A community fruit-and-nut orchard is coming to the grounds of the Glass Recreation Center.

A $5,000 grant, which was awarded by Lowe’s “to support Keep Tyler Beautiful’s mission to engage individuals in building and sustaining vibrant communities,” will provide funding for the orchard, according to a news release.

The orchard will be near the picnic pavilion on the grounds of the recreation center, at 501 W. 32nd St.

“We are very excited to partner with Lowe’s to build the first official community garden in the city of Tyler,” Keep Tyler Beautiful board member Chad Maddux said in a news release. “We look forward to many future community-focused projects.”

Keep Tyler Beautiful Liaison Gary Lynch, with the Tyler Parks and Recreation Department, said the orchard will include a variety of trees with fruits such as peaches and plums. He said there likely also will be some apple trees, and some pecan trees are already planted in the area.

“It’s a community fruit orchard, and what we want to do with it is allow the trees to mature and then show people how they can put these same trees in their yards and in their gardens and have edible fruit right there at their homes,” Lynch said. “The whole idea behind it is a community improvement issue. Folks who may not have a good nutritious source for food can have both a source for fresh fruit as well as a nice looking tree in their yard.”

Lynch said people will eventually be able to come taste fruits, pick fruits and see how they can go to a local nursery, buy the same tree, plant it and have fruit for themselves.

He noted that with many fruit trees, it generally takes a year or two before they start bearing fruit. Therefore, he said, it will be a while before people may start to pick fruit. But he said the education component of the orchard will take place ahead of time so people can learn what varieties of fruit trees do best in East Texas and how these fruits can be beneficial, among other things.