1. Plant a Patio or Container Garden

Seeing a few flowers in a vase on the kitchen table or in a pot on the patio, brings a smile to my face.  If you are new to gardening or do not have a lot of space for a garden, putting a few potted plants on your patio or in a container garden is a great way to get the experience and enjoyment of gardening, without all the work of a bigger garden. You can grow from seeds, or skip a few steps and find great starter plants at local nurseries like All Seasons Garden Center or Shea’s Nursery. There are still many things to consider when growing a patio or container garden, such as light exposure, watering, and drainage, and spacing of plants, but with technology at the tip of our fingers, it is as easy as googling patio and container gardens to get a few tips and tricks.

2. Grow an In-ground or Raised Bed Garden

I love going outside to water the garden and to pick flowers at Grand Forks Growth and Support Center,  where I grow as a person every day.  In-ground gardens, such as these, bloom all around the city.  Many people have vegetable gardens in their backyards, and others have flower gardens surrounding their homes and businesses.  Some people choose to have raised bed gardens instead of in-ground gardens.  While there are advantages to each type of garden, raised bed gardens, like patio and container gardens, are higher off the ground and therefore more accessible for everyone.  Searching online is a great place to start when learning about these two types of gardens, or visit with some folks from the Grand Forks Horticultural Society.

3. Join a Community Garden

Not everyone has the space or resources to garden at home, and that’s okay.  Community gardens are a great alternative to gardening at home. Community gardens create opportunities for building relationships, learning new skills, reducing food insecurity, and beautifying neighborhoods.  Several community gardens grow in Grand Forks – some with individual spaces for rent, and somewhere people garden collectively.  The Arc Friendship Gardens and Community Orchard is new to the community and is slowly growing into something wonderful, and it is a place where everyone is welcome.  My friends and I plan to go there for a workday soon.

4. Visit Parks and Gardens Around Grand Forks

I enjoy looking at pictures of flowers and gardens, and I also like watching gardening shows. But when summer rolls around and I can get outside, I like going to visit the parks and gardens in the city. So many beautiful green spaces light up Grand Forks, so I can’t list them all here.  But I will share three of my favorites:

• Sertoma Park features a Japanese Garden, with a pond surrounded by three lanterns made of granite rock. You can sit on a bench and enjoy the tranquility of the water, or you can walk or bike on the trails and look at the colorful landscaped gardens.  And while you are enjoying the beauty of the park, kids can enjoy Ali’s Boundless Playground, a fully accessible playspace.
• When all the flowers are blooming at University Park, it’s a magical place. Many paths span through the park leading you to different flowerbeds. Over 800 annual flowers are planted among the perennial flowerbeds in University Park!  The winding paths will also lead you to a stone bridge and rock garden, as well as other amenities that make the park fun for the entire family.  (Can you say splash park?  That is a whole other cooler blog.)
• Myra Museum is a historical complex in Grand Forks. In addition to featuring many historic buildings, including the iconic white Myra Centennial Pavilion, outdoor spaces are dotted with many shrubs and flowers.

We have only begun to cultivate our knowledge of the many ways to bring out your green thumb. For some, it is planting a seed and nurturing it while it grows.  For others like me, it is experiencing flowers when they have fully bloomed.  Whatever your preference, know that you will have a bouquet of opportunities to blossom in Grand Forks.

To learn more about planting and gardening in our region, the Grand Forks Horticultural Society has many great resources and educational opportunities.