Native Habitats

Are you dreading the thought of mowing the lawn and applying fertilizer and weed killer? Put down the gas can and consider native plant possibilities. Openlands' Native Habitats project promotes the use of plant species native to the Chicagoland area to expand plant and animal biodiversity in northeastern Illinois and the surrounding region.

What are native habitats?
Native habitats are lands planted, both in natural and formal settings, with native prairie, woodland, and wetland plants that have evolved over many thousands of years. Adapted to the specific climate, geography, soils, and animal populations of this area, native plants are generally hardier than many of their non-native, cultivated cousins and possess natural defenses to many diseases and insect pests. Native plants also have deeper root systems than typical turf and ornamental plants, preventing erosion in sensitive areas.

Benefits of native habitats
Native habitats offer a beautiful, hardy, drought-resistant, and low-maintenance landscape that provides numerous benefits to the environment:

• Native habitats provide shelter and food for a variety of birds, butterflies, mammals, and other wildlife. Closely mowed lawns are of little use to most plants and animals.
• Native habitats require NO fertilizers. Excess phosphorus and nitrogen—the main components of fertilizers—run off into lakes and rivers, causing excess algae growth that depletes oxygen in our waters, harms aquatic life, and interferes with recreational uses.
• Native habitats require fewer pesticides than lawns. Nationally, over 70 million pounds of pesticides are applied to lawns each year—the run off can contaminate rivers and lakes and make people and pets ill.
• Native habitats require less water than lawns. Modern lawns require significant amounts of water to thrive—in urban areas, lawn irrigation accounts for as much as 50% of water consumption. What’s more, the deep root systems of many native Midwestern plants actually increase the soil's capacity to store water, significantly reducing water runoff and, consequently, flooding.
• Native habitats help reduce air pollution. Gas-powered lawn mowers and garden tools emit 5% of the nation's air pollution—one gas-powered lawnmower emits eleven times the air pollution of a new car for each hour of operation. Native plants, on the other hand, sequester, or remove, carbon from the air.
• Native plants are a part of our natural heritage. Natural landscaping is an opportunity to reestablish diverse native plants, thereby inviting the birds and butterflies back home.

Openlands demonstrates its commitment to native habitats at the Openlands Lakeshore Preserve, in Lake County, where extensive efforts to restore the site’s uniquely native qualities are already well underway. The Openlands Lakeshore Preserve opens to the public this fall.

Openlands’ Native Habitats project has been funded by Clean Air Counts, a proactive, public-private initiative that solicits commitment by individuals, businesses, and communities in the six-county Chicago region to improve air quality by reducing smog-forming pollutants and energy consumption. Clean Air Counts is a collaborative effort between the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus; U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 5; Illinois Environmental Protection Agency; and the Delta Institute. Click here to learn more about joining Clean Air Counts.

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