Address:
1209 Admiral Street
Richmond, VA
23220 USA
Email: Ask Parks and Recreation
Phone: (804) 646-5733
Inclement Weather Line Number: (804) 646-0751
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Community Gardens
Welcome to Richmond Grows Gardens
Under the leadership of Mayor Levar M. Stoney, our City Administration recognizes that community gardens provide economic benefits, increase social equity, strengthen our community, and promote environmental stewardship.
The goals of Richmond Grows Gardens are:
- To support the sustainability goals for the city of Richmond: improve the quality of life for residents, create a healthy environment and enhance economic development and job creation opportunities.
- To increase the public’s understanding of the value of community gardens and the need for community gardens in the city.
- To encourage and facilitate local urban agriculture which increases access to fresh, nutritional food for residents-particularly those in under resourced communities.
- To transform vacant and underutilized city parcels into productive gardens.
- We support the development of community gardens throughout Richmond. We define a community garden as: City property used in accordance with the provisions of this division to grow fruits, vegetables, flowers, herbs, wood products or native or ornamental plants.
- We offer city property for community gardens to incorporated organizations, unincorporated organizations, and governmental organizations through an online application process. These Garden Groups are encouraged to engage with individual gardeners by creating their own policies to allot garden plots or otherwise let individuals use their parcel. Additionally, garden groups are encouraged to engage with community members by providing opportunities to participate in cultivation of plants and community relationships.
- All garden groups and individual gardeners must follow the Richmond Grows Gardens Rules and Guidelines.
- Richmond Grows Gardens provides city-owned parcels for community-led agriculture and horticulture projects as well as programming support in order to cultivate green spaces for growing food, community, and environmental resilience.
In order to apply for a community garden permit, first read the Rules & Guidelines Tab, then the following must be met:
- The permit applicant must be an individual associated with an organization or unofficial association, such as a neighborhood association or grassroots organization.
- If the applicant is not going to serve as the Garden Steward, then the group/ organization/ association applying must designate a Garden Steward to be responsible for its community garden and to serve as the primary contact for the RGG Coordinator.
- Priority to permits will be given to Richmond residents.
- To apply for a Garden Permit Please fill out the permit application here.
CITY OF RICHMOND
RICHMOND GROWS GARDENS
RULES AND GUIDELINES
12/27/2023
Your Complete Guide
Get all of the information you need, right here in the Community Gardens Handbook.
Once you have completed your community garden application, please download, sign, and return your community garden group waiver to Nathaniel Martin, Community Garden Coordinator, at Nathaniel.Martin@rva.gov.
All individuals that are part of a garden group are required to fill out and sign an individual wavier. Once completed, please return a copy to Nathaniel Martin, Community Garden Coordinator, at Nathaniel.Martin@rva.gov.
Resources
Richmond Grows Gardens wishes you success in your gardening endeavors. Listed below are websites that may be helpful resources for an organic garden.
The City of Richmond neither endorses or promotes the following websites.
On Social Media
- https://www.facebook.com/groups/rvagardeningclub/
- https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnWrSBjZVh9f1DCZmjQAfJNVZdT8F8tYw
- https://www.facebook.com/springhillseedlibrary/
- http://www.richmondgrowsseeds.org/hours-and-location.html (seed library at Main Library)
Local Organizations
Garden Advice
Richmond Compost Initiative
The City of Richmond Department of Parks, Recreation and Community Facilities (PCRF) has been selected by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service to receive a $90,000 grant to launch a community composting pilot program. The initiative seeks to divert food waste from the landfill by providing options for composting at convenient drop-off locations and cycle that organic waste into high-quality compost.
What is composting?
Composting is a process where food scraps, yard waste, and other various organic matter is turned into a nutrient-rich stable soil material.
Why is it important?
Almost a quarter of all waste going to landfills is food and organic matter. Composting is a way to cut down on waste entering landfills while also creating a product that can be used to grow plants and green spaces. Composting also reduces harmful gas emissions by retaining carbon instead of releasing it into the atmosphere.
How Can I Participate?
Almost all food waste can be composted. Many paper products and plant-based materials can be as well. However, with the size of the Richmond Compost Initiative, there are some items we cannot accept. This list includes a breakdown of these items.
Set up at home collection
The easiest way to collect food scraps is to set up a small container on your countertop or under your kitchen sink. Buckets, coffee canisters, or any other container with a lid can be repurposed for food scrap collection. You can choose if you would like to line the container with a biodegradable bag or simply rinse it out between trips to your nearest compost drop-off.
Find a Drop-Off Location near you!
Drop-off locations are conveniently available across the City of Richmond at sites such as participating community gardens, public libraries, and recycling centers. See the map below for all participating locations.
See the entire list of compost locations here.
