Now that funding for Weed and Seed has ended, it's time to see how deep the program's roots grew in York City.

Will the crime-prevention effort wither and die without the regular watering of state and federal money?

Or did more than 10 years and $3 million in tending ensure something new will grow in its place?

York City' Weed and Seed began in 1999 with grant funding from the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency.

The goal was for communities to develop programs and a strategy to improve the city through the "weeding" work of law enforcement and highly visible anti-crime tactics along with "seeding" efforts to improve the quality of life in targeted neighborhoods.

York's program, which focused on 60 city blocks, was so successful it was named best in the state in 2006.

But Weed and Seed was never intended to be publicly funded indefinitely, according to a coordinator in the U.S. Attorney's Office in Harrisburg.

Now that funding has dried up, "the hope is the programs, the people we engaged, will continue," said John Marsh.

It's difficult to see how cash-strapped York City can maintain the level of "weeding" police performed through the program, which funded such things as police overtime, curfew sweeps and summer block parties.

The department will do the best it can with the resources at hand, we're sure.

The community-based "seeding" efforts are another story.

There are things all residents can do every day to improve their neighborhoods and make them less inviting to bad elements -- watching out for each other, reporting problems right away to police, even picking up trash.

Community groups, neighborhood associations and churches can step in to lend a hand.

Just recently we saw a motorcycle club take to the streets of York City to spread an anti-violence message.

Also, a group of women formed an after-school program for girls in memory of a lost friend.

The NAACP held a Save our Youth Parade last weekend, and is planning a gun-buyback event this spring.

It can be done. It is being done.

This is our garden now. Whether it flourishes is up to us.