There are two ways to start a community garden…

…from the bottom up or the top down.

Both approaches work and which one is used depends upon where the proposal for a community garden comes from.

Bottom-up

Working from the bottom-up is the most common:

• a group of people get together and works out what they want
• they approach the local council or some other institution for help in finding land and, perhaps, for other assistance
• when they have gained access to land, they design the garden and start to cultivate it.

This approach builds ‘ownership’ of the community garden because the people who work the garden put in all the effort.

Council, government or professional role

For community workers and local or state government staff, the most constructive role is to assist the community group and guide without controlling it.

Help the gardeners to help themselves.

Top down

The top-down approach is favoured by professionals such as community workers and local government staff:

• the professional workers become interested in the potential of community gardens to build a sense of community or to improve the nutrition of the people they work with
• with their existing contacts with government, schools or churches they obtain land and funding more easily than citizens using the bottom-up approach
• they then have to popularise the idea of the community garden among the target group they believe will use the garden
• if successful – and it might take some time – they then make use of a council landscape architect to design the garden; alternatively – and this might be the better solution because it builds ownership of the garden – they might find someone in the community who can lead a design workshop with the would-be gardeners, turning what could have been a professional-led solution into a participatory process.

The good news is that the top-down approach can succeed if community or local government worker has the patience and persistence to build support for the garden within the community.

Once the idea has been discussed with the local community, it is a good idea is to organise a mini-bus tour of three or four existing gardens. Some councils may help with this.

Be sure to visit gardens which are different so as to expose community members to a range of approaches to community gardening.

Employ a coordinator

To increase the chance of the top-down approach working after land has been found, community workers, government or council staff might think about raising funds – perhaps through a grant – to employ a coordinator.

The coordinator would:

• stimulate interest in the garden within the community
• provide basic horticultural training
• guide the garden’s initial development
• if necessary, design the garden.

Qualifications for a community garden coordinator include:

• basic horticultural knowledge, gained perhaps through practical experience in organic food production or a combination of formal studies plus experience
• integrated design skills such as those gained through Permaculturte Design Course are useful
• importantly, the possession of people skills such as the ability to communicate effectively, to make decisions, solve problems, resolve conflict, coordinate participatory planning and decision making; facilitation skills are indespensible.

Planning and starting your community garden by Russ Grayson + Fiona Campbell 2002