FAQs
Where does the compost go?
The finished compost will be provided to participating community gardens and organizations, then extended to the entire network of community gardens, parks and public works planting projects.
How long is the pilot funded?
The Richmond Compost Initiative is funded through September 2023.
How is the funding being used?
Funds are being used to design and construction a processing site and install drop off stations across the city. We are contracting RealRoots Food Systems to manage the processing and quality of the finished product. Some funds will be used to supplement labor costs associated with picking up and processing the food scraps.
What happens after the grant funding period is complete?
The pilot program is designed to prove the concept of community composting so that we can move toward fully adopting municipal composting in the City of Richmond. Participation and feedback from you will be critical as we seek future funding opportunities.
What is carbon retention?
Carbon retention is the long-term storage of carbon in soils and vegetation resulting from applications of compost and mulch to land. Soils hold more carbon than the atmosphere or plant and animal life combined.
Alice Fitz Community Garden
Alice Fitz Community Garden is situated on the corner of Alice Fitz Playground. The garden is mostly individual plots with two large, shared community beds. The garden has a pollinator garden and participates in the City’s pilot compost program.
Location: 1301 Perry Street | Richmond, Virginia 23224
Contact: alicefitzcommunitygarden@gmail.com
Instagram: @alicefitzcommunitygarden
Birdhouse Community Garden
Birdhouse Community Garden is located in Petronius Jones Park in Randolph. The garden features large shared beds as well as smaller beds for children to garden in. Several elevated raised beds provide gardening opportunities while standing, an herb circle with benches that creates a lovely place to sit and enjoy the garden and three community composting bins where you can drop off all of your kitchen scraps at your own convenience.”
Location: 1507 Grayland Ave | Richmond, Virginia 23220
Instagram: @birdhousefarmersmarket
Broad Rock Community Garden
Broad Rock Community Garden is a community of cultivators. It offer fruit trees, herb and pollinator gardens, raised beds, weekly work days and workshops for you to come, learn, and grow!
Location: 404 E. Broad Rock Rd | Richmond, Virginia 23224
Contact: broadrockcommunitygarden@gmail.com
Instagram: @broadrock_communitygarden
Charles S. Gilpin Community Farm
Gilpin Community Garden is a public green space that grew out of the vision of Lillie Estes and is one of four growing sites in the Food Justice Corridor. Community beds are open to anyone that is interested in learning and participating; grow and take what you can.
Location: 1420 St. Peter St | Richmond, Virginia 23220
Contact: TBD
Instagram: @kinfolkcommunityrva
Chimborazo Playground Garden
Chimborazo Playground Community Garden came to fruition thanks to the efforts of Lisa Taranto, the founder of Tricycle Gardens, and several other neighbors, who developed a once underutilized half-acre on the fringes of Chimborazo Playground at 29th Street and Grace Street in Church Hill – adjacent to sprawling Chimborazo Park – into a popular community garden, with now over 20 plots sustained by local gardeners.
Location: 3000 E Grace St | Richmond, Virginia 23223
Contact: chimbosteward@gmail.com
Fonticello Food Forest
Community Garden and Educational Ecosystem
Fonticello Food Forest is a public green space promoting an educational ecosystem that is suitable for children and adults. Community parcels are planted and maintained collectively as a community, sharing the fruits of the labor. There are numerous community mutual aid programs including a weekly food distribution on Wednesdays. Check our instagram for current offerings and updates.
Location: 2715 Bainbridge St | Richmond Virginia 23225
Contact: fonticellofoodforest@gmail.com
Instagram: @fonticellofoodforest
Hickory Hill Community Garden
Location: 3000 E Belt Blvd | Richmond Virginia 23234
Contact: Rodneygaines88@gmail.com
Humphrey Calder Community Garden
Humphrey Calder is a popular, well-established community garden boasting mainly individual plots to rent for the surrounding residential area. The garden is one of few that has an active beehive to promote pollination and a shared berry patch and herb bed. This garden prides itself in keeping tidy and watering for your garden neighbor when they travel in the summer. There is a wait list but those that have made it would say it is worth the wait!
Location: 414 N Thompson St | Richmond, Virginia 23221
Contact: humphreycaldergarden@gmail.com
Maymont Community Garden
Located in the Maymont neighborhood right next to the Texas Beach Skate Park, the Maymont Garden is growing at a good pace with community support. The garden features plots for rent (protected by a deer fence), a large meadow that is being developed with mulched pathways, native plant and tree plantings, terraced community beds, and more. There is also a large, roofed area with picnic tables for community members to gather in and host events. Maymont frequently hosts community workdays; check out the Instagram to learn more!
