2021 Award Recipients
Illinois Extension honors the Sand Ridge Nature Center Garden Team for their efforts in the Cook South Suburban Master Gardener (MG) Program.
MG Team Members: Mack Budzowski, Monica Gonzalez, Carmen Holmes, Tom Lyons, Paul Schultz, Marilynn Thompson, Nancy Thorson and Phyllis Warsen
Sand Ridge Nature Center (SRNC) Garden Team devotes their time to managing a Northeast Illinois native garden, dune garden, butterfly garden, allium plot, container garden and herb garden. The gardens are located at the partnership site of Forest Preserves of Cook County (FPCC) in South Holland, IL. serving a high African American population. The goal of the project is to demonstrate to visitors that home gardeners can support wildlife in something as small as a container to as large as a front landscape. The onion and herb plots demonstrate that edibles can be grown in harmony with deer, which are overabundant in South Holland. Plants are labeled and FPCC staff utilize the gardens during their scheduled tours and hikes.
A team goal is to recruit additional MG volunteers to help with the various gardens. The four gardens encompass a large amount of space, totaling over 2500 square feet. With this much ground to cover, more assistance is needed. However, that is not the only reason this team wants to recruit. The MG team wishes to be more inclusive of new volunteers. Their recruitment efforts include presenting slides on the SRNC garden during the MG training and speaking to visitors about becoming MGs helping us to diversify our volunteer representation.
SRNC Garden Team had to brainstorm on how to deal with the deer population getting into the garden spaces. The team met numerous times to determine how the pioneer garden that once featured Native American crops could be upgraded to combat the deer problem. The team researched crops and native plants not favored by deer and came up with a native plant list along with onion family crops and herbs. A design was made, and new onion plot was built along with the pizza garden being converted to an herb wheel garden. Native plants were added to existing native beds to lengthen and increase the number of blooms in order to support pollinators. Since the implementation of the garden improvements, plant life has been thriving.
Like clockwork this MG team works tirelessly every Tuesday morning rain or shine to complete work in the demonstration gardens. Visitors are encouraged to stop by the gardens on Tuesdays during the growing season to gain knowledge from the Master Gardeners.
To learn more about the Master Gardener training and volunteer certification program please contact Margaret Burns-Westmeyer, at mburnswe@illinois.edu
