The street gardener
How to win people over by getting your hands dirty
It all started small: with a few seeds here and there, gently hoeing the soil to help them grow at the foot of the trees lining our street in Amsterdam. Then there were the rescues: plants that didn’t make it on our balcony, finding a new life on the sidewalk; discarded sprouts at our local nursery, given a second chance; foraged wood chips from the nearest park. People started taking notice, stopping to give encouragements and ask questions.
Here’s the story of my husband’s street garden, and how it helped us grow new connections in our neighborhood.
A few months in, things got fancier with a rainwater collector secured to the gutter with the complicity of a neighbor and a homemade wooden sign. More neighbors came forward to ask how they, too, could beautify the street. What had started as a way to vent in the middle of long days working from home, became an entire street’s project bringing people of all walks of life together.
Our ‘garden’ slowing expanded from the foot of one tree to several others
When we bought our house in Normandy eight years ago…
…a clear division of labor quickly became apparent: I would reign over the inside of the house, magnanimously asking for my husband’s opinion from time to time but overall regally overseeing the whole interior design process. In exchange, he got full custody of the outdoors, where my interventions are limited to trimming the overtly exuberant greenery that claims most of our garden and repeatedly attempting to grow some flowers under the kitchen window (which I felt was still an extension of the inside, of sorts).
This tacit agreement works wonders for us: he loves the physical release of harrowing work outside, and I enjoy nothing more than the comforting view of a tastefully arranged living room where I can just enjoy the sight of a bouquet without having to convince it to grow first. In Amsterdam, however, we do not have a garden, and my husband did what any Frenchman in his right mind would do: he took to the streets.
Street cred in Amsterdam is not what you think
The Watergraafsmeer, a leafy neighborhood in Amsterdam East, is a quiet mix of people who have lived there their entires lives, and newcomers (Dutch and internationals alike) attracted by the more affordable(ish) real estate and the village-y feeling of that part of town, far from the tourists’ tracks. These two populations don’t necessarily mix a lot - even collide, on occasions. For the first year, smiling a lot and harnessing my best Dutch accent in enthusiastic ‘goedemorgen!’ didn’t get me much further than friendly hellos - and the occasional heated exchange about where you should park your bike (a subject of endless feuding on the streets of Amsterdam). My husband’s street garden changed everything.
It soon became a family affair.
As the plants grew, so did the neighbors’ curiosity. By then, our garden had become a family affair: my youngest loves gardening and it soon was her pride and honor to take any willing passerby on a tour of her “garden”: a motley mix of flowers, aromatics and cover crops charmingly adorning a growing number of trees in our street. My son was less keen, but he wanted to be a part of it too. It became customary for me to find my kids and husband chatting with a neighbor we hadn’t met before, sharing gardening tips and advice and soon enough, conspiring to extend the “garden” to the foot of yet another tree.
The street dinner, in September of this year, was a turning point.
My husband’s doings hadn’t gone unnoticed, and he embarked on a steadfast recruiting campaign for more impromptu gardeners to join him in his endeavours. It was a success. The Whatsapp Garden group of our small street is now 30 strong and the scene of vivacious exchanges about the best way to keep cuttings alive (there’s a debate) or when to plant tulip bulbs (in Autumn). And I now introduce myself as “the wife of the man who gardens in the street”, shamelessly claiming some of my husband’s street cred.
So why did he so spectacularly succeed in creating those small but meaningful connections, where my smiles and attempts at conversation did not yield much return? Well, for one thing, there’s the fact that what he did resonated with three things deeply ingrained in Dutch society: love for nature and the outdoors, doing something for the community, and doing it for free. Amsterdammers have a deep rooted tradition of taking over bits of the public space with no other means than the quiet force of planters, benches and sheer persistence.
What made a difference is that my husband didn’t just do it under our window.
He started offering to do it for other people too. He did it without expecting anything in return: there was no other agenda than to do something he loves, and hence no expectations of what others should bring to the (potting) table. He wasn’t trying to make friends like I was, or to gain recognition: he did it just because he enjoyed it. And I think that’s precisely why people felt drawn to join.
In an era of ever increasing push to constantly optimize ourselves, our lives and our relationships, we often need a gentle nudge to remember there’s a intrinsic value in doing things just for the sake of joy, beauty or fun. Perhaps even more importantly, it speaks of the power that random acts of kindness hold: reminding us of our common humanity, of our deep-rooted need for connection, belonging and acceptance, and that there is always more that brings us together than sets us apart.
A much needed reminder, now more than ever.
How to start your own street garden
Has this inspired you to create your own street garden? Find Raphaël’s advice below to get started!
All you need is a little bit of time, a small shovel and patience. Most cities encourage ‘greenification’ but don’t forget to check with the town hall just to be sure. Remember: don’t put pressure on yourself to achieve anything, just enjoy the process and watch things grow!
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Good things grow in a healthy soil. Is it too heavy? Too poor? Enrich it with garden compost, and hoe it well to give your plantations the best chance. To best prepare it, you can add your vegetable food scraps: they will decompose within 2-3 weeks. Make sure to cover them with soil, leaves or wood chips so they don’t get dug out by animals.
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Making your own garden doesn’t necessarily mean spending money. Ask your neighbor with the beautiful garden if she/he would give you some cuttings. Search for plant fairs in your city, where people often exchange or give away plants for free. Check if your municipality donates free compost - a lot of places do once or twice a year. And finally, inquire with your local nursery if they have some discarded plants they would be willing to give away, that are not pretty enough to be sold but you could nurse back to health. Dare to ask!
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If you see some interest but people don’t engage, why not slip flyers in their mailboxes with a QR code inviting them to join a Whatsapp group dedicated to the cause? People can be shy, especially in cultures where addressing strangers on the street isn’t commonplace. Give them an opportunity to connect.
“It is the time you have wasted for your rose that makes your rose so important.”