Location: 1907 Texas Ave | Richmond, Virginia 23220
Contact: TBD
Instagram: @maymontcommunitygarden
McDonough Community Garden
Since 2012, McDonough Community Garden has been a communal space for those to work alongside each other in the garden. The garden consists of individual plots to rent with a shared compost and water catchment system.
Location: 3300 McDonough St | Richmond, Virginia 23225
Contact: duronchavis@gmail.com
Instagram: @mcdonoughgarden
Owl Orchard Community Garden
Owl Orchard grew from the fallow field created for the Reedy Creek Flood Plain project. After a while, neighbors began gardening in the field, taking advantage of its space and sunlight.
It lies along Reedy Creek, a tributary of the James River. Because of that, Owl Orchard has a neighborly relationship with all sorts of local wildlife that follow the creek all the way up. Several endangered species call Owl Orchard and Reedy Creek home, like pileated woodpeckers and rare turtles.
Everything that happens in Owl Orchard has a light footprint. We use organic fertilizers and supplements. We include pro-bee/butterfly/hummingbird enticing blooming plants. Throughout the day, and throughout the year, we are assured color, flight, and song.
Location: 807 W 44th St | Richmond, Virginia 23225
Contact: james.mcdonald057@gmail.com
Instagram: owl.orchardcommunitygarden
Powhatan Hill Park Community Garden:
Nestled at the top of Powhatan Hill, the garden boasts plots for rent, fruit trees, and a stunning view of the James River. The garden also features a newly installed water catchment system and beehives. Take a seat on our benches or the picnic tables and enjoy the space.
Location:5051 Northampton St | Richmond, Virginia 23231
Contact: committed2reach@gmail.com
Instagram: @committed2reach
Roots of Woodville Community Garden:
Roots of Woodville Community Garden has a long history of growing food and connection. Gardeners tend to the ground and the community that surrounds it, sharing the bounty with whoever needs it.
Location: 1901 N 28th St | Richmond, Virginia 23223
Contact: TBD
Sankofa Community Orchard:
Sankofa Community Orchard is a two-acre greenspace on Richmond Southside dedicated to food justice, climate resiliency, and mindfulness. Sankofa has Reedy Creek as boundaries on two of its sides. Our vision is to ensure storm water management best practices using fruit trees and fruiting shrubs as green infrastructure.
Location:301 Covington Rd | Richmond, Virginia 23225
Contact: duronchavis@gmail.com
Instagram: @sankofaorchard
Six Points Community Garden:
Located in Richmond’s Northside, Six Points Community Garden is a landscaped park at the crossroads of historic Highland Park, one of the city’s oldest suburbs. Long a vacant lot, the space was converted to a park in April 2022 with the initial planting of a Princeton elm and several dogwoods, with additional plantings of lilacs, peonies, hydrangeas, roses, and viburnum added to the plot later in the spring. In the autumn of 2022, two North Star magnolias, as well as hundreds of tulips, daffodils, and crocuses were planted, providing more greenery to the rather large parcel.
Location: 3001 N 3rd Ave | Richmond, Virginia 23222
Contact: TBD
Stockton Community Garden:
Stockton Community Garden, or also known as the “cosmic corner,” offers more than just a communal garden space - it offers a space to create community. Stockton hosts events and workshops focusing on mind and body wellness. Follow along to stay updated and join in.
Location: 3911 Stockton St | Richmond, Virginia 23224
Contact: TBD
Instagram: @stockton_community_garden
Uptown Community Garden:
Uptown Community garden is situated in the heart of the Fan serving a diverse community, including students and individuals with limited growing space of their own. The space is a hybrid garden with private plots and community beds, with a renewed emphasis on community plots.
Location: 2201 Parkwood Ave | Richmond, Virginia 23220
Contact: uptowngardenrva@gmail.com
What is a Bee City?
See how communities are galvanizing to sustain pollinators: https://beecityusa.org/
What are the commitments?
- Reduce the use of pesticides
- Create policies and plans to address pest management
- Identify appropriate locations for pollinator-friendly planting
- Host pollinator awareness events.
Watch this video to learn more: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-92jI1kzc8
Heidi James, of Lynchburg, speaks to City of Richmond residents about the benefits of creating a Bee City in Richmond Virginia.
Directions to Apply for a Community Garden Site:
- Please use the map below to select a potential parcel (Garden Site) to permit or lease. If you would like a plot to garden rather than permitting or leasing an entire city parcel, please click on a vegetable icon and use the contact information that appears. If you wish to choose and permit or lease an entire site, scroll in and click on the available site and the Permit Application will appear. You will have a maximum of 60 minutes to complete the application. You cannot save or return to the application.
- Please review the "Permit Application" menu tab ahead of time using the link on the left side of the homepage to ensure you have all the necessary information with you while completing your online application.