Eureka Springs grows plants with a purpose.
The city’s Native Plant Garden Project (NPGP) began four years ago on Basin Spring Avenue, a public right of way. The old public street/stairway, situated across from a Main Street parking lot near the city’s Art Wall, had been developed and maintained as a garden since the 1980s.
The site had been created and backed by funds and staff from the Eureka Springs Parks and Recreation Commission and Department of Public Works, with support from the Eureka Springs Preservation Society and Eureka Springs Garden Club.
But the past four years have seen the space taken up a notch.
Thanks to donor support and a small group of volunteers working with Main Street Eureka Springs, the space is now an urban habitat, once neglected, that is a demonstration of plantings for attracting birds, bees, butterflies and other beneficial wildlife.
The project had two purposes when it originated.
First, it was seen as a community educational resource created by transforming a neglected right of way into an ecologically productive green space. Second, the “urban restoration project” exists to give others the knowledge to do such things themselves by offering a variety of learning opportunities.
For four years the volunteers worked weekly at the site, transplanting ornamental plants, trimming trees and cleaning the stairway. They painted handrails, installed an enclosing fence and gates, improved the retaining wall adjoining the Art Wall, and placed a sign marking the project.
The NPGP now presents a broad selection of native trees, shrubs, perennials, grasses, ferns and bulbs. Plans for the future include continued planting and weed control, a bird feeder and retaining wall repair.
The space has recently earned distinction as a “Monarch Butterfly Way Station.”
While it is the first garden of its type in the city, NPGP is educating the community in order to create other flourishing gardens. Partnerships include the Northwest Arkansas Master Naturalists, Eureka Springs Pollinator Alliance and Eureka Springs Tree City USA Committee.
The Community Development Partnership of Western Carroll County serves as the nonprofit agent for donations and grants, which have been used to fund improvements and programs.
A grant from the Department of Arkansas Heritage supported a series of walks and talks spotlighting local landscapes. An Arkansas Urban Forestry Commission grant helped fund a series of weekly excursions offering educational and social opportunities to learn about the city’s urban forests and native plant life.
Native plant fairs have sprung up since the NPGP project originated, providing plant life education and raising funds for the project through vendor, T-shirt and note card sales. The cards are the result of a collaboration with Clear Spring School, a local alternative school.
The NPGP is completely a volunteer project that is accomplishing its goals. It continues to beautify a prominent downtown location while inspiring members of the community to establish their own gardens and spread word of the benefits.
An agreement with the mayor’s office established an understanding to work with Public Works staff to schedule water meter service and trash pickup. The city provides free parking for volunteers and benefits by having no maintenance costs, valuable ecological service and benefits and even helping to filter and slow the flow of stormwater.
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