Neighborhood gardens transform city landscapes and build community.
The Trustees is the largest nonprofit owner of community gardens in Boston, with 56 under Trustees management, totaling 15 acres across eight Boston neighborhoods: Dorchester, East Boston, the Fenway, Jamaica Plain, Roxbury, Mattapan, Mission Hill, and the South End. Our role as caretaker of Boston’s green spaces doesn’t stop with our own gardens: we help to coordinate activities related to all of the city’s approximately 200 community gardens, touching more than 18,000 individuals and families annually. Six pocket parks remain accessible at all times.
Garden Dues
Current garden members can pay 2023 Garden Dues here. Add one “garden plot dues” to your cart, click on “Place Order”, select your garden by name, and enter your payment and contact info.
Garden Workshops
Check out our upcoming garden workshops & events on our Seed Sow & Grow page. You can watch recordings of past workshops on The Trustees YouTube channel.
Plot Requests
Want to join a Trustees garden? Check out this map and this list, and then fill out this plot request form.
Native Plants & Seedling Sale
We have a great selection of plants for urban gardens, sustainably grown in Boston. Shop here.
Attend a skillbuilding workshop or family program at any of of our community gardens. Register for a garden dinner. Join us at signature annual events such as the Gardeners Gathering every March with the Mayor. Teach your children firsthand about how food grows and help them develop healthy food habits.
Access to all community gardens is free of charge. The gardens are open to the public during public programs and events. Private visits can also be organized.
Trustees manages 56 community gardens across 8 neighborhoods throughout the city of Boston. Gardens range in size from small 10 plot gardens to large 150+ plot gardens with raised beds, sun shelters, fruit trees and native plant-filled perennial borders. These gardens are tended and cared for by local residents and are a source of neighborhood pride that connect people to place. They turn neighbors into friends, strengthen family bonds and traditions, and inspire joy in the shared work of growing fresh, healthy, and delicious culturally-relevant food – everything from heirloom tomatoes to okra, winter melon and more! Together these green oases are a thriving neighborhood asset that benefits everyone in the community and fosters intergenerational learning and respect across cultures.
Please contact communitygardens@thetrustees.org if you are a Boston resident looking for a garden plot.
Contact communitygardens@thetrustees.org for information on joining a community garden or event rental options.
Download a map of our community garden locations.
General Garden Rules
Your garden may have additional rules; these apply to all Trustees gardens.
PHOTOGRAPHY: We ask that photographers or their clients become Supporting Level Members before conducting portrait sessions at these properties. Click here for more information, and to request permission for any portrait sessions. The Trustees of Reservations reserves the right, and may give permission to its designated photographers and videographers, or to outside media, to photograph or video visitors and program participants at all its facilities and properties.
Boston Natural Areas Network (BNAN, merged into the Trustees of Reservations since 2014) first began working with community gardens in 1982, in an effort to preserve Boston’s inner city green space, which was rapidly disappearing as a result of increased development pressures. Since its act of initially taking ownership to save 16 threatened gardens, BNAN acquired 54 gardens in underserved neighborhoods, with the total now at 56 under The Trustees ownership.
