Sustainable Landscaping in Sustainable Community

by | Jan 29, 2025 | Uncategorized

Mary Lee and the PMC

by Ty Fowler

Mary Lee is a community member at the Pittsburgh Mennonite Church, PMC, in the Ohio watershed of Southwest PA. She has always appreciated trees, shrubs, and plants and self-identifies as an amateur backyard planter, but her journey in large-scale native planting is one of adaptation, passion, and commitment to community and sustainability.

The Pittsburgh Mennonite Church has several ministries focused on social and environmental justice including a Peace & Justice ministry, which works on criminal justice reform, environmental justice, refugee solidarity, and more. A little over a decade ago a particularly environmentally concerned congregant spurred an initiative to replace non-native vegetation in church grounds with edible landscaping. The PMC community leader alongside a team of congregants, “created new planting beds for vegetables, ripped out non-native bushes to plant apple trees, elderberries, an herb spiral, raspberries, blueberries, a cherry tree, and numerous native and vegetable plants.”

The idea behind edible landscaping is to engage in permaculture, a method of land use and management which cultivates a supportive, non-destructive, and mutually beneficial relationship with the land. It encourages ecological diversification by requiring the planter/gardener to utilize a wide array of crops. However, one of the downsides of this practice is its hands-on nature. Depending on the kinds of plants you choose, you may be looking at a pretty high-maintenance crop. This proved to be problematic for the PMC community when almost all of the church goers integral to the project moved to other cities.

Mary reflects, “I stepped into the role to try to keep this vision alive. However, I did not have the time, energy or knowledge that the original leader had so over the years have moved away from annual vegetable plantings and am focusing on sustainable native plants as much as possible. I have left the berries and fruit trees since they were adequately established at that point.”

Because of Mary’s ability to identify what was not working, re-evaluate, and pivot the project’s focus and methods without losing its essence and aim, PMC was able to develop a project and program structure that worked for them in the long-term. That is true sustainability.

Today, congregants who wish to work alongside Mary to support PMC’s sustainable landscaping efforts can join the Grow Group, a group of gardeners with a spectrum of experience who work together through the year to plan, plant, and maintain the landscape.

At the time of Mary taking the reins of PMC’s sustainable landscaping project, she had never planted a native tree. Her first native tree was a cucumber magnolia in the back playground space of the church yard. She reflected, “I received a free small start from an organization associated with the NIne Mile Run Watershed. In the last two years, I have planted a serviceberry, multiple red and black chokeberries, ninebark, buttonbush, and several viburnum.”

When asked what inspired her to begin planting, she shares, “I love the idea that they belong here which means they are more likely to be hardy, can forgive my gardening ignorance, and will contribute to the natural ecosystem. I like the idea that they will be plants/trees that pollinators will know and recognize rather than strange species that they have to adapt to. Since our church is urban, located on a busy street, I also hope that as the trees and shrubs grow, we can educate the community about the variety, beauty and resilience of native plants.” Planting trees also has a faithful aspect to it for Mary. It forces her, “to think beyond [her] own life and is a way of grounding hope towards the future.”

Today, Mary is unfortunately running low on space for new native trees at her church. However, she is determined to continue spreading the joy of native trees through encouraging PMC members to plant at their own homes!

For those who are considering joining in on the native planting movement, she shares that, “You don’t have to find the ‘perfect’ tree. So many will be wonderful and native trees are way more likely to be flexible and resilient.”

However, regardless of the kind of native tree you plant, Mary shares some of her wisdom accrued from years of planting and maintaining trees; “Keeping them protected from deer/animals is really helpful! It takes a few years for them to establish but then they start growing like crazy. You get to know trees you plant very well in terms of their bark, leaves, flowers and I find it very fun to be able to identify them in the wild after you have some on your own property.”

In recent years, Mary Lee and the Pittsburgh Mennonite Church has utilized PA IPL’s PA Plants Native! program to receive free native plants for their sustainable landscaping project. Mary heard of the program by word-of-mouth from a biology professor friend, and has found her experience with the program to be easy and enjoyable. She particularly enjoys the great amount of support provided by the program, and the inspiring community surrounding it.

Learn more and get involved in PA Plants Native!

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