Two yards will be open for you to visit between 10 am and Noon. Visit them in either order:
Yard A: 26w288 Grand Ave, Wheaton, IL 60187
Step into a garden where beauty, sustainability, and innovation grow side by side. A living example of how a yard can be both productive and regenerative while remaining deeply rooted in creativity and care for the environment.
Highlights of the tour include:
- A unique blend of native plantings and organically grown vegetables
- Raised beds designed with both sustainability and practicality in mind
- A striking bottle wall garden bed—an artistic and upcycled focal point
- An evolving landscape featuring new DIY engineering hacks and designs each year
- A rainwater and greywater reuse system for sustainable watering
- A fully functional, upcycled outdoor shower setup
- Permaculture-inspired solutions and experimental techniques throughout the space
- Seasonal changes that ensure there’s always something new to discover and learn
We hope this visit leaves you energized and full of ideas to bring home—whether it’s planting native species, reimagining household waste as building material, or simply viewing your outdoor space through a new, sustainable lens. There’s always something to discover, and endless ways to grow.
Yard B: 1826 E Willow Ave, Wheaton, IL 60187
The owners moved to their ranch home in Wheaton in June of 2016. They thought the yard and gardens were pretty, but through ignorance didn’t realize there were few native plants … until after an assessment from The Conservation Foundation. However, since then they have learned so much about growing natives. And, rather than removing all the non-native plants and shrubs, decided to add natives to the older beds and create new gardens where possible, including a rain garden.
Native trees include silver maple, chokecherry, cherry, redbud, and oak. Native shrubs include button bush, red osier dogwood, gooseberry, smooth hydrangea, black currant, swamp mallow, honeysuckle, coralberry, smooth hydrangea, New Jersey Tea, et al. Also there are prairie dropseed and prickly pear cactus, plus dozens of native plant varieties, including spring ephemerals, milkweeds, goldenrods, mints, asters, ironweed, spiderwort, great blue lobelia, cardinal flower, royal catchfly, et al.
