Finding Land for your Garden

Finding available land in Vancouver for your community garden can be a challenge, depending on how developed your neighbourhood is and the scale and type of gardening that you envision for your project. You may already have your sights set on a long-abandoned lot, a grassy field owned by your local church, or a space in your or your neighbour’s housing complex specifically designed for a garden. If you do not have a location in mind, you can search for a space simply by walking around your neighbourhood or the area in which you want to create your community garden and keeping an eye out for a piece of land large enough for your needs. Talking to neighbours will also give you a good idea of available spaces in the area.

Another avenue to explore while searching for land is to contact the various authorities that own and manage land. Many allow space for community gardening if you meet certain conditions and requirements. Available spaces can be located on lands owned by the City of Vancouver, the Vancouver Parks and Recreation Board, the Vancouver School Board land, TransLink, the federal government, and private owners. The following inventories list some lands in Vancouver that may be available for community gardening. These inventories do not include all available spaces and the authorities that own and manage the locations listed may not necessarily allow for community gardens.

Land Inventories

Growing Space: the potential for Urban Agriculture in the City of Vancouver
List: available lands on City-leased or city-owned property
Author: Terra Murphy Kaethler, School of Community and Regional Planning (UBC, August 2006).

City of Vancouver Semi-Public Properties Inventory
 List: available lands on semi-public properties (e.g. churches, private schools)
Source: Contact City of Vancouver Social Panning Department

When choosing a site for your garden, find out under whose jurisdiction the space falls and learn about the rules, regulations and requirements that your garden will have to meet. Ideally, the authority that manages your space will accommodate the scale and type of gardening that you envision for your project. In the case of City and Parks land, there are policies and programs that offer support such as funding and services for your community garden.


Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation Land

The Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation has made public park space available for community gardens since 1985, when Strathcona Community Garden was created. The Parks Board views community gardening as an important land use that builds community development and education, environmental stewardship, and healthy social interactions.

Parks staff will work with interested individuals and groups in the development of new community gardens. They work with both community and communal gardens and offer guidelines on how you should proceed if it is determined that your project and Parks Land are a good match.


General Requirements

Your group and project must meet the following stipulations in order to be eligible for using Parks land. For more information, please see the Parks Board’s official Community Gardens Policy.

  • Your group must have non-profit status or be partnered with a non-profit organisation.
  • Your project must encourage community development through the involvement of schools, youth groups, or citizens that are not gardening in an assigned plot in your garden
  • Your garden must be organic and increase ecological biodiversity
  • Your garden should nurture understanding of local food production
  • Your group and project must have the support of the neighbourhood
  • A site plan for your garden must submitted and approved by the General Manager of the Parks Board before development begins

    • Support from Parks and Recreation

    The Parks Board offers the following services to community gardening groups that meet the above requirements. It will:

  • Provide access to information on the development and operation of community gardens
  • Assist interested groups in searching for suitable land

    • Assist in the development of user agreements with the owners of sites chosen Assist with the development of a community led environmental education program.

  • Prepare the site for planting prior to the first season by removing grass, ploughing the soil and adding compost at Parks Board’s Cost

    • Other Considerations

    The advantages of starting your community garden on Parks land are balanced by several potential disadvantages.

  • It is difficult for the Parks Board to change existing land use patterns that benefit the public and provide land solely for gardening purposes, since the plot allotment in community gardens is semi-private and takes space away from other members of the public. However, the Parks Board can better accommodate communal gardening, where anyone can participate in gardening a shared, communal area.
  • The process may take up to 18 – 24 months
  • Parks Board may require that you make your plots available to all City residents.

    • Parks Contact Information

    For additional information regarding starting your own community garden, contact:

    Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation
    2099 Beach Avenue
    Vancouver, B.C. V6G 1Z4
    Phone: 604-257-8400

    City of Vancouver Land

    Several mature community gardens have resided on land owned by the City for many years. Currently, the City of Vancouver actively encourages and supports the creation of new community gardens on city property because it recognises the numerous social, sustainability and economic benefits of community gardening. In 2006, City Council announced the ‘2,010 New Community Shared Garden Plots by 2010’ Challenge, which calls “individuals, families, community groups and neighbourhood organisations to establish more food-producing gardens in Vancouver” (City of Vancouver 2006).

    Social Planning Department staff that is working on food policy and urban agriculture envisions that community gardens will play a big role in rising up to the challenge. The City will collaborate with interested individuals and groups and assist them in the process of starting a new community garden. Helpful guidelines similar to those of the Parks Board are provided by the City on what you need to do to start your garden on City land.

    General Requirements

    Your group and project must meet the following broad criteria in order to be eligible for using City land. For more details, please see guidelines for the Pilot Project in APPENDIX D.

  • Your group must have non-profit status or be partnered with a non-profit organisation (see page 23).
  • Your project must, in some way, foster · community development and involvement · food donations to charitable purposes · environmental education and demonstration · increase in environmental biodiversity
  • Your group and project must have the support of the neighbourhood (see pages 10-13)
  • A site plan for your garden must submitted and approved by the City before development begins (see page 20)

    • Support from the City

    The City offers the following services to community gardening groups that meet the above requirements. It will:

  • Provide access to information on the development and operation of community gardens
  • Help an interested group of people find land if they do not have a potential site already identified.
  • Help facilitate the community outreach and consultation process
  • Help to develop the site by · clearing unwanted vegetation · bringing compost and water
  • Assist groups in the search for funding (e.g. grants etc.)

