Kind Hearts Bloom, a Grand Rapids nonprofit, launched Community Roots to turn front yards into green spaces.
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — A Grand Rapids nonprofit is inviting homeowners to turn their front yards into spaces for native plants, vegetables and pollinators through a new program called Community Roots.
Kind Hearts Bloom, which helps residents start and sustain gardens, is expanding its mission with the initiative aimed at creating more green spaces across the city.
“Homeowners in Grand Rapids can apply for us to come in and assist them, provide materials, design and garden installation,” said Kristen Freeland, founder of Kind Hearts Bloom. “This is a two-year commitment. We’re going to teach people how to have a successful garden. They can choose between native plants, veggies or a combo.”
Freeland said the program came to life after the non-profit turned a member’s yard into a flourishing native species garden.
“We went in and essentially flower-farmed them,” Freeland said. “We put in native plants for biodiversity and to bring in the pollinators and the transformation is just amazing. The amount of growth just within six months is wild.”
Volunteers played a key role in transforming the yard. Freeland said site preparation involved laying cardboard, mulch and soil, followed by planting days.
“You really don’t have to do a lot to them for them to thrive,” she said. “They bring in our native bees, our pollinators. They provide habitat to all sorts of critters. Just since March, homeowners have told me they’ve seen so many more butterflies and birds. It really is astonishing. Nature just moves in.”
Applications for Community Roots are open through Oct. 6.
Freeland said even if not all applicants are selected this year, the submissions will help demonstrate the demand for future garden transformations.
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