((The Poplar Street garden, looking toward the BQE from the koi pond; photo courtesy Bill Spier))
In a formerly-empty lot on Poplar Street sits one of the borough’s richest and lushest private gardens. It’s almost like the Heights’ own Gramercy Park, but here passersby can look in and see flowers from the sidewalk and still get that pleasant satisfaction of nature all around us. This week, BHB got a tour of the garden, and will post a video tour for you soon. A photography slideshow is below.
The 1-acre Bridge Harbor Heights Garden is home to more than 300 different plants; at least six species of birds (including migratory ones, season permitting); a koi from Fortune House (until recently, there were two); and a hive of bumblebees. The garden wraps around residential buildings on Poplar Street, between Hicks and Henry streets, and rests along Old Fulton Street (and the residents’ parking lot) to the north.
(Slideshow after the jump)
Sixteen years ago, Ford Rogers embarked on the project to build up the garden, and since has transformed the space into a stunning masterpiece. Neighbors William Spier and his son Jason now help Rogers with the garden, going in nearly daily to pull up weeds and make sure everything’s growing in nicely.
Over the course of its history, the team has brought in a rich variety of flower and fauna and have it somewhat divided into a native New York flora section, Japanese plants (it’s a similar climate, Spier said), and an herb garden. The rest of the plants are arranged by what would look good where, and how best to keep a nice ambiance, Spier said.
Asked his favorite part, Spier thought for a minute.
“[The garden] has a particular life of its own — it’s like history itself, it’s a continuous process. It doesn’t exist in parts. It’s one garden, not in parts,” he said.
See below for photos, and we’ll post more as the summer unfolds.
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- ((The Poplar Street garden, looking toward the BQE from the koi pond; photo courtesy Bill Spier))
