Garden Management | Lurie Garden

The Challenges and Rewards of Mapping the Naturalistic Garden

Design Narrative, Ecological Horticulture, Garden Design, Garden Design Elements, Garden Management, Garden Update, Gustafson Guthrie Nichol, How-To Lurie Garden, Lurie Garden's Story, Piet Oudolf, Pollinators

Maps that are rich in detail help us communicate the complexity and evolution of our dynamic garden. Lurie Garden is intended to be an ever-changing, dynamic planting. The evolving relationships between plant groups and their role in the overall design requires constant monitoring as well as deep historical and horticultural knowledge unique to this place. […]

Cutting Back on the Cut-back

Climate Change, Ecological Horticulture, Garden Management, Garden Update, Pollinators, Wildlife

The mowing down of the garden in spring used to be straightforward – a crew would ride mulching mowers around the garden to make a clean palette for the anticipated crocus and tulips. While Lurie Garden’s first priority is maintaining the garden’s design beauty and accessibility for visitors, it also strives to increase its ecological […]

How to Maintain the Initial Vision of a Landscape in the Midst of its Evolution

Climate Change, Design Narrative, Ecological Horticulture, Garden Management, Garden Update, Gustafson Guthrie Nichol, Landscape Architecture, Lurie Garden's Story, Piet Oudolf

The initial vision of a constructed space can be maintained as it evolves if the original creators remain involved to help steer changes. Landscapes in public spaces evolve through multiple influences. A site’s mission, funding, or management can shift this evolution. Community needs may dictate a site’s alteration as well as ever-growing environmental changes and updates […]

In Need of Sanctuary—The Monarch Butterfly

Citizen Science, Ecological Horticulture, Garden Management, Pollinators, Wildlife

Every story of migration starts with an epic journey of how beings get from one place to another. It can be an easy journey or a tough one depending on the obstacles that await them along the way. The symbolism of the monarch butterfly is personal to many because of its unique behavior and migratory […]

Breaking Ground: The Influence of Piet Oudolf’s Perennial Gardens

Ecological Horticulture, Garden Design Elements, Garden Management, Gustafson Guthrie Nichol, Landscape Architecture, Lurie Garden's Story, Piet Oudolf

When one enters Chicago’s Lurie Garden or New York’s High Line, it is clear these are not traditionally cultivated gardens, nor are they prairies, woodlands, or meadows, where composition is left to the whims of natural forces. Rather, they are composed and curated landscapes that evoke a site’s ecological past, celebrate the best attributes of […]

Is this a Weed? Garden Invaders, Welcome Guests and Photo-bombers

Ecological Horticulture, Garden Management, How-To Lurie Garden, Weeds

Weeds are simply plants out of place, and not all need to be removed. When deciding a weed’s fate, a gardener must consider, among other factors, the weed species, its location within the garden, and the weed’s potential function for its location. We are taught a garden should be weed-free and that each weed not pulled […]