Brick + Beam Detroit

Keep Growing Detroit & Other Resources for Backyard Gardens

If you’re considering starting a garden, Keep Growing Detroit (KGD) is the go-to resource for Detroit, Hamtramck, and Highland Park. KGD helps beginner gardeners become engaged community leaders and food entrepreneurs, addressing the immediate needs of the community while promoting sustainable change in our food system. KGD operates the Garden Resource Program providing seeds and Detroit grown transplants. They also offer an education series, including online programming during quarantine, with live gardening tips Wednesdays at 3p on facebook and instagram. 

Keep Growing Detroit Resources: 

• Upcoming & Archived Webinars 

• Gardening Guides 

• Garden Resource Program for seeds and plants

• Live Gardening tips on facebook and instagram! Some archived farming tips: 

  • Planting Potatoes & Onions 

  • Building Raised Beds 

  • Drip Irrigation 

  • Thinning Crops 

  • Broadforks Demonstration 

Additional Garden Resources: 

• Detroit Future City Working with Lots Field Guide: provides step-by-step instruction for 38 landscape designs ranging from installation by beginning gardeners to professional contractors. DFC also offers workshops around community engagement, gardening and designing land-based projects. 

• MSU Master Gardener’s Program “Ask an Expert”: system for helping gardener’s diagnose problems and answer questions in their landscape. 

• Michigan Gardener Magazine: Now available as an e-newsletter. Often free at Garden Centers. 

• MSU Extension Service: Offers a huge amount of educational materials, training and services to gardeners and farmers across the state. 

• Invasive species information: Important to watch out for and remove when found to help protect Michigan’s ecosystem and wildlife. 

• Michigan Bulb “How to Gardening Article Library”: Featuring gardening tips and growing instructions for a variety of plants. 

Places to Purchase Plants:

Local Farms to purchase plants* at:
*Farms don’t always have transplants, inquire to make sure they have the plants you need. 

• Beaverland Farms--15708 Beaverland St, Detroit MI 48223

• Fish Eye Farms-- 1815 Van Dyke, Detroit, MI 48214

• Oakland Avenue Urban Farm -- 9227 Goodwin St, Detroit, MI 48211

• Detroit Abloom--  248 Manistique St, Detroit, MI 48215

• Eastern Market -- 2934 Russell St, Detroit, Michigan 48207 (Plant sales at Saturday & Tuesday markets)

• Brother Nature Farms -- 2913 Rosa Parks Blvd, Detroit, Michigan 48216 

Nurseries: 

• Telly’s Greenhouse and Nursery-- locations in Shelby Township & Troy: Known for interesting, out-of-the-ordinary, and beautiful plants. 

• Wildtype Nursery--Mason: Known for their cultivation of native Michigan perennials.

Online Sources: 

• Baker Creek Heirloom Seed catalog: Offers seeds from 1200+ varieties of vegetables, flowers and herbs. Many are heirloom varieties dating to the 1800s. 

• Michigan Bulb Co.: Features bulbs, dormant and barefoot trees and plants mailed to your house. 

This resource was compiled in May 2020 by Rosie DeSantis and Alissa Shelton for B+BD. Some of the resources were compiled from the August 2019 “Cody Rouge Landscaping Workshop” class notes facilitated by Jessica Soulliere of Potager Garden Design.