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Native plant gardens are oases of nature in Chicago’s urban neighborhoods. According to the Chicago Botanic Garden, native plants are essential to the web of life that evolved in our region, including birds, insects, and microorganisms in the soil. The residents who cultivate native plant gardens often plant milkweed, which supports Monarch butterflies, and deep-rooted grasses that resist drought and absorb more stormwater than turfgrass.
Native plant gardens are valuable to people too. Tending native plants is a great way to get outside and experience nature close to home. Native plant gardens also support many beautiful flowers that can be enjoyed by anyone and serve as reminders of our region’s true nature.
Despite their many advantages, native plant gardens are not allowed in the City of Chicago. Gardens that support native plants taller than 10 inches are often ticketed and mowed down with little or no warning. Enforcement of Chicago’s weeds ordinance against native plant gardeners prevents many residents from growing native plants at all or experiencing the physical and psychological benefits they provide.
Many nongovernment partners – Openlands, Field Museum, Morton Arboretum, Illinois Environmental Council, and Blacks In Green – have worked with the City’s Department of Streets and Sanitation to brainstorm ways to legalize native plant gardens. As a result of these talks, Alderman Hopkins is introducing an ordinance to create a native plant garden registry. Gardens on this new registry will not be ticketed or mowed by City agencies. This is an important step in a longer process of making native plant gardens more numerous throughout Chicago.
Residents of Chicago, please ask your Alder to support Alderman Hopkins’s Native Plant Registry ordinance by completing the form on this page. Thank you!
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Trees are important to Chicago. They shade our parks, beautify our streets, absorb stormwater, and make buildings more comfortable. But these benefits do not come freely – dedicated members of City government, nongovernment partners, and thousands of volunteers care for the City’s trees. Together, we have established an urban forest that shades 19% of Chicago.
Natural and man-made threats are overwhelming our ability to sustain Chicago’s public trees. Trees face growing threats from pests like the emerald ash borer, diseases like oak wilt and Dutch elm, and increasingly extreme weather. Additionally, funds to prune trees and plant new ones have been constrained, while removals of healthy trees have actually increased. This leaves Chicago’s trees in a precarious place – in the path of devastating natural threats without the political support or financial resources to sustain them.
We hope to a create a resilient urban forest in Chicago by establishing an Urban Forestry Advisory Board. This Board will bring together agency heads, arborists, community leaders, and elected officials to discuss ways to better care for the City’s public trees. It will identify opportunities to supplement public with private funds, coordinate partners’ efforts, and recommend needed changes to City laws. We need for your help to pass the city ordinance (O2020-3651) that creates this Board.
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This advocacy alert is only open to residents of Chicago, but you can still speak up for the Environment in many ways. Visit Openlands.org/Advocacy to view our other active campaigns.
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Thank You
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