    • Other Considerations

    The many benefits of starting your community garden on City land are balanced by several potential drawbacks.

  • Staff time and resources are in high demand so assistance may be limited.
  • Starting a community garden on City land can take up to two years
  • The tenure of land agreements for City land can vary between one to twenty years, although the most commonplace is five years. Additionally, the permit can be terminated with 30 days notice at anytime.

    • City Contact Information

    To inquire about the requirements and process of starting your garden on City land, contact:

    Devorah Kahn
    City of Vancouver Food Policy Coordinator
    Social Planning Department
    604-871-6324 or devorah.kahn@vancouver.ca

    Choosing Your Site

    In addition to the location and availability of the site you have in mind, there are many physical aspects to consider before you make the final decision. These physical characteristics will influence how suitable the space is for gardening in general and for what you envision for your project.

    Almost any physical aspect can be improved or amended. For example, you can install raised planter boxes and bring in fresh soil and compost to compensate for poor or questionable soils. The disadvantage of site amendments is that they can be costly in terms of money and labour. However, some creativity and legwork can go a long way (see page 22).

    Below is a checklist of important characteristics to assess before you select your site.

    Checklist for Physical Aspects

    Research Site History

  • Historical Uses: who used it and for what activities?
  • Current Uses: who uses it now and for what activities?
  • Contamination: any possible sources from historical uses or neighbouring activities and what types of contaminants?

    • Initial Physical Assessment

  • Size of Area: is it large enough to suit your needs?
  • Water: availability, supply, access?
  • Slope and Drainage: sufficient or will amendments be required?
  • Exposure: how exposed are different parts of the site to light, wind, runoff?
  • Biological Problems: presence of invasive species, noxious weeds, pests?
  • Space for Structures (e.g.: storage units, compost bins, etc.): is there sufficient space?

    • Access and Safety

  • Transportation: proximity to public and self-propelled transportation?
  • Inclusive Accessibility: can the site be accessed by the differentlyabled?
  • Personal Safety: are there features that might negatively affect personal security?

    • Site Plan and Guidelines

    A site plan is a highly useful tool that can help you to visualise what features your garden will include; map out how these features will be organised; and maximise use of your space. You may already know how your garden design will look like before you find and finalise a location. However, a site plan will be most useful to you after you have secured a physical space. The dimensions of your location will influence what features it can accommodate and may even create opportunities for different elements and layouts. Many beautiful and carefree gardens harmonise their designs with the natural characteristics of their sites.

    A site plan is also necessary if you are starting your garden on Parks or City land. See the Parks website for Parks guidelines (see page 15) and APPENDIX D for City guidelines.

    There are many books available on how to draw a site plan. The following are some basic elements of what your plan should include. It can also be helpful to look at successful community gardens around the city and how they are laid out.

    Checklist for What to Include in a Site Plan

    General Elements

  • Size and slope dimensions of your site
  • List of all the features in your garden
  • Dimension of all the features
  • Location of all features

    • Basic Features

  • Entrances and exits
  • Pathways
  • Existing vegetation (e.g. trees)
  • Garden plots
  • Communal gardening and meeting spaces
  • Existing and planned structures
  • Water lines and sources

    Characteristics and Features

  • Location
  • Number
  • Size
  • Shape
  • Width
  • Function

    • Your site plan does not need to be professional, even if it is to be submitted to the City or Parks Board for approval. It should just be legible and clear. If you feel you would like professional assistance, consider working with students at local landscape architecture programs. Many would be happy to take your site plan on as a project. Before you agree to partner with a student, put together a scope of work that works for both of you. This is especially if the student takes this on as class-work, since the class will have its own deadlines for completing the project.

    Landscape Architecture Program Contact Information

    UBC Landscape Architcture Program
    Phone: 604-822-6916
    Email: larc@interchange.ubc.ca

    UBC Certificate in Garden Design
    Phone: 604-822-7444
    Email: information@cstudies.ubc.ca

    Site Preparations

    After you have found the appropriate land, gathered community support, raised the necessary funds and capital, and have the green light to transform your space into a community garden, the site may need some preparation prior to the first growing season.

    Depending on the size of your site and how much funding or volunteer people-power you have, preparations can be done by machinery or with elbow grease in a series of work parties. For example, members of the My Own Back Yard garden chose to shovel a mountain of fill to level their site over several months rather than move it by machine. If you are starting your garden on City or Parks land, these authorities provide some assistance with site preparations. Please see pages 15-18 for more details.

    Below is a checklist of some important site preparation tasks. This list is not exhaustive, and as many experienced community gardeners have suggested, creating a community garden is a dynamic process with new challenges around every corner.

    Checklist for Site Preparation

  • Remove unwanted ground cover, grass, and other structures
  • Level the ground
  • Test the soil for toxic heavy metals & nutrient levels · See APPENDIX E for list of local companies that are willing to complete soil tests on contact · See APPENDICES F and G for additional information regarding soil sampling
  • Bring in soil and compost as needed · See APPENDIX H for information on compost pricing and delivery
  • Connect or provide access to water