Knollwood Community Garden
The Knollwood Community Garden is a small apartment complex garden designated for residents of the Knollwood Manor Apartments on the Northern part of Athens. Created in 2014, this now dried-up garden was intended for community interaction and for food to be readily available to those who are not able to afford fresh produce. Sadly, the garden is not used as much as the implementors had hoped.
Knollwood Manor Apartments
Aerial Maps Showing Proximity of the site
As we walked around, we felt more and more uneasy about the location. It is situated right off of the Athens Perimeter and Old Hull Road, two extremely busy streets in the city. The landscape at the site is fairly well-manicured with trimmed trees, shrubs, and grass with the occasional weed growing here-and-there. However, the streets were not well maintained. All sections were not extremely pedestrian-friendly nor biker-friendly.
General Information
of the Site
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2 Bed, 2 Bath $700
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North Grove Apartments across Old Hull
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2 Bed, 2 Bath $548
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Average crime rates
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iTree Assessment
Existing Conditions
Future Conditions
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We found it hard to find a lot of helpful information on different social media accounts but with the power of persistence, We were able to find a few snippets about the Knollwood area. However, this was the only account of any theft that I could find online. This complex has great ratings according to ApartmentRatings.com and Yelp.com which is a great indicator of this being a fairly safe place to live.
Socail Media
DQI 10-Minute
The DQI evaluations that we did for the 10-minute waling areas were all fairly similar. The similarities between all nine segments is that they are all not extremely pedestrian friendly. There are no bike paths and very little sidewalk space for people to walk on. The roads were empty and vast with what seemed to be little to no maintenance. Grass on all segments was brown and covered in litter. Despite all of these similarities, the main difference between the segments is whether they were residential areas or not. They were all ugly.
With the incorporation of sidewalks, bike paths, and shade trees on all segments, we feel as if more pedestrians would not only use these areas but would feel safe when doing so. There were little to no street trees and the ones that were there are scrawny and don't seem to have much maintenance.
5-Minute Ecosystem
Services
The image above shows the estimated tree benefits in the 5-minute walk area from the Knollwood Community Garden. 276.22 lbs of Carbon Monoxide is said to be removed annually from this area. Though these numbers above could be increased by the addition of more trees, the existing trees in this area benefit the surrounding ecosystem in some ways. They create habitats for many different animals and benefit the environment. However, more trees should be introduced especially closer to our site and along the busy roads.
If the garden was vastly improved, it could become an integral site amenity in the surrounding area. This would include more upkeep, addition of more plots, and ease of access.
iTree Canopy Benefits
20-Minute Ecosystem
Services
Here is the data for the ecosystem benefits for the 20-minute walking area. Here, 303.47 lbs of Carbon Monoxide area removed annually compared to the 276.22 for the 5-minute.
The existing conditions are fairly bare in terms of vegetation. There are trees placed around the grounds merely for show. It does not seem as if their true application is for shade because of how sporadic their placement is. However, there are some benefits to these trees but with the introduction of more the savings could be bountiful. Below is a link to a full PDF report of the existing conditions including what trees are present, total projected benefits, and more.
After analyzing the results from the existing conditions, there were far less trees on site than there needed to be. We decided to add some oak trees to both the front and back to see what the new benefits would be. Click the link below for a full report on our findings.
Contributions for
20-Minute Walk
Time
Contributions to Environmental Justice
Contributions to Bird Habitats
Bird Habitats Within
20-Minute Walk
Time
The Community garden currently has no contributions towards a bird habitat. The list below shows ways to enhance the garden and surrounding area to attract birds.
The area surrounding the community garden is densely populated, low income, and high minority. As a result, they are in the 80th percentile for many environmental hazards such as: lead paints, cancer risks, traffic injury. Although the community garden is small, its improvement could provide safe, healthy recreation for an area which has been otherwise ignored by higher level intervention.
With the minute walk time, the contributions for this neighborhood garden could be vast. The population that makes up this area is extremely diverse whether it be race, socioeconomic rank, and age.
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Provide water year-round - A simple birdbath is a great start. Change water every 2-3 days in summer and use a heater in the winter. Place the water container about 10 feet from dense shrubs or other cover that predators may use.
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Install native plants - Select a variety of native plants to offer year-round food in the form of seeds, berries, nuts, and nectar. Try to recreate the plant ecosystem native to your area. Evergreen trees and shrubs provide excellent cover through all seasons, if they are part of your local ecosystem.
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Eliminate insecticides in your yard - Insects are the primary source of food for many bird species and are an important source of protein and fats for growing juvenile birds.
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Keep dead trees - Dead trees provide cavity-dwelling places for birds to raise young and as a source to collect insects for food.
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Put out nesting boxes - Make sure the boxes have ventilation holes at the top and drainage holes below. Do not use a box with a perch, as house sparrows are known to sit on a nesting box perch and peck at other birds using the nesting box.
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Build a brush pile in a corner of your yard - Start with larger logs and top with smaller branches. Some birds will hunt, roost or even nest in brush piles.
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Offer food in feeders - Bird feeders are great sources of supplemental food during times of food scarcity, and enhance bird viewing opportunities.
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Remove invasive plants from your wildlife habitat - Many invasive plants out-compete the native species favored by birds, insects and other wildlife.
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Reduce your lawn area - Lawns have little value to birds or other wildlife, and they require more energy for mowing, applying fertilizers and watering.
List of Ways to Attract
Birds
Roads leading to the site
The Leasing Office with the garden directly behind
Global Priorities
Below is a link to a PDF that specifies the different global, regional, and local priorities.
Mary, Tyler, Alex, Robin
Delphi Ratings
Above are three images that show the three factors of each category that we deemed to be most important. The green column in each photo is to represent our answers as a group.