Miss Simms Garden director outlines multi‑phase demonstration garden focused on stormwater and accessibility

Amy Weiss, identified on the council agenda as Miss Simms Garden director, told the Homewood pre‑council she and the Miss Simms Garden Foundation have developed a multi‑phase plan to make the city‑owned garden a demonstration site for residential landscape design and stormwater best management practices.

“We’re gonna break ground on this later this year,” Weiss said in a condensed presentation, describing Phase 1 as focused on stormwater BMPs, accessibility and irrigation; Phase 2 on an outdoor kitchen, a solar‑powered greenhouse, final plantings and interpretive signage; and Phase 3 on restoring the historic home on the property to expand program capacity. She told the council the property is city‑owned and managed by a nonprofit foundation and that the project will document how to comply with local ordinances, including tree protection during construction.

Weiss listed fundraising and community activities supporting the effort: sponsorships, a brick‑sale campaign, a Homewood Centennial plant sale, volunteer days, an annual pumpkin patch that normally distributes thousands of pumpkins, and a recent mahjong event that she said raised $5,000 for the garden. She said the plan aims to demonstrate “best practices in stormwater management, best practices in tree management, best practices in what you plant where for our climate and for our suburban environment.”

City staff and council members discussed technical and permitting aspects; Weiss emphasized that all improvements will be ADA compliant because the site is city property and that project teams are documenting procedures so the city can use the site as an educational model for developers, homeowners and contractors. She invited council members to tour the garden and said the foundation is building financial sustainability so the board can eventually pay a caretaker and use the house for events.

The presentation closed with an offer to answer questions and to provide detailed engineering plans and bid documents to staff.