Land Trust Receives Boston Foundation Grant for Berkeley Garden Improvements

 The will receive new plantings along its edge thanks to a $25,000 grant awarded by the Boston Foundation, South End/Lower Roxbury Open Space Land Trust President Betsy Johnson announced on Thursday.

According to Johnson, the grant will be used to create a bird-friendly planting edge inside the newly constructed fence, which runs the length of the garden on Berkeley Street between Tremont Street and Shawmut Avenue.

The grant was awarded to the Land Trust, which owns, protects and manages 16 community gardens and small parks in the South End and Lower Roxbury. The Trust is designating the funds for use in the Berkeley Street Garden, which recently raised funds to construct a new fence to protect its interior from vandalism.

In a press release, the Trust said the garden is a valuable community resource for gardeners who grow food there and residents looking for a brief escape from the city.

"Daily, many neighbors enjoy the path through the Berkeley Garden, getting away from Berkeley Street's busy traffic," the Trust said in a statement.

Comprised of over 900 separate charitable funds, The Boston Foundation and its donors designate millions of dollars in grants to nonprofit organizations every year. In Fiscal 2010, its donations totaled more than $82 million.

The border gardens, combined with a plan to construct a bamboo "wall" along the Tremont Street edge of the Berkeley Street Garden, would help to conceal the interior of the space, which .