Located just behind Bellevue Elementary School, between Franklin Street and Grace Street in Church Hill, lies Elizabeth Van Lew Community Garden, named after the abolitionist and Union spy who once owned several acres spanning from 23rd Street to 25th Street and maintained extensive gardens on the plot.
While over the years the land adjacent to the stairs connecting Shockoe Bottom to Church Hill had fallen into disrepair, rife with poison ivy, honeysuckle, and ailanthus, Verdant Richmond has worked since early-2019 restoring the landscape, clearing the invasive species and to date planting nearly a dozen trees, including four cherry trees, a dogwood, two magnolia Anns, and a sycamore along the Franklin Street arbor, as well as serviceberry bushes, a beautiful maple tree, a river birch, and numerous varieties of hydrangeas. To accompany the trees, Verdant Richmond installed dozens of daisies, brown-eyed Susans, coreopsis, day lilies, and hostas, as well as other perennial flowers and hundreds of early-spring bulbs including daffodils, hyacinths, and tulips.
While improvement has been dramatic, there’s still work to be done. If you’d like to participate in an upcoming planting, please contact us! We look forward to hearing from the community and learning what you’d like to see in our community.