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June 29, 2011

Village of Bartlett - Ignorance 2011

I arrived home from work today to find that the deed had been done. The entire parkway in front of my house had been mowed to about 2 inches high. It also looks like they raked up all the plant material. It is a terrible sight. Click on the picture to see a before and after.

If that paragraph looks familiar, that is because I am telling the same story that I told almost exactly one year ago. Nothing has changed for the Village of Bartlett. I once again went and patiently explained the benefits of the native plants that filled the parkway in front of my house. I showed a picture of the lovely blooming flowers that adorned the space. I indicated that after last year's mowing, the parkway was infested with thistles and dandelions, which I graciously weeded on behalf of the Village. None of that mattered as ignorance prevailed once again and the parkway was cleared.

I hear stories from people that live in other Chicago suburbs where native plant gardens are not persecuted. They tell me that I should go and live there. I will not give up the hope that someday reason will take hold and those too foolish to understand why my garden is the better choice, will suddenly come to their senses. I am not trying to force anyone else to plant the same as I do. I just want to be left alone to do my part for the environment.

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Gloria wrote at 2011-09-04 09:58:

I'm curious about the mowing, is it just the one time a year that it is done? Are the grasses coming back better or the forbs? Aromatic aster is a short aster that a spring/early summer would not hurt and a short grass of local source is Leiberg's Panic grass and an early spring cream baptisia that would not produce seed if mowed that early but would flower and get wider each year. It stays low to the ground. I'm looking for more information on which plants could do well in public strips like your parkway so if you keep track of this sort of information it would be helpful to see here on your journal. Love the pictures and your dedication...Gloria

Gloria wrote at 2011-09-04 10:03:

I was thinking to that if you just keep tossing seed out there each winter from the rest of the garden, you might develope a nice prairie sod over time that works with the mowing. Of course if they mow several times that would be harder.

Don Zouras wrote at 2011-09-10 09:50:

Based on the past two years, the Village is mowing twice per summer. This year they did it at the end of June and then just recently in the beginning of September. The mowing is brutally short and they rake up all of the plant material leaving a barren open space. After the first mowing, the wild petunias and the purple love grass came back, but it took over a month. There were signs of life from some other grasses and forbs as well. Unfortunately they are all gone after the September mowing. The only things that will recover this late in the season will be the weeds.

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