WILMETTE – Go Green Wilmette invites the community to view creative and beautifully practical gardens that can both improve the local environment and solve some perennial headaches for homeowners. Gardeners and volunteers will be on hand to answer visitors’ questions from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on July 15 during this free, self-guided tour of gardens designed to divert and conserve rainwater; provide native plant habitat that is hearty, requires little maintenance and feeds birds, butterflies and other pollinators; reduce mosquitos; grow nourishing vegetables and fruits; and create outdoor havens for the gardener.
A map of the Tour will be posted on the Go Green Wilmette website, 2 days prior to the event at: http://www.gogreenwilmette.org/.
Wilmette resident and Go Green Wilmette board member, Saima Abbasi, organizes the Sustainable Yard Tours. When she began planning her own garden in 2012, Abbasi was invited to view the gardens of friends. “The more I looked into gardening and the types of gardens that appealed to me, the more people I met who had amazing yards right here in Wilmette, “ said Abbasi when asked what inspired her to start the yard tours. “ I thought that if other people saw some of these yards, they might be inspired to start gardens as well.”
Each year Abbasi has presented an entirely new tour. “This is not a typical garden tour,” she added, “often, the features in these gardens result from a need to solve a problem, like flooding or poor soil; or from a passion for birds or butterflies, or fresh vegetables.” She added, “One of the gardens in this year’s tour was motivated by a desire to photograph birds – it’s wildly successful – the variety of birds is amazing”
Go Green Wilmette is a 501(c)(3) organization that seeks to raise environmental awareness in the Wilmette community and to inspire residents to make a difference. Go Green Wilmette works with residents, schools, the Park District, the Library, local businesses and nearby communities to achieve our goals and serves as a resource to the community and to other environmental organizations on the north shore. For more information contact Margaret Martin-Heaton at [email protected]
For additional information about the Sustainable Yard Tour and Go Green Wilmette, please see: http://www.gogreenwilmette.org/.
To read a brief discussion of the importance of native plants to our urban, suburban and rural ecosystems, see this discussion from the Audubon society: http://www.audubon.org/news/how-urban-landscapers-use-native-plants-create-habitats-wildlife
For a brief presentation of the benefits of water conservation and the use of rain barrels, see this MWRD web page: https://www.mwrd.org/irj/portal/anonymous/rainbarrel
Submitted by Go Green Wilmette
