By: Sophia W.
Pam Karlson, a gardener, artist, and environmental activist lives in the Chicagoland area. At her house, which is located nearby the O’Hare airport where airplanes constantly fly over, she has done the unthinkable. Karlson has demonstrated that with avid care and passion for nature, transforming a seemingly unsuitable environment is possible. Her bird garden is highlighted in Douglas W. Tallamy’s new book, Nature’s Best Hope: A New Approach to Conservation that Starts in Your Yard. Over the past 16 years, she has created a small ecosystem within the city of Chicago filled with over 200 types of plants. In addition to her wide array of plants, she has documented 116 bird species!
Ever since Karlson was a young girl she has had a great love for nature which has continued to expand. She mentions, “at my core is a love for nature… when we bought our house, it was a plain backyard and I wanted to give back to the land as much as possible.” Karlson implements environmentally friendly gardening practices such as incorporating as many native plants as possible, growing seed/fruit/nectar, producing plants for various bird diets, and landscaping in “layers”- groundcovers, trees, and shrubs to provide shelter for foraging. Other animal friendly tactics include leaving some of last year's plant stems standing up along fences for native bees to live in and leaving plants up through the winter to provide food and shelter for overwintering insects. Karlson explains that it is what she is not doing that is working as well. In other words, she does not use any pesticides, lawn treatments, bark mulch, fertilizers or gas powered tools in her garden.
Karlson’s message to aspiring gardeners is to believe that they have the power to make a difference. Even creating a small habitat can help birds, butterflies, and pollinators because it gives them a vital rest place and refueling stop. City residents in many areas have challenged the notion that gardens are not able to grow in urban settings through creating balcony gardens, vertical gardens, container growing, herb gardens, and indoor gardening.
On another note, gardening is not only good for the environment but also the human soul. According to a Swedish study, researchers found a link between stress and gardening. They cited gardening as being able to reduce stress and improve mood meanwhile reducing symptoms of depression and anxiety. Since gardening is good for the Earth and soul, why not give it a try!
Discussion Questions:
Can Urban Agriculture be a solution to challenges facing the urban food supply chain amidst COVID-19?
In your opinion, what type of urban gardening technique is the most practical?
All photos taken by Pam Karlson