“Pollinator Paradise” in Barton Hills

When the 1960s ranch home next door to theirs went on the market, a conservaton-minded Barton Hills couple made an unconventional decision: to buy it, tear it down, and build a wildlife garden. Three years into the project, the former front yard is a pocket prairie filled with native grasses and wildflowers, and the backyard is a mini-woodland featuring over fifteen species of native trees. Where the house once stood, tiered beds hold 1,800 square feet of pollinator plantings.

Process

The former house

Demolition and construction

Planting