Make Your Garden Grow

April showers bring May flowers—so what better time to begin your garden-growing journey? PA Parks and Recreation can offer a great abundance of support, through classes, tips, tricks, areas to plant and cultivate, and form bonds with your community. Good at gardening but want to get better? Never gardened before in your life but want to try it out? Garden by yourself but looking to garden communally with others? No worries. We’ve got you covered. 

Whether it’s in your own backyard, in your local park, or in your community garden, now’s the perfect time to get out your gloves, shovel, and plan out the perfect visual feast filled with flowers, plants, and more. We’ll be here to help make it happen. 

Getting Started

The first step comes before even touching the ground, and that’s figuring out what it is that you want to plant. Maybe you’re looking to crunch down on some yummy vegetables for dinner or add some zest to a meal with some herbs. Perhaps you want some beautiful, colorful blossoms outside your window. And if you do choose to plant flowers, it’s important to consider how much time and effort you want to put into it—whether you want perennials or flowers that will need to be swapped out once their season comes to a close. 

This also has a big impact on where you decide to plant your seeds. Flowering plants need 6-8 hours full of sun every day—so choose wisely and ensure your spot is well-lit. 

Still don’t trust yourself? Start with a flower that’s almost impossible to kill. Then, once you get the hang of it, you can move up onto the more intense breeds. We believe in you!

Things You’ll Need

Now that you’ve figured out where you want to plant your goods, you’ll need some supplies. 

Gloves are an essential. Ensure that they’re water-resistant, breathable, and pair them with long sleeves that will keep soil and bugs from getting on your skin. You’ll need pruning shears to cut, a hand trowel (mini shovel for the newbies), and a rake. Then you’ll need some water-based tools: a watering can, a garden hose, and a watering wand. And finally, for hauling those hefty bags of soil, you may want to invest in a wheelbarrow. 

Community Gardens

What if you wanted to share your gardening love with others around you? There’s an option for that too! The Pennsylvania Horticultural Society gives you a rundown of what community gardening is all about and where in PA to find them!

Community gardens are an essential part of alleviating hunger within neighborhoods, providing fresher and healthier alternatives to those in need of them, and can be a source of vibrant green space, particularly within more urban parts of the state. They offer the supplies to grow, tools to help nurture, and a wellspring of information, whether from the space itself or the community members who stop by!

And did you know that Pennsylvania is home to more than 170 of them? Chances are you’ve even passed one on the street and haven’t realized it! Community Gardens in PA is a great resource to find community gardens across the state to join and make a difference.

Lend a Hand

When you volunteer in parks, you’re often contributing to the beautification and gardening of the space—becoming a park’s own little friendly neighborhood gardener. So if you don’t have a community garden near you and don’t have the space in your own backyard to start one, volunteering can be a great alternative. (Or even if you do have one of the others, you can still volunteer!) 

Love Your Park Week is coming up this month in Philadelphia, it’s a week full of park celebration and adoration—mixed in with nine days of volunteering to make our parks a better, more visually appealing place. 

You can find many other volunteer opportunities directly on the parks’ websites. See Fairmount Park Conservancy’s site for example. All it takes is a quick search and you’ll find your ideal volunteer spot in no time. 

There are plenty of ways to bring gardening into the season, whether you’re just beginning or a flora expert. And as you can see, there’s also plenty of ways to involve PA parks and gardens in the process—all while building up your community and helping out. So if you’ve been looking for a new warm-weather hobby to take on … look no further than the natural wonders of gardening. Hope your thumb is ready to get green!