From blooming gardens in Leesburg to fresh plantings at the Belleview Community Garden, communities surrounding The Villages are digging in to make the area a little brighter and a lot greener.
A new pollinator garden is just one of many community beautification projects that has sprouted in Leesburg. Planted at the Leesburg Public Library, the garden is coming to life after about six months of work from community volunteers and the Leesburg in Bloom Committee.
Leesburg in Bloom, an affiliate of the national America in Bloom organization, focuses on initiatives such as the pollinator garden, a community garden, a storefront planter program and the adopt-a-park program.
“The Leesburg in Bloom Committee was created as part of the City of Leesburg’s continued effort to bring more community pride, beautification, environmental awareness and volunteer involvement to our city,” said Commissioner Alan Reisman. “The committee’s goal is to create projects that make Leesburg more welcoming, beautiful and connected, while also encouraging residents, businesses, schools and organizations to get involved.”
With the goal of providing fresh food and a learning experience that brings the community together, the Leesburg in Bloom Committee also has built a community garden at the Leesburg Resource Center, 1041 County Road 468. The garden, which started with eight garden beds in late January, now has 16 beds available for volunteer gardeners who are interested in joining the experience.
“The community garden at the Leesburg Resource Center was created as a way to give residents a hands-on opportunity to learn about gardening, sustainability and healthy living while bringing the community together,” Reisman said. “The project has really become an example of neighbors, businesses, city staff and volunteers all working together toward something positive.”
Volunteers are asked to maintain their raised beds for 2 to 3 hours per week and follow community garden guidelines.
Reisman said both the community garden and the pollinator garden provide hands-on learning experiences for everyone.
“The pollinator garden at the library focuses heavily on Florida native plants and pollinator-friendly flowers that support butterflies, bees and other beneficial insects,” he said. “It gives residents the opportunity to learn about the importance of native landscaping, environmental stewardship and how small changes in your own yard can make a big difference for local ecosystems. We’ve also incorporated educational elements like insect houses throughout the garden, and we are excited to announce we recently added beehives to the roof of the Leesburg Library,” Reisman said.
Leesburg in Bloom will host a ribbon-cutting and butterfly release at the Leesburg Public Library at 9:30 a.m. June 25 for the new garden and beehive, which was done in partnership with the Lake County Beekeepers.
Local businesses also are helping to beautify the city by placing decorative, self-watering planters outside their storefronts as part of Leesburg in Bloom’s storefront planter program. Reisman said the response from local businesses have exceeded expectations.
“It has helped brighten commercial areas, create a more welcoming environment and give businesses another way to show pride in their property and our community,” Reisman said. ”One of the best parts of the program is seeing businesses get creative with seasonal flowers and plants while helping beautify the city together.
For more information about the Leesburg in Bloom Committee and its programs, visit leesburgflorida.gov/residents/bloom.php or follow Leesburg in Bloom on Facebook.
Belleview Community GardenThe Belleview Community Garden also will be bursting with new blooms soon.
Built in 2020, the garden has 32 garden beds, which takes a community effort to ensure things are looking nice in the garden at the Mary Ann Cafaro Park, located at the corner of SE 56th Court and SE 107th Place.
Robert Vass, community engagement liaison for the City of Belleview, said Mary Ann Cafaro’s family offered the city the plot of land for community use. The garden was built by the city in partnership with the Marion County Health Department, the Active Marion Project, the Feed the Need Garden, Earth Cubes and the Association of Fitness and Nutrition in Schools program.
While the city manages large updates and maintenance needed on the garden, renters are responsible for watering and caring for their individual garden beds. Supplies including soil, gardening tools and plants are provided by the UF/IFAS Marion County Master Gardeners.
“Since January, Public Works has installed additional water connections and has been replacing the old wooden beds with new metal framed units,” Vass said.
He said the city is hoping to host a replant at the garden at 9 a.m. June 13, before opening available garden beds to interested participants. Currently, there are five beds available to rent for $10 a year.
“The program gives people the opportunity to have space for their gardens and receive personal guidance. Each quarter, we do a replanting where the master gardener provides seeds and materials for planting, along with insights into how to best grow the selections. We are also exploring partnering with local food pantries to give them beds to grow vegetables and fruits for use in their programs.”
For more information about the Belleview Community Garden or details about the upcoming replant, visit http://www.belleviewfl.org/302/Community-Garden.
Staff writer Brea Jones can be reached at 352-753-1119, ext. 5414, or brea.jones@thevillagesmedia.com.
