How a Community Survey Planted the Seeds for a Native Garden in Rogers Park

Shortly after the New Year, I was walking around my neighborhood and was surprised to see that the Galaxy’s Hedge Garden was gone, bowling ball planets included. Everything was gone, just bare soil. I was sad to see this. The garden had brought delight to many.

After posting in local Facebook groups asking about its fate, I was told that the originator of the garden had moved to another state and that the steward who had taken it over no longer had the capacity. I thought it was the perfect location for another native garden, but I knew how much the neighbors had loved the previous version. And maybe there was someone who felt strongly about taking over the care of the corner. So I thought I’d ask folks what they wanted and see if it aligned with my ideas. I put together a survey that I sent to many, wrote about on this site, and put up posters nearby with a QR code leading to the survey.

Now, two months later, 20 people have taken the survey, and I’ve compiled the results. There were some common themes, the most common one being native flowers. So I’ve decided to take on the stewardship of this corner to create a native garden. I will be reaching out to those who took the survey and expressed interest to put together a plan of action. I can’t wait to see what the future brings to this corner!

Question 1 – Where do you live in relation to the corner?

Question 2 – How do you interact with this corner?

Question 3 – What would you like to see at the corner garden?

Little free library
Native plants and/or vegetables
Plants/flowers
Native plants, preferably decorative grasses or evergreen
Plants, perhaps a small sculpture or natural element (rock, wood). the bowling balls were an interesting border. It should need as little care as possible (perennials)
Fairies garden – couple of tiny sculptures, with some bonsai trees and tiny houses.
I’d love to see something that’s compelling to kids (my daughter loved the ATAT that was there before). Something like a fairy garden or another action figure garden like the one that was there before would be neat. A lot of kids walk past there on the way to the park.
Sunchokes, cone flowers, or goldenrod
I liked the fun and originality the last steward brought, AND I’m fine with the focus just being on beauty and lushness.
Native plants if possible arranged in a visually pleasing way
Rocks, marbles, tiles, non living things. A design
Native plantings!
native pollinators would be great, also lovely to grow plants that seeds can be harvested and then replanted/distributed
Flowers, bushes, a sculpture, a fun toy basket for giveaways, food, a place to sit
CONEFLOWERS-HIBISCUS-BUTTERFLY BUSH-DAISIES…STURDY=COLORFUL=FORGIVING…
Color from flowers or art.
Native pollinators
Well, I’d like it to be attractive. I’ve really enjoyed some of the corner dioramas in Rogers Park which incorporate plants and 3-D figures with a theme. But these must take a lot of creativity to plan and a bunch of work to keep up. The one I am thinking of, at the corner of Newgard and Northshore Aves, changes each season. I walk by it when I pick up my grandaughter at Kilmer. Also, I would be satified with a nice arrangement of plants and ground cover.
in my opinion, it would be nice to have a couple of good looking boulders granite or such) with seasonal flowers between them. Having boulders helps to prevent dogs to pee on the flowers. An example can be found on the north corner of Fargo and the alley near 1330 Fargo.
Pollinator-friendly plants. We need more of them!

Question 4 – What would you NOT want to see at the corner garden?

Bowling balls
Annual flowers
Plastic
nothing from video games or action figures
I don’t think we need another purely decorative garden. If it is going to be just plants, I’d prefer to see native plants with pollination sources for the insects.
Non-native plants
Wood chips and cactus
Messy tall plants or plants that won’t thrive there in relation with the amount of sun light it gets.
Flowers… Unless they are fake
plain old mulch.
accumulating trash, mint, morning glories..anything invasive and non-native (non-native fine if not invasive)
Garbage, dog poop
UNTENDED GARDENING ATTEMPTS…
Another boulder for dogs to pee on.
annuals or a large public art piece
Plain dirt, asphalt, too many plastic items.
wilted flowers
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Question 5 – How often would you visit the garden?

Question 6 – What time of day would you most likely visit the garden?

Question 7 – Would you be interested in participating in the garden?

Question 8 – How often would you be willing to help with garden maintenance?

Question 9 – How important are the following features for the garden?

1st – Tied – Native plants and Pollinator/wildlife-friendly plants/Wild life corridor
2nd – Tied – Public art works and Rainwater collection
3rd – Tied – Plant signage or educational elements and Little Free Library
4th -Tied – Interactive elements (e.g., community boards, games, etc.) and Stick library for dogs
5th – A designated boulder for dogs to pee on
6 – Poo bags and bag collection area

Question 10 – Are you interested in creating a corner garden of your own?

Question 11 – Any additional thoughts or ideas for the garden? Or suggestions on a name for the corner garden?

Books!!
How about naming it after our late neighbor Helen Long Carlock?
Thanks for taking over the garden! They’re going to pee on something regardless : ) Public art not important to me personally. I’m happy with Mother Nature, but not opposed to art. I think all the Becovic buildings have stations so there seems to be plenty up and down the street. No clue on a name 🙂 Thanks again for taking this on….
I think it’s more important to have local garbage cans which the city actually picks up. When I lived in Hyde Park, there were places in our parks where you could place old plastic bags for dog owners. This helped us reuse the bags and gave people what they needed.
Keep it simple to maintain with natural elements.
https://pin.it/4WSvMWlj6 ; https://pin.it/VCckiLSVu ; https://pin.it/KqBojyYln
For naming: maybe something Vivian Maier related, since I think she lived very close to the garden in the later years of her life.
I would love to join someone while gardening! Let’s take over ever corner in RP
Thank you for being so thoughtful about this process! Excited to see what you create ❤
A little house for bees made with natural materials
Letting it non living would be easier, I would hope
Thank you for being so thoughtful about this!
I think that there are city rules for little free libraries
The Enchanted Corner, The Peace Corner
GOOD TO SEE OTHERS GETTING THE ‘PLAY IN THE DIRT’ BUG…REMEMBER PROTECTION FROM DOGS, KIDS AND JERKS WITH ONE OF EACH…
I am very excited to see what you are going to do here. I also really appreciate it. It can be hard work. I truly want to thank you for doing this.
I think it is great that you are doing this – and approaching it with so much thought and planning.
The tall milkweed plants of different colors in the middle, tall grasses (maiden, feather reed, fountain, etc.), may be coneflower of different colors…
Thanks for this!
I would suggest native plants being mindful of height so drivers can see but with any kind of whimsical characters like those that were there before. An idea for a theme could be “Rooted in Community, Growing with Unity” maybe? Thank you for looking at this, I hope you can do something with it!
I would plant whatever as long as it’s under 3ft tall or whatever the rule is keep it simple, plant native plants that can tolerate that spot and that you wouldn’t care as much if it’s wrecked/peed on/vandalized. I dunno, an art thing would be cute and give me more FB posts to read. Pet pee spot. Get a cheap one. It’ll be broken eventually. But yea, a spot for ppl with a collection of plastic bags or heck, just a little trash bin, I dunno still, it’s a corner, so not a great spot So if it’s just a pee spot, that’s fine too Plants would be best tho maybe a “you can pee on me” sign for a urine-tolerant native plant