The gardenLab@516 / Season Two 
April 2011
The GardenLab@516 enters it’s second growing season with a complete transformation of the lot. The winter Sky Mirrors installation has been dismantled and new planting beds have been turned.

Many items will leave 516 and become a part of a storefront installation in the West End to promote site reclamation and sustainable gardening practices in the West End neighborhoods.

A few items will stay including the plaster bust of the Indian brave and the plaster doll head molds. After a year exposed to natural elements, all of the plaster objects are aging nicely.

The GardenLab@516 facing an interesting circumstance this year. The building on the property of 516 (a.k.a. The Ruth Stanford House) which has sat unoccupied for many years, will undergo a complete renovation this year and become an satellite exhibition space of The Mattress Factory Museum. The contractor’s access route to the building is an element that needed to be considered in this year’s design of the garden space. Unsure of when the work will start, I have designed a garden space with both permanent and “portable” box planting elements. The plan is for the contractor and I to work together. As equipment is brought in and demolition gets underway, the portable box elements will be moved about the garden space and if needed they will be moved to the properties of my neighbors. (I have great neighbors!)