Many people consider taking care of their own lawns a chore.

In 1999, Barbara Speno-Walsh approached the city of Auburn and volunteered to take care of the one-block grass median in front of her house on Lake Avenue.

She dedicated the stretch to her brother, Joey Speno, who died in 1997 after a 14-year battle with leukemia and then cancer.

“This was a way we could give back and honor my brother,” Speno-Walsh said.

The median was dedicated during a celebration that fell on Speno's birthday and drew more than 200 people to the garden. The collage of perennial plantings continues to attract passersby.

Often Speno-Walsh sees people sitting on the garden's bench, which was donated by family friend, Daniel Colella. Some have told her that they also lost a friend or family member, and they like to reflect in the memorial garden.

An anonymous man once sent Speno-Walsh a letter telling her that he drove by the median every time he visited his wife in St. Joseph's Cemetery.

Notes and phone calls of this type are common, Speno-Walsh said. When she's at work in the median, drivers often wave or honk.

Though not the main reason she adopted the median, such compliments make the time Speno-Walsh spends tending it worthwhile. Each week the median requires a few hours of maintenance, she estimates. Also giving their time to the garden are her father, Jack Speno; husband, Michael Walsh, and daughters, Alyssa and Lauren Walsh.

The family mows the lawn, replaces the mulch yearly, weeds, edges, trims trees and washes the curbs.

“My biggest pet peeve is a dirty curb,” Speno-Walsh said.

At first, Speno-Walsh had to drag her house's hose to the median to wash the curbs or water the plants, but the city has since installed a tap on the site.

The harsh winter weather and salt residue has dried out some of the plants, but neighbors and friends have donated their own to repopulate the beds.

That spirit of generosity is the driving force behind the garden. Speno-Walsh volunteered to maintain it as part of a county bicentennial program pushing for citizens to adopt such areas and restore them to their natural beauty.

Family and friends donated money to fund Speno-Walsh's revitalization of the Lake Avenue median. AmeriCorps volunteered their time to plant it, and family friend Michael Moore, a landscaper, offered to shape it in the beginning stages.

As part of the arrangement, she signed a contract with the city pledging to put in the time necessary to keep the area pristine. Speno-Walsh encourages other residents to enter into a similar agreement.

“We'd be happy to help anyone get started,” Speno-Walsh said. “It's a labor of love.”