Sarah Blas admits she did not know much about gardening. 

"YouTube has been my best friend lately," she said.

But the mother of six has been busy learning after growing tired of what her 2-year-old twin daughters would pick up off the ground at the Richmond Terrace Houses.

"They're going in opposite directions. And one is picking up peeling paint off the floor and the other one's picking up trash, the other one's picking up drug paraphernalia," she said.

So one day, she decided to do something about the papers, wrappers and other garbage she says some residents throw out of windows or simply toss onto the lawns.

"I didn't have any garden supplies. So I had this old, black, broken kitchen spoon, and I'm digging and I'm digging, and each square footage, there were beautiful flowers, there was no garbage and the residents stopped throwing trash on the flowers," she said.

Blas got a permit from the Housing Authority to clean up the grounds, and the idea took off. Soon, one tiny space of cleaned up greenery gave way to four separate sections of beautified lawns. 

Residents donated Mother's Day plants they'd been given, and children chipped in too.

"One of the kids came out, they didn't have any plants to donate, but they said, 'I've got this broken guitar. Can we put a plant inside it?' And I said, 'That's a great idea,'" she said. "So it's become the focal point." 

A garden was created, with one corner set aside to honor victims of breast cancer. Every week, some 40 volunteers help to maintain it. Everyone in the community is welcome to pitch in.

In an effort to make their mission about more than just cleaning up this space, the group has started hosting weekly activites for kids, like painting, where everything they paint will find a home in the garden.

"It's a great idea," said resident Helen Vengecion. "It's helping the community, making it look different. Everybody walks by and be like, they're surprised." 

There are 11 acres of green space at the development. Blas is hoping one day to landscape them all. Her theory: if it looks good, it will make you feel good.

Right now, there is plenty to feel good about at the Richmond Terrace Houses.