A public garden of native flowers and grasses next to the Naperville Municipal Center was formally unveiled Saturday.
Flanked by members of local conservation groups and city departments, Mayor Steve Chirico cut the ribbon dedicating the Native Planting Pollinator Garden, a small plot of land with 14 native plants that should attract butterflies, hummingbirds and bees, said Amy Emery, strategic projects supervisor for the city of Naperville.
“They are all threatened in some way. It’s a habitat for them that is desperately needed,” said Emery at the event, scheduled to coincide with Earth Day.
More Top Picks Best Guitar Tuner Pedals For The Money
Naperville Communications Specialist Liz Meil called it a pollination station because the hope is the 21-by-42-square-foot garden on the east side of the center will contribute to a healthy ecosystem.
“The plants are native and thrive without the need for pesticides and over watering,” Emery said.
“We use no fertilizers” or chemicals of any kind, said Jan Roehll, of the Conservation Foundation, which helped build the garden. “We have to hand weed it. Mulch also deters the weeds. It needs care. Once these plants get more established, it will need less weeding.”
Roehll said it will also require less water in subsequent years.
She checks on the plants “every couple weeks,” she said, and Emery is out in the garden getting her hands dirty regularly during her lunch hours. “Amy is doing this extra work above and beyond” her regular duties for the city, Roehll said.
The Pollinator Garden is not filled with much color yet because some of the plants are still to sprout and those that have won’t bloom until later this spring or summer, she said. The garden currently features small patches of green leaves, large sections of mulch and a gravel path of bluestone. Hitchcock Design Group came up with the idea of having the path look like a meandering river and also donated their services to design the garden’s layout, Roehll said.
During the test phase last summer, photos show it filled with flowering native plants, including purple coneflower, foxglove and mountain mint. Roehll said some of the plants have roots that can extend 20 feet and help eliminate water puddles in low areas, one of many ways native plants can improve residential lawns. She said residents can convert part of their yards to native plants without getting rid of all the grass.
“Naperville ordinances allow for native plants,” Roehll said. “People think of native plants, and they (wrongly) think of weeds. Grasses that are 18 inches high can look controlled if you put it in (garden) beds. Have a little bit of grass and the rest all native plants,” said Roehll, adding it’s less maintenance than caring for traditional planted flowers.
“I’ve been a sustainability kind of guy a long time,” Chirico said. “The city believes in it. The city is not just talking about it but doing something about it. This was weeds not too long ago. Thanks to a lot of people, it’s converted to native plants and grasses to help lead by example.”
Emery said Naperville’s water department is now looking into native plantings for some of its locations. “This is the way landscaping is going,” she said. “Our property is a small part of the city. We hope it inspires residents and businesses.”
Roehll said Naperville is a model city for the sustainability movement in Illinois.
“It’s a very sustainable community with a lot of practices in place. We hope to do this type of garden in other public facilities. This is the first one,” said Roehll, a full-time employee at the Conservation Foundation, which encourages sustainable projects in DuPage, Will, Kane, Kendall and Cook counties. The Conservation Foundation selected Naperville as one five cities in its Conservation in our Community program because “they are in the forefront,” she said.
Meil said the Pollinator Garden was conceived in 2015 through a joint effort of the City of Naperville and the Conservation Foundation, which received a grant from the DuPage Foundation as well as money and hands-on help from the Naperville Garden Club. Meil said the city paid for the plants.
Diane Moca is a freelance reporter for the Naperville Sun.