URBAN POLLINATOR GARDEN, YMCA - KNOXVILLE, TN
The YMCA leadership reached out during a major a facade renovation of their downtown historic building to commission an innovative landscape incorporating native & historically significant plants with sensory qualities. The design was funded in part by the City People Small Grants Program. The project began as a partnership between Joan Monaco & David Dalton (formerly Black Willow Design) & Leah Gardner.




Before, SUMMER 2018

Before, SUMMER 2018

Old plants removed, porous pavers and new bike racks installed, and woody plants in the ground, FALL 2018

Robert Felker painting a beautiful mural across the street, FALL 2018
Pennsylvania Sedge (Carex pensylvanica) plugs, WINTER 2019

Pennsylvania Sedge (Carex pensylvanica) plugs, SPRING 2019
Pennsylvania Sedge (Carex pensylvanica) plugs, SPRING 2019
Perennials, SPRING 2019
Plugs in and pine straw down, late SPRING 2019

June 2019

July 2019




June 2019

July 2019






Ruby Spice Summersweet (Clethra alnifolia ‘Ruby Spice’) blooming! Very fragrant and a hit with the bees, July 2019


Little Bluestem (Scyzachyrium scoparium) July 2019

Blue Grama (Bouteloua gracilis) filling in and flowering, July 2019

Rosy Sedge (Carex Rosea) thriving in the heat, July 2019

Pennsylvania Sedge (Carex pensylvanica) and Christmas Fern (Polystichum acrostichoides) happily growing in the shade of a Fringetree, July 2019

























