I enjoy planting urban gardens to create habitat and beautify neighborhoods.  Often I am starting with neglected areas along alleys, parking lots, driveways, utility poles, and roads. Usually they are filled with weeds, low quality soil, gravel, and chemicals. I line most of them with discarded old bricks, stones, and railroad ties. The plants are grown from seed or donated. Chemicals are not used. My current gardens contain irises, daffodils, lilies, poppies, sedum, purple coneflower, goldenrod, yarrow, mint, sage, thyme, chives, lavender, common milkweed, swamp milkweed, ivy, and grass. One of my gardens was designated by the National Wildlife Federation, Monarch Watch, and University of Illinois Extension. It provided habitat, food, shelter, and nesting for bees, butterflies, insects, birds, and animals. It is featured in this spring 2022 video. Sadly, the private property owner destroyed this mature garden after seven years.