the early garden
sept & october 2002

end of the season. most of the plants lived. those that did not will not be seen here ;-)

we were complete novices at the beginning of spring 2002 - we had never gardened or even thought about gardening before. here is our thanks all of the great people on gardenweb forums for providing us with all of the information we needed to create our very first garden!

after spending time reviewing the messages on the gardenweb forums that already existed and asking many of our own, we now have:

• a native illinois garden (prairie, woodlands edge and woodland plants)
• a pond in progress (frog, fish and wetland plant habitat)
• a bona fide wetland (on a very small scale)
• an ecologically sound disposal system for our sump water (pond and wetland area)
• a properly pruned and fertilized family of evergreens
• an ancient lilac bush on its way to a new, rejuvenated life
• a base of foundation for creating good soil (lasaga bed, compost)
• an ecologically sound disposal system for garden waste and kitchen scraps (aka "compost heap" - but laura still wants a goat!)
• an excellent library of hard copy books about gardening (the well-tended perennial garden, caring for perennials - when to do and when to do it, gardening with native wildflowers, the garden primer, and more)

compost, lovely compost. thanks to the soil forum on gardenweb forums compost heap sept 2002	this is what happens to your plants when you amend your soil properly! :-) mexican hat sept 2002
the essential bird bath; our birds (two pairs of cardinals, countless sparrows and wrens, and two brilliant pairs of golden finches) love it! thanks to the wildlife forum on gardenweb birdbath sept 2002	our swamp milkweed needs moister soil! info from the native plant forum on gardenweb garage bed sept 2002
plow bed sept 2002	under spruce trees sept 2002
rear side bed sept 2002	rear bed sept 2002
rear bed, right side sept 2002	rear bed, left side sept 2002

here are some other great sources of information and inspiration online:

• the wild ones

  an organization for the support of native gardening

• art & linda's wildflowers

  laura has met art at many of his farmer's market locations in chicagoland to purchase authentic native plants (as opposed to the cultivars found at traditional nurseries)

  prairie moon nursery

  order now for the 2003 season!

  Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie

  a prairie reserve in illinois, open for visitors

  us dept of agriculture - nrcs "Backyard Conservation"

  an excellent reference on how to create natural areas in your backyard

  national wildlife federation - backyard wildlife habitat program

  certify your yard as a wildlife habitat by meeting some basic criteria

  chicago botanic garden - illinois' best plants

  a searchable database of plants suited to illinois gardens

{ back to the early garden }