Archives of Planting

Civic Center Habitat Garden, flourishing two years after planting

What a difference two years make

The Civic Center Habitat Garden marked its second anniversary this month. What started out as a weedy lawn has been transformed through good planning and hard work into a flourishing oasis for birds and pollinators. More than sixty species of plants ...
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Planting wildflower plugs at the Ladd Arboretum

Planting for diversity

Saturday was cool and wet, but a truckload of plants awaited, so our tough band of volunteers got to work with shovels and trowels. ...
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Volunteers & crew after planting at the Ladd Arboretum

Pitching in on Chicago River Day

Another section of the channel banks was transformed on Saturday as the community came together to plant native trees and shrubs in front of the Ecology Center....
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Mayapples after rain

Mayapple season

On Earth Day, celebrated by the City of Evanston on April 21, a group from Dewey Elementary joined TreeKeepers and other volunteers in mulching trees and planting wildflowers in the Ladd Arboretum....
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Seeding under snow

Under the snow

As snow fell earlier this week, we were finishing the final step in this season’s planting: scattering a mix of seeds in bare patches along the channel banks in the Ladd Arboretum and around the Twiggs Park overlook. It was too dark to take a p...
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Civic Center Garden September sunflowers

For the birds

The Civic Center Habitat Garden, with its layers of bird-friendly vegetation, will make Evanston an even more welcoming stopover place for migrating birds....
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Y.O.U. group after Harbert planting

Planting the sun and the moon

A Y.O.U. afterschool group from Edison Elementary joined us Thursday to plant wildflowers and grasses around the Harbert Park overlook....
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Planting at the Ladd Arboretum

A perfect day for planting

Community members came out today to help plant wildflowers and grasses in the Ladd Arboretum's new sun garden, an area behind the Ecology Center where non-native and invasive trees have been cleared to create a sunny patch where prairie plants will t...
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Oaktober logo from Chicago Region Trees Initiative

A time to plant: Oaktober at the Ladd Arboretum

Oak Awareness Month each October is a statewide effort to raise awareness of the value of the region's native oak ecosystems. Oak trees are not only beautiful and long-lived—they also are the most important tree for birds and butterflies....
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