on the plants. It’s not okay because it rots the wood and creates a stinky urine smell that is really awful during the humid summer months. And if dogs pee on my sweet potato vines, hanging over the side, it kills them. When I see someone with a dog walking towards my box, I race down the block so I can fuss over my plants. That usually deters the dog walker.
Of course, people toss garbage into the box (bottles, cans, juice cartons, candy wrappers) or put cigarettes out into it. Never mind that there are garbage cans on both corners. The worst was when I fished out a condom. (Yes, I used rubber gloves.) And why do people think my garden is a spot for compost?
I know I feel territorial and protective of my spot of greenery, but the sidewalk gardens of New York are very vulnerable. Yet they survive and thrive, thanks to the many dedicated caretakers.
I wonder how the gardens will fare this summer when tourists stream into the West Village for the big celebration of the 250th anniversary of our country. During the past few years my block has been closed off to revelers coming back from the Pride parade in June. That’s good; otherwise, people would be sitting on the boxes.
When another planting season began this spring, I couldn’t believe I’ve been an urban gardener for 25 years. As someone who likes rituals and routines, this seasonal work (April-October) suits me. I hope I can keep this up as I age in place. My role as a sidewalk gardener is one of the most rewarding things I do at Westbeth.
So come on down and check out my flowers and say hello. I’m that obsessive gardener mid-block who’s always clipping and weeding and adding new plants.
Westbeth Flea Market: May 8, 9, 10. Get a bargain and support the gardens.
