Bringing Beauty to the Brooklyn Park Small Business Center

Brooklyn Park residents helping install the Brooklyn Park Small Business Center plantings. — We hired community members from previous projects to work with us at Brooklyn Park Small Business Center. Nice to reconnect!

Drive along Brooklyn Boulevard in Brooklyn Park, and you’ll pass a typical sprawling parking lot for a shopping center. But look a little closer, and you’ll see something different about the green strip bordering the road. Amidst the typical turfgrass, cheerful clumps of native grasses and flowers beckon visitors, plantings arranged in gently curving beds around the perimeter of the new Brooklyn Park Small Business Center.

Recently opened this summer, the small business incubator offers low-cost office space options for small businesses and was designed to be not just a space but an experience that facilitates collaboration, innovation, and growth. For this reason, the Brooklyn Park City Council desired landscaping for the business center that would reflect its welcoming atmosphere.

“City council members felt that a professionally-installed landscape design would enhance the value and aesthetics of the center,” says John Kinara, Housing and Redevelopment Coordinator for the City of Brooklyn Park. “The business center is beautiful on the inside, and we wanted that beauty to be replicated outside.”

This was also an opportunity to put in green stormwater management practices. Metro Blooms has partnered with rental communities in the city to put in these practices, working with residents to install and maintain pollinator and rain gardens where they live. These practices have become more popular not only for their looks but for the benefits they provide to water quality and pollinators. “When residents get to know the value of [these plantings] and why we need to install stormwater management, they tell their neighbors, and that spreads excitement in the community,” Kinara says.

For the Small Business Center, Metro Blooms was able to hire some of the residents we previously collaborated with who had expressed interest in working with us on short-term landscaping projects. This ensured that some of the investment went back into the local economy — benefiting people who lived there directly.

From Vision to Reality

Completing a commercial project is different from a residential project in many ways. With multiple stakeholders involved, it can take longer to finalize the design. The entire review process took about 6 months over the winter, shares Jennifer Ehlert, Vice President of Metro Blooms Design+Build and designer for the Brooklyn Park Small Business Center plantings.

landscape site plan for small business center — The site plan shows where project elements go and instructs the crew on how to install the project.

The final design emphasized a backdrop of grasses interspersed with hardy native and cultivar plants that benefit pollinators while keeping a neat, organized aesthetic. Curbsides like at the Brooklyn Park Business Center can be a challenging growing environment, so Ehlert selected plants that do well in full sun and drought conditions. Flowers were chosen for blooms and color throughout the growing season, including common chives (spring blooming), anise hyssop and butterfly weed (summer blooming), and ‘Purple Dome’ aster (fall blooming).

After the design is approved in a commercial project, there will be a pre-construction meeting to go over logistical details. Then, site prep can begin! There’s a lot to accomplish before plants can go in the ground. With the help from Autumn Ridge residents, our Design+Build crew removed existing sod, rocks, and landscaping fabric, amended the soil with compost, installed edging, and mulched. After coordinating plant delivery, planting could finally begin!

recently-planted flower bed — A newly planted flower bed

Newly-planted flower bed — A flower bed along the parking lot

Looking Ahead

Brooklyn Park Small Business Center’s plantings may look humble now, but with several years of growth they’ll become robust habitat for pollinators. They also help create a natural division from the surrounding roads. “The final installation around the Small Business Center was truly exciting,” says Kinara. “I am looking forward to beautiful gardens blooming in the spring of next year.”

After a commercial project is installed, it needs to be regularly cared for. Metro Blooms Design+Build is looking to maintain the site in the coming years, possibly with more support from local residents.

A shopping center parking lot doesn’t have to be just grass and asphalt—it can include native plants, supporting pollinators and creating beauty.

“The Brooklyn Park Business Center shows that commercial locations, not just residential yards, can provide habitat,” Ehlert shares.

To see more of Metro Blooms Design+Build’s work and explore our offerings, visit metrobloomsdb.com.

Special thanks to the City of Brooklyn Park, Wellington Management, community members, Bachman’s, and Gertens for supporting this project.

— Megan Reich, Metro Blooms Communications and Program Manager