The Pocket Prairie

The Pocket Prairie' is a rectangular, ~330 sq ft parcel located on the south parkway of the 2300 block of W Winona St in Chicago's Lincoln Square neighborhood, on the city's north side. Starting in early 2021, my design purpose was to dramatically transform the near-lunar landscape of barren, compacted & contaminated urban soil into a biodiverse microcosm of Illinois' native prairiescapes. The parcel is now home to over 50 native perennial prairie plants including a Red Elderberry shrub and a Burr Oak tree, which is the keystone native species towering in the geometric middle. This micro-prairie is a 2022 Chicago Excellence In Gardening Award (CEGA) winner.

I have informally donated The Pocket Prairie as an 'extension natural resource' for nearby Amundsen High School (AHS), where I serve as a parent-volunteer and one of three Co-Sponsors of the AHS Seeds of Change Club. The Pocket Prairie is a primary source of native seeds from which the Club members collect, clean, cold-stratify and propagate into native seedlings for planting on the AHS campus and for the Club's community native plant sale which is an annual fundraiser.