The City of Philadelphia and PHDC have a strong commitment to community gardening and urban agriculture. Gardening is an important part in helping to transform and sustain communities. In the last five years, PHDC has done a lot of work in community gardening and urban agriculture. There is more work to do, but we are committed!
If you are interested in turning a vacant lot in your neighborhood into a community garden, use our property map to see if it is available.
If you are already gardening on a lot but don’t have an agreement to do so, we may be able to formalize your garden. Use the property map to see if the lot is owned by a public agency. If the lot is not on our map go to atlas.phila.gov and use the Property Search function to see who owns it. If it is privately owned you may want to contact the owner to seek permission to use the lot as a garden. If it is publicly owned then it is likely not for sale, but you can ask PHDC about a temporary agreement to garden by emailing land@phdc.phila.gov.
Gardening Resources
Neighborhood Gardens Trust
www.ngtrust.org
215-988-8798
PHS Garden Tenders Program
www.phsonline.org/learning/gardening
215-988-8800
Public Interest Law Center – Garden Justice Legal Initiative
www.groundedinphilly.org
215-627-7100 x236
Farm Philly Program
Department of Parks and Recreation
www.phila.gov/parksandrecreation
(Select “Environment” then “Urban Agriculture”)
215-683-3583
This brochure explains the process for community gardeners.
