The City Installed a Garbage Pit / Garden in Front of My House
I am laughing because as atrocious as it looks with all the garbage the tree pit and metal surround is lovely. You have a small problem in the big city suck it up and adopt it like a child. You cannot plant a tree there because you have some type of exhaust/drainage or electrical stub out going on. Also since it is hella cold you cannot tell what type of bushes those are. My advice is to; -Totally clean out the pit. Leave the black rocks if you so choose -Cut back/down the bushes a small bit so that when they start to bloom they will fill in and you can see what type they are OR rip them out You can get either some lengths of Trex deck planks and cut them to length and depth. Screw a few holes in the decking every few feet and tie the deck to the inside of the metal to create a barrier for the garbage not to blow in -Put in a few bags of good soil (but try to keep the tops of those pipe clear and accessible) -line the perimeter with Hostas and some annuals you can swap out for pops of color -mulch it all in with several bags of your favorite mulch -Put up a sign asking people not to toss litter or to let their animals use the space. You won’t escape cleaning it out but I think if your neighbors see you adding to the value of your home and community you might get everyone on the block who has a tree pit (hopefully with a tree in them) to pay it forward. Good luck.
bklyngirl
in Sidewalks 9 years and 2 months ago
30
Please log in, in order to post replies!
30 replies
soundhoner | 9 years and 2 months ago
A few months back the city tore up the sidewalk, installed street drainage, and left a hole there, telling me I’d have a ‘tree, flowers or bushes’ installed later on. I was pleased. Later on came, and after they were done with the drainage piece, some dirt was pulled out and some bare bushes were installed. I was expecting a little bit more dirt to be piled on there, but that never happened. Today I have an ugly pit installed, but the worst part is that all the garbage, plastic bags, wrappers and you-name-it flies into this pit. The best are the bushes, which are great at picking up the floating plastic bags. Is anyone else annoyed by having to personally clean up street garbage a few times a week (something which I don’t think I have the appetite for doing)? I am wondering if there’s something can be installed – a mesh maybe – to keep garbage in the street where a cleaning truck drives by every so often. Here’s a picture of my beautiful landscaping out front.
daveinbedstuy | 9 years and 2 months ago
Though their choice of the bushes to fill it are unfortunate, no one is going to clean it up if you don’t I suspect with the drainage (whatever they are for-never seen them installed) they won’t put in an actual tree. Some other posters will know who you can petition for one. They seem to be pretty efficient but, like I said, don’t know if they will dig a hole for them with the drains there. Alternatively, et some better bushes/ground cover/plants/whatever and mulch and do it yourself. The pit and the fencing look nice though but they are now yours to keep clean.
higherwhitley | 9 years and 2 months ago
Cleaning up yr. tree pit is a part of city life! Not such a big deal if you keep on top of things, and you can add other plantings.
GreenThinker | 9 years and 2 months ago
I see it as a blank canvas for you to do what ever you want with it. Pick up a gardening book and do something cool with the space.
PHfamily | 9 years and 2 months ago
That’s a bioswale and we got one too. It flooded our basement (our water main and sprinkler main run through this into our house) and was left in a construction state in November and I only hope that they will come back to install some plant life. We were told that the city would be responsible for the care and cleaning, but I can’t imagine that they will actually do much. This is not a tree pit and there will never be a tree here, it is filled with tons of different grade gravel, almost no dirt. What an eyesore.
soundhoner | 9 years and 2 months ago
Thanks for the replies, folks. @PHfamily – how did it flood your basement? I was a bit worried about that myself, but don’t know enough to know whether there’s a flood risk to my basement. November was the timeframe mine was installed, too. When did yours flood? There’s no way I’m regularly cleaning that thing. I live in a neighborhood where passersby don’t really care about the neighborhood, and they throw cigarette boxes, food wrappers, plastic bags, everything, on the sidewalks. I’m a huge believer of picking up after oneself, which I do religiously, but I’m not going to give the neighborhood dog walkers and slobs any more entitlements by cleaning up after them.
daveinbedstuy | 9 years and 2 months ago
“There’s no way I’m regularly cleaning that thing. I live in a neighborhood where passersby don’t really care about the neighborhood, and they throw cigarette boxes, food wrappers, plastic bags, everything, on the sidewalks. I’m a huge believer of picking up after oneself, which I do religiously, but I’m not going to give the neighborhood dog walkers and slobs any more entitlements by cleaning up after them.” Then you too will be considered a slob, etc by your neighbors. Passersby in every part of the city throw wrappers and all sorts of stuff on the sidewalk. Yes, they are stupid and inconsiderate. Sorry, but it’s part of your job as a homeowner. I was constantly picking up wrappers from my tree guard area and inside my fence. If you don’t understand that, maybe you shouldn’t be one.
