Local Man Would Like Us to Stop Putting Our Butts in His Flower Beds

If you've ever stopped to admire the lush gardens surrounding the Trader Joe's building on Monroe Street, you have a neighbor to thank.

His name is Jake.

A resident of Monroe Commons for nearly 20 years, Jake has been transforming and tending the property’s gardens since approximately 2012. He’s the building’s self-appointed grounds manager, a position that comes with considerable responsibility and absolutely no salary.

“I’m not paid for any of it,” Jake explained. “So I’m just donating my time and energy to the community to be a good citizen.”

The building’s association provides a seasonal plant budget, but Jake exceeds it every year, purchasing additional plants with his own money. He plants, waters, prunes, and experiments with whatever catches his eye.

“I don’t know what I’m doing,” he said of his gardening philosophy. “It’s just, it’s all an experiment.”

His duties also extend well beyond horticulture. Every day, Jake walks the perimeter of the building carrying a small bucket, collecting cigarette butts, Trader Joe’s receipts, red plastic cups, miniature liquor bottles, and, on at least one occasion, a metal fork. Other discoveries, Jake assured us, are best left undescribed.

At 74, Jake admits the physical work is becoming more challenging. His doctor has warned him to be careful with his back, advice that can be difficult to remember when there’s a rock to move or a hose to haul.

Following our interview, we walked the property together. In the short time we were outside, Jake picked up at least a dozen cigarette butts, pausing to greet neighbors and passersby who knew him.

For Jake, the work is about more than keeping the property attractive. Gardening provides a welcome escape from the constant stream of troubling news, and he hopes the gardens offer others a similar moment of enjoyment.

“We need to be well informed. But I think we also need to have a sense of humor. And a healthy perspective on life. So that’s another thing that I’m just trying to create for people.”

There’s even an opportunity for neighbors to take a little of Jake’s work home. As the growing season winds down, he sometimes has plants, including rosemary and cordyline, that need winter homes. Anyone interested is welcome to stop and ask him about adopting one.

“As long as they talk to me and don’t come at night and dig them up,” Jake clarified. “I’d rather give things than be taken.”

Despite the years of work, personal expense, and considerable number of cigarette butts, Jake isn’t particularly interested in recognition.

“If my work is admired, I appreciate that,” he said. “I don’t necessarily have to know it. But I do want people to admire the plants more than me.”

We encourage readers to do exactly that. Stop and admire the gardens. Say hello to Jake. Thank him for making this busy corner of Monroe Street a little more beautiful.

And please, for the love of all things botanical, put your cigarette butts somewhere else.