Welcome to the Garden!

Carpenter Community Garden is located inside Carpenter Park at 4420 Louis Stephens Drive, Cary, NC 27519. It supports about 50 garden plot renters each year.

Annual Plot Rental Application Period Open annually December 1 - January 15

Would you like to grow food for your family and learn more about gardening? The Carpenter Community Garden plots are rented for an eleven-month term for the price of $30. The rental includes two 6x4 foot raised beds that are amended with compost and ready to plant. Beds have convenient access to watering hoses, our garden shed is stocked with tools, and we provide renters with educational materials to support their success.

To apply you must be a Cary resident and at least 18 years old, however, no prior garden experience is required. The application period runs from December 1 through January 15 each winter. At the close of the application period, a lottery system is utilized to award all available plots and then a waitlist is created for applicants that do not win a plot via the lottery. Please read through our 2025 garden rental application here to understand the responsibilities of being chosen for a garden plot.

The lottery period for 2025 will open on December 1.

Garden Open House Events

Join us for our free, family-friendly Open House events. Staff will be onsite for tours, Q&A, and children's educational play activities. Participants can learn more about growing veggies at home, planting to support pollinators, and how to mitigate storm water with rain garden installations.

• 2025 Open House information coming soon!

About the Garden

Carpenter Community Garden is a communal green space managed by the Town of Cary that offers garden beds for annual rental and educational garden beds for groups and volunteers. Gardeners are allowed to grow whatever they like, and the garden boasts diverse veggies, fruits, and flowers throughout the year. We also maintain a native plant habitat surrounding the garden to support pollinators that provide numerous ecological benefits including increased produce yields in the garden. New in 2023, a rain garden was installed to help absorb storm water at our site. 

Construction of Carpenter Park began in the summer of 2014 and included a plan for a community garden as one of its features. The park was funded in the Bond Referendum passed by Cary Citizens in 2012.