Accessibility links Skip to main content Keyboard shortcuts for audio player Open Navigation Menu --> Newsletters NPR Shop Close Navigation Menu Home News Expand/collapse submenu for News National World Politics Business Health Science Climate Race Culture Expand/collapse submenu for Culture Books Movies Television Pop Culture Food Art & Design Performing Arts Life Kit Gaming Music Expand/collapse submenu for Music Tiny Desk New Music Friday All Songs Considered Music Features Live Sessions Podcasts & Shows Expand/collapse submenu for Podcasts & Shows Daily Morning Edition Weekend Edition Saturday Weekend Edition Sunday All Things Considered Up First Here & Now NPR Politics Podcast Featured Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me! Fresh Air Wild Card with Rachel Martin It's Been a Minute Planet Money Get NPR+ More Podcasts & Shows Search Newsletters NPR Shop Tiny Desk New Music Friday All Songs Considered Music Features Live Sessions About NPR Diversity Support Careers Press Ethics 'Pocket gardens' give native plants a place to thrive in cities "Pocket gardens" of native plant species are becoming more common in urban areas. We tag along with a volunteer tending to tiny gardens in a Washington, D.C., neighborhood. National 'Pocket gardens' give native plants a place to thrive in cities May 15, 20264:45 AM ET Heard on Morning Edition By Julie Depenbrock 'Pocket gardens' give native plants a place to thrive in cities Listen · 2:47 2:47 Transcript Toggle more options Download Embed Embed "> <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5779228/nx-s1-9771438" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript "Pocket gardens" of native plant species are becoming more common in urban areas. We tag along with a volunteer tending to tiny gardens in a Washington, D.C., neighborhood. Sponsor Message
MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
Tiny plots full of flowers, herbs and trees are cropping up in America's cities, often along sidewalks and other public spaces. As NPR's Julie Depenbrock reports, the small gardens have big environmental benefits.
JULIE DEPENBROCK, BYLINE: On a street median in Washington, D.C., is one of more than 30 neighborhood tree boxes, pocket gardens, where native plants thrive and create a little oasis in the city.
JOHN BURNHAM: We're in an urban environment here (laughter).
DEPENBROCK: That's John Burnham (ph). He's a retired federal worker and volunteer gardener in D.C.'s Mount Pleasant neighborhood.
BURNHAM: I brought some mountain mint, which was the Plant of the Year last year for native plants.
DEPENBROCK: Mountain mint, which grows in the Appalachian Mountains, is prolific, says Stella Tarnay.
STELLA TARNAY: Once you plant it, it's going to spread. But it's one of the best plants that you can plant in your yard if you want to support pollinators.
DEPENBROCK: Tarnay is the executive director of Capital Nature, a local nonprofit assisting in the neighborhood effort.
TARNAY: When you put in the native plants, they create these wonderful little root systems that aerate the soil. They attract insects, beetles, worms, not only the charismatic pollinators. And they also bury into the earth. They make it organic. They create air tunnels.
DEPENBROCK: The area where we're standing right now, Burnham says, is an urban heat island, which gets hotter than the surrounding area due to the presence of heat-absorbing materials like asphalt and concrete. Adding greenery can bring down the temperature.
(SOUNDBITE OF SPADE DIGGING)
DEPENBROCK: Burnham gets to work planting the mountain mint and watering the garden.
(SOUNDBITE OF WATER SPLASHING)
DEPENBROCK: The tiny plot contains golden alexander, phlox and columbine, among other plants that will bloom throughout the year. Tarnay says she's amazed what you can invite into a small space like this.
TARNAY: This is basically just a hop-over median on the way to the liquor store for many people. But in this little box, there's so much life that's starting to go on. And we take up so much space in the urban environment, we humans. So why not give over a little spot to the plants and the birds and the bugs and share our environment with them?
DEPENBROCK: Kate Brown is an environmental historian at MIT and the author of "Tiny Gardens Everywhere." She says many cities have become hot spots for biodiversity.
KATE BROWN: Mostly because these tiny, green spaces dotted throughout an urban and suburban territory offer refuge for all kinds of birds and animals and insects that they don't get in the countryside, which is continually being bombed by things like insecticides and pesticides.
DEPENBROCK: Back in D.C., Burnham says there's so much that feels out of his control to change the way the world is.
BURNHAM: Can't we create a little bit of joy in our own neighborhood here? That's the idea.
DEPENBROCK: Julie Depenbrock, NPR News, Washington.
(SOUNDBITE OF COURTNEY BARNETT SONG, "AVANT GARDENER") Copyright © 2026 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information. Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts may vary. Transcript text may be revised to correct errors or match updates to audio. Audio on npr.org may be edited after its original broadcast or publication. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record. Facebook Flipboard Email Read & Listen Home News Culture Music Podcasts & Shows Connect Newsletters Facebook Instagram Press Public Editor Corrections Transcripts Contact & Help About NPR Overview Diversity NPR Network Accessibility Ethics Finances Get Involved Support Public Radio Sponsor NPR NPR Careers NPR Shop NPR Extra Terms of Use Privacy Your Privacy Choices Text Only Sponsor Message Sponsor Message Become an NPR sponsor (function () { var loadPageJs = function () { (window.webpackJsonp=window.webpackJsonp||[]).push([[22],{1168:function(e,n,c){e.exports=c(321)},321:function(e,n,c){"use strict";c.p=NPR.serverVars.webpackPublicPath,Promise.all([c.e(1),c.e(2),c.e(3),c.e(4),c.e(82)]).then(function(e){c(3),c(1141),c(116),c(95),c(52),c(492),c(239),c(102),c(104),c(1142),c(144),c(1143),c(238),c(48),c(1144)}.bind(null,c)).catch(c.oe)}},[[1168,0]]]); }; if (document.readyState === 'complete') { loadPageJs(); } else { window.addEventListener('load', function load() { window.removeEventListener('load', load, false); loadPageJs(); }); } })();