Green Landscaping: Greenacres
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Landscaping Resources
- Weedlaws
- Toolkit
- Native Vegetation Enhancement
- Wild Ones Handbook
- Homeowners' Resources
- Landscaping Naturally (video)
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Conservation and Native Landscaping Awards
2006 Winners Conservation and Native Landscaping Awards
Local Government Winners:
Beecher School District, Beecher, Illinois
- Partnership between Beecher High School, Village of Beecher, and the Washington Township Drainage District
- Transformation of Trim Creek from very steep, crumbling stream banks, invasive species, and debris to an area with beautiful native plants and stabilized slopes.
- Restoration project along 600 feet of Trim Creek improves stormwater and provides a valuable riparian buffer.
Chicago Park District, Canal Origins Park, Chicago, Illinois
- Restoration of prairie and river edge landscapes provides wildlife habitat, reduces erosion and creates a green oasis in one of Chicago’s most dense urban areas.
- Canal Origins Park location at the confluence of Bubbly Creek and the South Branch of the Chicago River provides valuable native habitat for migratory birds.
Inverness Park District South Park Wetlands Demonstration Garden, Inverness, Illinois
- Transformed a drainage ditch into a beautiful rain garden and swale that filters the water for 26 acre wetlands.
- Partnerships with the community, particularly the local garden club and environmental organization.
South Milwaukee School District
South Milwaukee, Wisconsin
- Ecological restoration and native landscape plan for the new South Milwaukee Middle School and High School Campus
- Meshing the formal school grounds with the surrounding restored habitat (wetlands, prairie and woodlands) and natural stormwater management system.
- Conservation and monitoring plans for the state endangered perennial bluestem goldenrod and the state threatened Butler’s garter snake.
- Great resource for students.
Village of Lincolnshire, North Park, Lincolnshire, Illinois
- Preserved and restored the natural areas on the park property.
- Use of native plants surrounding the storm water basin and active recreation areas.
- Provides excellent habitat and stabilizes and protects the headwaters of the West Fork of the North Branch of the Chicago River.
Wildwood Nature Center, Park Ridge, Illinois
- Transformation of turf grass and eroded shoreline to native flowers and grasses.
- Shoreline now stabile, the goose population is 1/4 of what it was.
- Valuable migration habitat, especially for the Black Crowned Night Heron.
Corporate Winners:
Eco-Smart Building
- Outstanding redevelopment of a deteriorated residential brick building in a dense urban area.
- Conservation designs for energy efficiency, stormwater management and use of native plants.
- Data on growing native plants in containers for rooftop gardens.
Meadows of Birch Lake Homeowners Assoc., Lincolnshire, Illinois
- Native plants surrounding the storm water basin.
- Beautifully designed native plants gardens through out the residential development.
- Provides an important naturalized buffer for the 40 acre Florsheim Nature Preserve.
Pizzo and Assoc. Corporate Campus, Leland, Illinois
- Preserved 32 acres of remnant prairie and wetland, and restored 8 acres of farm fields.
- Increased biodiversity on the property from 75 species of native plants and to 225 species.
Riverbank Neighbors, Chicago, Illinois
- Restoration of riverbanks of the Chicago River in dense Chicago neighborhood.
- 2.5 acre natural area provides excellent habitat and stabilizes and protects bank.
- Native plants in the slopes and the trail along the river introduce visitors to nature.
- Partnership with 2nd and 6th grade classes of a Chicago Public School.
Tellabs, Naperville, Illinois
- Transformation of an abandoned agricultural field into a beautiful landscape.
- Use of native prairie and woodland plants to conserve and treat stormwater.
- Naturalized bio-swales in the parking lots manages surface run-off.
- Tellabs campus location adjacent to McDowell Grove Forest Preserve and the West Branch of the DuPage River.
CERTIFICATE OF MERIT:
- BP Naperville Campus, Illinois
- Dow Chemical Joliet Plant, Illinois
- Flint Hills Resources, LP-Joliet Facility, Illinois
- The Sanctuary of Lake Bluff , Lake Bluff , Illinois
- Town Square Condominium Association, Schaumburg, Illinois
- U.S. Steel Corporation Gary Works, Indiana