Sacred Places
Wangari Gardens
A 2.7-acre working farm on highway land, being protected in perpetuity.
WHERE
Washington, DC
SETTING
Neighborhood
Visit
Where it is
Wangari Gardens, Washington, DC
What happens here
Over 100 community garden plots are worked here alongside public vegetable gardens, a fruit-tree forest garden, and a compost cooperative. Community programs include free yoga classes and garden workshops. Elementary school groups and service projects come through often, and the community holds an annual fall fair.
HOW IT CAME TO BE
The land belongs to the highway department.
Drag to see the transformation.
01
The Need
Wangari Gardens sits next to the Parkview and Pleasant Plains neighborhoods and a cluster of hospitals, an oasis surrounded by busy city streets. The land is owned by the DC Department of Transportation and managed through a memorandum of agreement, which leaves its future uncertain.
02
The Vision
A park built to benefit everyone, driven by a passion for community engagement. Wangari is eager to serve its people and has already learned a great deal from reaching out to Crispus Attucks Park.
03
The Transformation
The park space has been designed and developed to serve the community, with benches, trees, a healing garden, and other features providing restorative green space. Wangari is collaborating with Casey Trees on a conservation easement that would protect the property from development in perpetuity by limiting impervious surface. As part of developing that easement, Wangari initiated a community visioning Nature Sacred design process for the park space, which produced a dedicated place for people to sit, relax, and reflect.
WHO TENDS IT
Akhil Sharath
Firesoul, Wangari Gardens
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Samantha Lee
Firesoul, Wangari Gardens
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