BSDOD | 9 years and 2 months ago
From what I’m noticing with bioswales, they are capturing gutter waste in rain storms. Some of the garbage is coming from up the block in some cases. I saw one bioswale appear to be full of water, not sure how these things will work as people exit their vehicles unsuspectedly.
chjuran | 9 years and 2 months ago
I must state that unfortunately you will not be able to teach the entitled people not to litter in your bioswale. The wind-blown and street-swept garbage will be not be chastened by your admonishments. There’s nothing to do but clean it up. Will surely look better in the spring and summer
cate | 9 years and 2 months ago
What you need is some “winter interest” — e.g. evergreens to brighten up the box and distract from the garbage. Some evergreen grasses would nicely complement the existing plants.
sjb | 9 years and 2 months ago
They did put trees in some of the bioswales on my block
PHfamily | 9 years and 2 months ago
The water from the pit travels along the pipes that enter my building and water gets into my basement very easily now. We are also concerned that should a water main need replacement that the cost to us to dig up all of that compacted gravel will be dramatically higher than it if were just soil. I wish the city had thought this through a bit more. For the folks who say to simply plant more in the pit you are technically prevented from planting anything other than the approved plants that the city provides and deems appropriate from both drought and flooding. I am hopeful to sneak in a few extra plants once mine is complete but without much soil I cant imagine anything thriving. I would imagine that all of the gasoline run off and nasty street debris that will get constantly washed into this pit will only sicken the plants.
slopefarm | 9 years and 2 months ago
Yes, maintaining what’s in front of your house on the sidewalk is a part of City live, whether it is a tree pit, bioswale or just sweeping the sidewalk. You might consider planing one or two variegated boxwoods (green-white or green-yellow). They are pretty much evergreen and fill the space nicely over time. They grow quite thick and full, so not a lot of space for litter to collect.
catboot | 9 years and 2 months ago
Consider yourself lucky (for the plantings, not the flooding – that sucks!). One of the biosweles on our block is currently beautified with an upside down police barricade (anyone know if it blooms in spring or summer?) We have a 20 ft wide tree pit in front of our house. and picking garbage out of it is a fact of city life. Sure I could ignore it, but it looks gross and I don’t want to look at it. If I see someone littering, I may yell at them to pick it up – yes, I’m that person. But usually I just clean it up and hope that karma will catch up with the litter throwers.
Arkady | 9 years and 2 months ago
A lot of the debris in my tree pit is blown in there from the street as cars pass by. In weeks when the sweeper has done its job, the mess is much less.
NeoGrec | 9 years and 2 months ago
Maybe you could join forces with some of your neighbors to “adopt” the bioswale and keep it tidy and appropriately planted together? That way, at least you’d be sharing the burden — and the pleasure. PHFamily: Did the city fix the situation for you? Your cellar shouldn’t be left at permanent risk of flooding. Have you considered reaching out to Prospect Heights Street Tree Taskforce or PHNDC? Either organization might be able to provide contacts at DOT, City Planning, Parks of whichever city agency is over-seeing the bioswales project. You could also call the office of Laurie Cumbo, the Prospect Heights city council member.
Bessie | 9 years and 2 months ago
Eric Adams’ office loves the bioswale! Too bad about the trash. Does it have to have a tree guard if no tree is getting planted there? We had an awful problem with trash on our corner, don’t know why since there are 4 very visible trash cans. It took a while but the neighbors all started doing a lot more gardening and making a practice of picking up litter regularly. It seems like a cleaner space makes people litter less.
soundhoner | 9 years and 2 months ago
Thanks for the responses, even the moralisms I was expecting to receive (I love teasing that out). I live in a renter’s neighborhood, so there’s none of that Green Acres-like ‘neighbors’ idea that seems to be thrown about. The only time these neighbors clean something is when they haul their stuff into U-haul trucks once very summer to be replaced by the next group of 20-somethings. At the end of my block there’s a NYCHA parking lot, which of course never, ever gets cleaned, complete with a shopping cart and random furniture parts / garbage around. I’ll take a look at Cate and slopefarm’s suggestions in terms of what to plant there. As it stands now, the bioswale is unsanitary, as there are also dogs that piss and crap on and around it and on the cigarette packs, juice containers and candy bar wrappings entwined in the bushes. Maybe I’ll rake some of the items out of there and into a trashbag so I don’t have to touch them. Blech.
Arkady | 9 years and 2 months ago
I tie a supply of NY Times bags in my tree pit for dog owners to use – it’s made a big difference in dog leavings over the last 2 years. Might be worth trying.