Elmwood Park resident Nick Wallace, a founder of Pocket Prairie Natives, helps fellow residents landscape their yards with plants native to the Midwest.
Nick is incredibly knowledgeable about the prairie ecosystem. The village could benefit from learning from him and save the Village of Elmwood Park some money in plant and garden maintenance, improve our ecosystem and beautify the community. Glad to see Nick is being featured.
Yes, that’s the part that most people don’t consider — once new plants are established, they require very little from us in terms of water or maintenance! Imagine how much the village could save by not swapping out water-heavy plantings seasonally!
The culture in Elmwood Park seems heavily into chemically-treated lawns and manicured shrubs. I would love to see this shift over time. There was a glimmer of hope when the village installed a native rain garden at 73rd Ave and Bloomingdale, but it seems that it was a failed project that is currently overrun with turf grass. I would be very curious to know what happened there and whether there are plans to revive it.
Great article about Nick and Pocket Prairie Natives! Thank you! Elmwood Park needs more people like Nick to educate our residents about our native ecosystem. One concern people have about establishing native plantings in the front of their homes is the “unkept” look. However, this is not the case if it is done correctly and understanding the plants. It can be beautiful as well as beneficial to our environment. Thank you Nick!
Exactly!! I work for / with a local landscape design + installation company that focuses on natives and pollinator-supporting gardens; it’s absolutely possible to have native gardens that don’t look like a field of weeds! 🌸🐝🦋
Nick is incredibly knowledgeable about the prairie ecosystem. The village could benefit from learning from him and save the Village of Elmwood Park some money in plant and garden maintenance, improve our ecosystem and beautify the community. Glad to see Nick is being featured.
Yes, that’s the part that most people don’t consider — once new plants are established, they require very little from us in terms of water or maintenance! Imagine how much the village could save by not swapping out water-heavy plantings seasonally!
Thank you for writing this incredible article! I have learned so so much from him and I hope more people can too.
The culture in Elmwood Park seems heavily into chemically-treated lawns and manicured shrubs. I would love to see this shift over time. There was a glimmer of hope when the village installed a native rain garden at 73rd Ave and Bloomingdale, but it seems that it was a failed project that is currently overrun with turf grass. I would be very curious to know what happened there and whether there are plans to revive it.
Great article about Nick and Pocket Prairie Natives! Thank you! Elmwood Park needs more people like Nick to educate our residents about our native ecosystem. One concern people have about establishing native plantings in the front of their homes is the “unkept” look. However, this is not the case if it is done correctly and understanding the plants. It can be beautiful as well as beneficial to our environment. Thank you Nick!
Exactly!! I work for / with a local landscape design + installation company that focuses on natives and pollinator-supporting gardens; it’s absolutely possible to have native gardens that don’t look like a field of weeds! 🌸🐝🦋
This is fantastic. I don’t know a ton about native gardens so this was a helpful primer