Gowanus Canal Conservancy builds a new garden, by Brian Abate

The Gowanus Canal Conservancy (GCC) has moved its Lowlands Nursery from the Salt Lot to a new location next to the new Monadanck building at 25 9th St., next to the Smith and 9th Stret subway. The move was necessatied due to the construction of a sewage tank required as part of the Gowanus Canal Superfund cleanup.

Andrea Parker, the executive director of the GCC spoke about the nursery as well as other work that the group is doing.

The GCC was founded in 2006 with a mission of “caring for ecologically sustainable parks and public spaces in the Gowanus lowlands while empowering a community of stewards.” The group envisions “a Gowanus Canal and surrounding urban environment that is clean, resilient, diverse and alive.”

“We’re focused on engaging the local community in stewarding, and building a greener and more resilient public realm,” Parker said. “We engage volunteers, we grow native plants, and we provide field trips and hands-on education projects for local schools. We base our programs at our stewardship site, and about two years ago we moved that site to the corner of Smith St. and 9th St.”

She told us that once the CSO tank is completed, they will be able to move back to the Salt Lot, which is adjacent to the Canal at the end of Second Avenue.

The GCC has a variety of plants including wildflowers, ferns, grasses, shrubs, and trees at the Lowlands Nursery. Different plants are available and can be purchased on the GCC website.

Additionally, the GCC has programming for their stewardship program at the Lowlands Nursery Tuesday through Saturday from March through November. The nursery is open to the public on Thursdays and Saturdays.

“We have also installed a new native plant garden right along the waterfront and you can see that from the bridge,” Parker said. “Whenever a new development is constructed on the waterfront, the property owner is required to build a waterfront esplanade that’s open to the public. We have a new waterfront esplanade that just opened north of our nursery site.”

Parker and the GCC are also doing work with mussel habitats and are working with the Gowanus Dredgers and Brooklyn Collaborative studies to see if a population can be restored.

“In the longer term the Parks Department is going to take ownership of the nursery and it is going to be opened to the public 24/7,” Parker said.

In addition to the Lowlands Nursery, and the new esplanade, GCC has a garden at 3rd St. and 3rd Ave., a garden on 2nd Ave., a green corridor on 6th St., and 12 planters installed on Carroll St. between Nevins and 3rd Avenue.

“Continuing planting and stewarding throughout the neighborhood is increasingly important as we face a changing climate,” Parker said. “Everyone in the neighborhood can be a part of this work and there are so many different ways to be involved, whether it’s caring for a street tree outside your home or constructing a green roof, or something else.”