A grassy stretch on Ogden Avenue at Naperville North High School has been converted into a native prairie that a conservation organization recognizes as being “filled with life,” just what Mike and Lori Fahle intended with the tribute to their daughter who died in 2009.
The Conservation Foundation, one of the region’s oldest and largest nonprofit land and watershed conservation organizations, has awarded the prairie with a Conservation at Work certification for its excellence.
“This is the prairie state and to have representation of that on the school’s grounds is a cool thing,” said Jim Kleinwachter, land preservation specialist for The Conservation Foundation. “In addition to providing a peaceful respite, it’s a great outdoor education for the students.”
The Conservation Foundation certifies residential and non-residential landscaping that is environmentally friendly and provides habitats for birds, butterflies and native wildlife. Kleinwachter said the Fahles’ prairie earns high marks in all categories.
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“They really put the work into it and you can tell,” Kleinwachter said. “The prairie defies the typical thing we have in our area, which is grass. This is different and it’s refreshing, filled with life and color.”
Mike and Lori Fahle had that in mind when they began the project six years ago after Michelle, 14, who’d just started her freshman year, died shortly after contracting the H1N1 virus. The family later learned she had an undetected heart condition which made it hard to fight the virus. Her parents turned to the prairie as a way to heal, and to keep Michelle’s memory alive.
“When we started there we couldn’t even dig with a shovel because the ground was so hard,” Lori Fahle said. “We just plugged along because this is what we wanted to do and we wanted it to succeed.”
A diverse planting of more than 50 species — including some rare varieties — fill the more than 20,000-square-foot area. In the early years, Fahle said, she’d spend hours pulling weeds, and that was a good thing.
“For me, it gave me peace and something else to think about,” she said. “Pulling the weeds was a stress reliever for me, and knowing that we had a purpose.”
Mike Fahle shared the sentiment.
“Even when we say we aren’t going to be there for that long, we are there a few hours,” he said. “We just get lost. As long as I’m alive and able to walk, I’ll be up there to take care of it.”
Michelle liked butterflies and pretty flowers, and her favorite color was purple, her mother said..
“I think she would like the prairie,” she said. “I think that she would like that kids come out here and that they help out. She was always helping other kids at school.”
The prairie at Naperville North is one of about 40 non-residential landscapes that will earn The Conservation Foundation’s award of excellence this year.
Jane Donahue is a freelance reporter.