The West Chicago Garden Club

Trees! Trees! Trees!

By Christina Covarrubias

The talk around the Kruse Garden this past winter has been trees. A failing Douglas Fir, that may or may not have been originally planted by the Kruse family, met its demise with a scheduled removal on the very last day of winter. 

When the big day arrived Kerry Perry kindly snapped photos of the tree removal so we all could see the action. An additional tree was trimmed with a moon-landing-like lift. Finally, a damaged pear tree was assessed and predicted to fall with the next big wind storm -which happened to occur that night. Does anyone recall the weather on the first day of Spring with high winds and snow? See photos of the rotted and fallen pear tree. 
Among other lovely tree specimens such as a gingko, weeping evergreen, Dawn redwood, serviceberry, redbud, oak, one pear tree remains circa Bertha and Celia Kruse era.  Picking out new trees, new species, perhaps a native or tree that borders a state further south (as our climate shifts) will be the silver lining to losing our trees.

See our Newsletter for more photos,

Our March speaker will be Amanda Thomsen. Amanda is a horticulturist, garden designer, author, and speaker. She is also owner of Aster Gardens, a small plant and garden shop in Lemont. Amanda has been working as a professional horticulturist, landscape designer and project manager for the last 20+ years. Her focus is bringing rule-breaking fun, a little kitsch and a lot of humor into an industry that is often thought of as stodgy and full of rules.

In this quirky presentation, “150 Ways to Create a Fantastic Yard Totally Tailored to You,”
Amanda is sure to give you and every gardener in the audience an idea or 15 or so. From things you never thought of to things you didn’t think you were brave enough to try- you will leave this presentation INSPIRED!

Meeting Location: St Andrew Lutheran Church (NE Corner of Prince Crossing & Geneva Road.)

Meeting Time:

• 6:45PM Arrive & Mingle
• 7:00PM Business Meeting
• 7:15PM Program

By Karen King

Intermingling, the act of combining different flower shapes, adds diversity for plants and insects alike, according to Kathryn Deery, Head Horticulturalist of Lurie Garden in Chicago. She advises planting grasses along with flowers helps diversify root types, improving soil structure for all. For example, coneflowers have long linear roots as opposed to grasses fibrous roots. 

Plant densely, using groundcover plants to cover soil until other plants mature.

Consider “temporal sequencing”. What blooms, when?

Repeating plant designs, “block planting,” throughout the space, gives continuity and cohesion and is visually restful. The “thriller, chiller, spiller” method is not just for pots. It can be the foundation for the block planting repeated throughout the space.

These design principles are evident even at this time of year at the Kruse Garden. The bones of this garden are so well thought out, even before the growing season gets going full speed, a walk through is enjoyable.

Everyone is welcome to visit and walk through Kruse Garden or come on gardening work days: Wednesdays at 9am, and 2nd Saturday of the month from 9-11:30am.

Get ideas you can use in your own garden, get to know other WCGC members, and help maintain the beautiful garden at the Kruse House.