Metro Blooms started partnering with the City of Lakes Community Land Trust (CLCLT) and the City of Minneapolis in 2023 to provide workshops on sustainable gardening and yard care to CLCLT homeowners. The land trust, a nonprofit based in Northside Minneapolis, helps make home ownership more affordable and provides support to its homeowners to maintain…

About This garden design showcases the many diverse ways you can bring native plants into just about any landscape. The photos show the site at the start of the process. Have a look at the design below to see the different plants and how they’re used. For a large area, consider a seeded pollinator meadow.…

Creating Native Plant Pollinator Havens Do you want to attract more pollinators in your yard? We’ll show you how, through Turf to Pollinator Gardens. In partnership with Wilderness in the City and others, we planted six native plant pollinator gardens in Twin Cities regional parks. The gardens replaced turf grass lawn, which offers little food…

Since 2018, we have worked with the City of St. Louis Park’s Rainwater Rewards program, which supports residents to take on stormwater management practices in their yards. Our first year, we installed 20 rain gardens in participating residents’ yards, and the program has grown since. This work is part of our Neighborhood of Rain Gardens…

Metro Blooms has been working with the Riverside Plaza community since 2018 to redesign outdoor spaces for greater environmental resilience and better quality of outdoor living. Through our partnership, we created beautiful community green spaces that manage stormwater sustainably and provide habitat for pollinators. We worked with the Riverside Plaza Tenant Association (RPTA) and owner…

Small business properties in cities often don’t have space for flowers or trees, and have lots of impermeable concrete outdoor areas. But our design team identified many opportunities to improve water quality and create habitat for pollinators. We partnered with local businesses and organizations in Northeast Minneapolis to install clean water and native habitat projects…

Through Blooming Boulevards, we engage residents in communities impacted by environmental injustices to receive  pollinator-friendly boulevard rain gardens, taking part in planting and maintenance events. We also partner with local youth/young adult groups on learning and paid work opportunities. We are building ongoing relationships through this program; every year, we learn more about better supporting…

From 2020–2022, Metro Blooms and art partner Chicago Avenue Fire Arts Center (CAFAC) worked with local businesses and community organizations to add pollinator plantings and pollinator-themed art along the 38th Street commercial corridor. Projects included planters at Mama Sheila’s House of Soul, native plantings and sculptural art work at Everett’s Foods, Cedar Small Engine Repair, HardShell Fitness amd…

We worked with the community at Beam Apartments and Townhomes in North Minneapolis to plan and create a mini-park. Starting in 2022, we met residents at community events — including a neighborhood cleanup and a bingo evening — to learn their priorities for the project. The final design included native plant pollinator gardens, fruit trees,…

Residents of affordable housing communities, many of them long-term community members, may care deeply about where they live but not have the ability to influence decisions that impact their home. We partnered with the Brook Gardens community in Brooklyn Park to center resident priorities. Brook Gardens is a townhome/apartment complex that is home to many…