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ASHEVILLE GREENWORKS
  • Pollination Celebration
  • Donate
  • Hard 2 Recycle
  • Get Involved
    • Internships
    • Sponsorship
    • Volunteer
    • Wish List
    • Youth Environmental Leadership Program >
      • YELP Staff & Alumni
      • How to Apply
  • Programs
    • Bee City USA Asheville >
      • Native Pollinator Plants and Nurseries
      • Pollinator Garden Certification
      • Pollinator Gardens & Meadows Project
    • Education
    • Urban Forestry >
      • Cool Green Asheville
      • Food Tree Project
      • RRI
      • Tree Nursery
      • Treasured Trees >
        • Treasured Trees Calendar
    • Rivers & Roads >
      • Adopt-a-Street
      • Clean Streams Day
      • Cleanup Supply Stations
      • Trash Trout
    • Waste Reduction >
      • Asheville Bag Monster
      • Composting Information
      • Flip Your Lid
      • Plastics Reduction Task Force
      • Recycling Information
  • Upcoming Events
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    • Job Openings
    • History
    • Staff/ Contact
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    • Latest News
    • Mind Your Plastic May
    • Protect our Pollinators
    • Voice for the Trees

Adopt-a-Spot

The City of Asheville has partnered with Asheville GreenWorks to launch the Adopt-A-Spot program. Businesses, organizations, or individuals can choose a City-owned piece of property that they wish to adopt. The responsibility of the adopter will be to maintain either an edible or pollinator garden in this location. The program provides recognition of adopters through dedicated signage at the site. Make a positive impact on Asheville by promoting stewardship of publicly owned places. 

Have a spot you'd like to adopt?

Picture
An Adopt-a-Spot project can include several different types of activities. It may be as simple as picking up stray litter in your local park once a month, or it may be a longer-term project such as weeding, planting and maintaining a specific area.

What kind of work is involved?
  • Removing litter, debris and cigarettes
  • Controlling weeds and invasive plants
  • Planting perennial pollinators or edibles
  • Spreading mulch

GreenWorks Commitment
  • Clean-up supplies: gloves, bags, safety vests
  • Safety instructions
  • Recognition of you and your team’s commitment on the City’s website and an Adopt-a-Spot courtesy sign
  • Collection of trash and weeds from project

Volunteer's Commitment
  • Three-year maintenance commitment
  • Successful application filed with GreenWorks
  • Notify GreenWorks one week prior to clean-up or planting/ weeding event to coordinate resources and litter removal

Types of Spots to Adopt

Planting Pollinator Patches
​
As the inaugural Bee City, Asheville is an ideal location for planting pollinator habitats. Pollinators are responsible for ¾ of the world’s food supply and are vitally important to the health of our local urban forest. Pollinator plantings are both beautiful and ecologically sound features of the landscape, attracting butterflies, birds and bees into urban areas. A list of pollinator-friendly plants and local nurseries where they can be purchased can be found at www.beecityusa.org.   

Establishing & Maintaining Orchards and Edibles
Fruit producing trees and shrubs growing in neighborhoods, parks and greenways provide fresh, accessible food to Ashevilleans. Through the Adopt-a-Spot program, your group can play a role in developing the urban food forest in Asheville. Projects can range from planting a small patch of blueberries or an entire orchard of fruit trees. The list of recommended edible trees and shrubs and local nurseries where they can be purchased can be found at www.ashevillegreenworks.org

Invasive Plant Removal
Invasive exotic plants disrupt the ecology of natural ecosystems, displace native plant and animal species, and degrade our biological resources. Aggressive invaders reduce the amount of light, water, nutrients and space available to native species. Some cause increased erosion along stream banks, shorelines and roadsides. Common invasive species in this area include kudzu, knotweed, English ivy and privet. Many Adopt-a-Spot projects will require invasive plant removal to prepare the land for planting and to prevent invasives from taking over existing and new plantings.

Planting in Bulb-Outs
​
Bulb-outs are areas that extend from the sidewalk along the sides of the street. They are typically in place at cross walks or on street parking. These areas can typically be accessed from the adjacent sidewalk. Through Asheville’s Adopt-a-Spot program, bulb-outs can be used for planting edible and/or pollinator gardens. Volunteers must use extra caution when working along streets and roadways.

To Adopt-a-Spot, download, print and complete the application below.
Download brochure/Application
Questions about Adopt-a-Spot?
​Contact Samantha Trueman
[email protected] or (828) 254-1776

​Asheville GreenWorks is a 501(c)3 non-profit environmental organization, governed by a Board of Directors. Established in 1973, GreenWorks mission is to inspire, equip and mobilize individuals and communities to take care of the places we love to live.
  • Pollination Celebration
  • Donate
  • Hard 2 Recycle
  • Get Involved
    • Internships
    • Sponsorship
    • Volunteer
    • Wish List
    • Youth Environmental Leadership Program >
      • YELP Staff & Alumni
      • How to Apply
  • Programs
    • Bee City USA Asheville >
      • Native Pollinator Plants and Nurseries
      • Pollinator Garden Certification
      • Pollinator Gardens & Meadows Project
    • Education
    • Urban Forestry >
      • Cool Green Asheville
      • Food Tree Project
      • RRI
      • Tree Nursery
      • Treasured Trees >
        • Treasured Trees Calendar
    • Rivers & Roads >
      • Adopt-a-Street
      • Clean Streams Day
      • Cleanup Supply Stations
      • Trash Trout
    • Waste Reduction >
      • Asheville Bag Monster
      • Composting Information
      • Flip Your Lid
      • Plastics Reduction Task Force
      • Recycling Information
  • Upcoming Events
  • About
    • Job Openings
    • History
    • Staff/ Contact
  • Newsletter
  • Blog Roll
    • Latest News
    • Mind Your Plastic May
    • Protect our Pollinators
    • Voice for the Trees