Parklet and side garden get make-overs in Logan Square!

In the foreground is Sarah W, necessary & sufficient coffee Sustainability Lead, and in the background is Nick, architect of our gardens and native plantings.

We’re thrilled at how the new plantings turned out in our Logan Square garden and parklet. Our neighbor, Nicholas Conde, initiated the new native plantings in the Logan Square parklet and the side garden this month. it was a beautiful day and we had a total of 10 community volunteers helping! (I love this community!)

We sat down with Nick to get to interview him.

Can you tell us what you do for your day job?

I’m an oncology program lead, and I work on the research and development of experimental molecules to treat advanced cancer before they reach their first clinical patient.

How long have you lived in Logan Square and what do you love about it?

I’ve lived in Logan Square for over 10 years now. I love the community here, and recently moved closer to Wrightwood & Monticello. I love the stretch of business on your block and frequent them many weekend mornings.

What are some of the local projects you’ve done in Logan Square and how have they turned out?

My proudest work locally is a stretch of Lyndale street between Kedzie & Sacramento that includes city parkways, utility areas, and multiple residential gardens. This area recently won the 2023 Chicago Excellence in Gardening awards, and houses dozens of Chicago ecotype native plants. It provides color, texture, and nature to the neighborhood and is an example of local plants thriving in stressed environments. Most importantly, it’s a beautiful way to show love to my neighbors and community.

How did your interest in landscape design start and how has it developed up to now?

I’ve always sketched gardens and marveled at the natural architecture of plants. About 5 years ago I began volunteering in ecological restoration with the North Branch Restoration Project and the Forest Preserve District of Cook County. I now lead large volunteer workdays restoring Miami Woods & Prairie and other high quality natural areas in cook county. This drew me to start designing new areas within the city to exhibit some of our rare, resilient, and beautiful native Chicago species focusing on those that are rare in nature.

What other projects are you working on that you’re excited about?

I’m most excited for some of my work in Chicago and Denver to fully mature, and to seek more inspiration at local nature preserves this year. I’ve been receiving more requests for garden design this year that I’ll be planting, but I’m excited for much larger future projects I’ve been sketching as well.

How did you get involved in the parklet plantings at necessary & sufficient coffee LGNSQ?

I love your corridor of Wrightwood and reached out to the staff and ownership of necessary & sufficient to help. Through building similar raised gardens with the students at Linne Elementary School, I learned there is a particular subset of our native plant species that thrives in the stresses of street planters. I’m excited to collaborate with necessary & sufficient to exhibit this biodiverse design for use in more parklets/people spots around the city.

Tell us more about the plantings going in and the decisions behind them.

Raised planters in Chicago are exposed to everything from frost heave in winter, to flood in spring, and drought in the height of summer. This most closely mimics alvar ecosystems, which this design borrows plant species from using local ecotypes of those species. Alvar grasslands are thin layers of soil on exposed limestone bedrock around the Great Lakes, and they support a special set of prairie like plants that thrive in a stressed environment. These plants are also some of our most beautiful, and can be used artistically.

What are some simple ways, or resources for our neighbors to get started in sustainability if they’re interested?

Volunteering in cook county forest preserves and planting local ecotype native plants in your community! The resilience of nature around us is amazing, and often just needs a little help from us to thrive and support more life.