I'm part of a neighbourhood association, and we've gotten permission from the municipality to use a ~3000 m2 plot for making a park/garden for the inhabitants. The plot is relatively flat, and oriented towards the south. There are some trees in the westernmost corner, and the remains of a parking lot in the easternmost part. Otherwise, there are only weeds (including many invasive species). We have no water or electricity, but might be able to fill a water tank from the houses around the plot.
Do you have any ideas or input on what we could do here? What should we build, and what should we grow? And what should we place where?
There is a lot of quick clay in the area, so we can't do any digging without expensive soil testing. This probably doesn't include a ban on planting potatoes or trees, but getting heavy machinery in to ease the work is not a good idea. So far, we've only been considering things above ground:
-swing set for the children
-couple of benches with roofs
-raised beds for flowers and vegetables
-lean-to/laavu/adirondack
-grill
-some climbing ropes and balancing beams in and between the trees.
It is important to make the area as maintenance free as possible, and to find openings for people in the area to take initiatives. The school is 100-200 m away, and they are eager to use the area, but we can't expect them to do a lot of work.
