Lilburn Community Garden
"Growing Together"
"We will grow our community by creating and sustaining a community garden to nourish the body, to nurture the spirit and to encourage learning."
As part of the vision to promote downtown Lilburn as a place to bring people together, Lilburn Mayor, Johnny crist, put out a call to the entire Lilburn community in May of 2012 asking for volunteers to work on creating a community garden.
Future Site
Garden Plan
The garden design was done by volunteers from Columbia Engineering. Their expertise was essential in creating a garden that efficiently uses the space for everything that is planned for the garden. The design also took into account the trajectory of the sun, which is why the beds are laid out in a diagonal pattern.
Once the construction was underway, the rental applications flooded in and we are proud to announce that all 27 garden beds in Phase I have been rented!
The following weeks were devoted to activities related to getting wood, soil and having the garden beds framed.
On April 6th, 2013, Jeremy and his team laid out and secured the garden beds at the site. The following Saturday a group of volunteers and men from MMG started the difficult process of filling all 27 garden beds with a mix of rich, organic composted soil and typical "Georgia" red clay soil. The bed frames were lined to prevent seepage of dirt. And then with wheel barrows and shovels the beds were slowly filled. The effort took about 3 hours to complete.
The "Grand Opening"
Saturday April 20th, 2013
Approximately 75 people attended the opening event. Dignitaries included Lynette Howard, County Commissioner, Mayor Johnny Crist of Lilburn, Gerald McDowell, Lilburn CID Director, Tim Dunn, Lilburn City Council, Doug Stack, City of Lilburn Director of Economic Development and Planning, Lilburn Police Chief, Bruce Hedley and John Wayne Jones, Asst. VP of BB&T Banking and Trust. Many LCG garden plot renters also attended and brought their plants, shovels, and sunny smiles to begin the task of bringing the garden to life.
Mayor Johnny Crist offered an invocation and talked about his vision for bringing a garden to Lilburn. Peggy Bergman, President of the LCG Board, offered thanks to everyone who volunteered their time, skills and effort to bring the garden to fruition. Peggy pointed out a few people whose help was essential to the garden. She thanked friends from Columbia Engineering, Duluth, GA, who volunteered their time and talents to design a garden that would meet environmental regulations, city and county codes, but most especially, the needs of the citizens of Lilburn. She offered huge thanks to Jeremy Myers, owner of Metro Maintenance Group, Inc., who donated equipment, time and manpower to help build the garden. MMG voluntarily undertook the tasks of preparing the garden area, getting materials and soil, framing the cedar beds, laying the beds, and on Saturday, April 13, was joined by other volunteers to finally fill the beds. And final thanks went to the City of Lilburn and Lilburn City Council members who offered the piece of property and continued support for the garden.
When the speeches ended, six LCG board members, along with Mayor Johnny Crist and Jeremy Myers officially cut the Ribbon to open the garden.
And the planting began!
We can’t do it alone and are requesting your help. You can help by being a sponsor of the garden and/or volunteering your time and talents in helping us to grow.
