Our strolling garden runs along the METRA tracks from Berwyn to Balmoral. It features trees seldom seen in the city such as Kentucky Coffee, Gingko and Paper Bark Maple. We recently added tags showing common and botanical names of our trees with a QR code you can use to read about the plant. Please take a stroll and ENJOY!
The garden is designed and maintained by community volunteers who continue to work independently or in small groups to keep the garden beautiful while observing social distancing. If you would like to get involved, please use the Contact Us form on this website. If you enjoy meandering thru West Andersonville Gardens, help us maintain this community treasure.
Visiting the Garden Carefully
· Tree Climbing - The garden is over 25 years old with trees that are stressed by age and climate change and resulting diseases. We ask all visitors to help us protect the trees from damage by not climbing or placing children in the trees. Signs have been posted as reminders.
· The Path - The narrow, winding path through the garden is an intentional design element. We are in the process of redefining the path with plants and rocks, possibly rope-staked areas. We ask that visitors help us by staying on the path as marked. Please avoid walking two abreast when someone is coming from the other direction. Go into single file until you can resume walking side by side.
· Bicycles, Scooters, and Strollers – All of these are hard on the dirt path. The garden is a designed as a ‘strolling garden.’ We ask that bicycles and scooters be walked or not used because it’s difficult for other visitors to navigate the path at the same time. It’s a strolling garden, so strollers are allowed as long as they are not wider than the path.
· Dogs – It goes without saying that owners must be in control of their dogs at all times and pick up and dispose of droppings.
· Cuttings – Please do not take cuttings from any plants. Leave the beauty for the entire community to enjoy.
· Volunteer Workdays – We advise visitors that there can be a lot of activity that includes tools, hoses, ladders, and assorted sharp objects. Please be considerate and cautious if you walk through at any time volunteers are working.
A short history of West Andersonville Gardens: the area which is now the garden was for many years a weedy trash heap. WANT organized a cleanup each spring and occasionally neighbors mowed the grass. Then a woman started planting near Berwyn. This inspired WANT members to contact Alderman O'Connor to see if the city could offer help with beautifying the space. That help came in the form of participation in the GreenCorps program. This program offered training, plants and manpower to community organizations. We were one of the very first GreenCorps gardens. Four of us spent the winter of 1995 attending classes which covered topics such as community organizing, garden design and choosing plants. We spent the spring and summer organizing folks to clean up the area and publicizing the project.
Then in September, GreenCorps arrived with truckloads of trees and shrubs and trained folks to help us plant. We supplied the community volunteers and lots of good food. Our plan was to create a strolling garden featuring trees which are seldom seen in the city such as Kentucky Coffee, Gingko and Paper Bark Maple. The number of folks who stroll through the garden each week are proof of the success of that plan!
In the 20 years since, we've had other assistance from GreenCorps and the Chicago Botanic Garden for major projects such as the trellis and raised bed at Summerdale and the benches. But our community volunteers and the support of WANT have always been and continue to be what make West Andersonville Gardens a place of beauty for all to enjoy.