Gardening for Birds & Wreath Making Workshop at the Romney Urban Garden Register

Date and Time:
Sat, Nov 18, 2023; 12:00 PM - 2:00 PM 

Organized By: Robert Lunz Group

Location: The Romney Urban Garden, located at the western end of Romney Court

Map | Directions

Event Organizers:
Rebecca Fanning
   rebecca@communityhydrology.com
   (843) 737-2445

Join us Saturday November 18th for an afternoon workday at the Romney Urban Garden, located at 222 Romney Court held 12pm to 2pm. Our focus will be gardening for birds, including a talk by Layton Register of the Charleston Horticultural Society and Parks Conservancy. By participating in this workday, you will learn about the importance of native plants to the food web and how invasive species threaten biodiversity here in Charleston. You will also get to craft your own holiday wreath full of native plant seedheads that you can 'plant' by discarding someplace safe from mowers in your yard in the new year.

The Romney Urban Garden is a community garden located at the western end of Romney Court in the North Central neighborhood of downtown Charleston. With help from the Historic Charleston Foundation and Horticultural Society, the owners of the property at the New Israel Reformed Episcopal Church have been able to open up this space to share it with the surrounding community since 2014. Now boasting a number of raised vegetable beds rented by neighbors and friends, a pizza oven installed by Roots Down Design, and picnic tables for gatherings like ours, the garden has been transformed into a vibrant space beloved by many. 

Sadly, however, there are very few native plant species to bring in the communities of caterpillars, baby birds, and other lifeforms that rely on these green spaces for forage and shelter. As a first step in a longer process, removing the invasive species will allow the Romney Urban Garden to make way for a native plant makeover! This is the second public workday in a series that will bring native plants to garden borders over time to make sure the garden is a welcoming place for all of Charleston’s residents, including non-human ones. During our first workday in this series, kudzu vines and other invasive plants were removed, dried, and have now been woven into wreaths for you to decorate with native plant seed heads that can disperse in your yard over the holiday season.

Please bring gardening gloves and hand pruners if you have them. Keep in mind that long sleeves and pant legs protect you from the sun and mosquitoes. Bring plenty of water to drink. Light refreshments will be baked in the garden's pizza oven for you to enjoy. 

Please DO NOT PARK at the end of Romney Court nearest the garden. The road is narrow here and the neighbors need all the room they can get to back in and out of their driveways. Instead, park on Romney near the intersection with King Street or on Simons, where the road is wider, and walk the short distance down to the garden.

Cost: Suggested donation to the Romney Urban Garden