How does Des Plaines seniors' garden grow? On public land

Tending to a communal garden for 15 years takes a lot of time, sweat and money.

Just ask Des Plaines residents Irma Lehmann and Peggy Losik, who had been planting native flowers and bushes along a 40-yard stretch of their Mill Run condominium complex's eastern property line.

They stopped this spring, when they realized their actions to improve their surroundings constituted encroachment of what is actually Cook County Forest Preserve District land.

"Every day we are looking for a summons in our mailbox," said Losik, a registered nurse.

Where once weeds - invasive plants such as poison ivy and garlic mustard - crept, the women helped cultivate native species such as coneflowers, wild phlox, black-eyed Susan and Joe-Pye weed. They replaced the harsh soil with plant friendly dirt and added mulch.

"I think the forest preserve should be very happy with that," said Lehmann, who is retired. "We cleaned out the poison ivy. We hope we can keep going to maintain the garden."

Losik said once the land was cleared many of the native plants came up on their own. "Before we started this, we had no birds or butterflies," she added.

Initially, the women began planting along the edge of the complex parking lot and moved further inward after major flooding in 2008 swelled the Des Plaines River, engulfing a ravine-like area just east of their stretch of garden.

The women also cleaned up debris after the flooding and rid the area of discarded tires and trash.

"They (the forest preserve) were never going to come or do anything about this so why couldn't we clean it up?" Losik said. "It was never from day one clear to us where our property ends and theirs began. Sometimes in the summer, the weeds would be as tall as me - 5 foot, 1 inch."

Yet, a complaint from a neighbor to the county has effectively put an end to their gardening activities, Cook County Forest Preserve District Spokesman Steve Mayberry said.

The women won't be cited for violating forest preserve rules, he said, nor will they have to pay a fine. But they will have to cease all gardening operations.

"We can't allow them to keep doing this," Mayberry said. "You cannot encroach on forest preserve land. We can't say it's OK in one place and somehow not OK in others. We are simply enforcing the ordinances and have been thoughtful about how we approach this."

In the grand scheme of things, what these women did, though a violation of forest preserve district policies, was not egregious.

"If what you want to do is to keep an area clean," he said, "that is something that we will work with you. We honestly believe they thought they were doing the right thing. We would love to see them join our Preserve Keepers Corps."

The volunteer corps is the umbrella group under which more than 9,000 forest preserve volunteers perform a variety of activities, he said.

Losik said she and Lehmann plan to contact the volunteer corps coordinator, but the women still would like to know how much of their garden is going to be affected.

"We still don't have any clear boundary definition so we hope that we can find that out at some point in time," she said.

Mayberry said the existing native plants in the garden can stay, but nonnative species will be pulled out. Forest preserve district staff members will be surveying the area to determine what's native and what's not, he added.

"It's incumbent upon us to make sure that there's no new nonnative species being introduced," Mayberry said. "That is so heartbreaking," Lehmann said. "If they take out things, we would want to be prepared to relocate them. They cannot do that to us. That is our money."

Without care and attention, Lehmann and Losik fear their beloved garden will turn into a jungle.

"It's going to turn into a big garbage dump," she said. "They have so many invasive species that are killing the good plants out."

So far, no one from the forest preserve district has contacted the women personally about quitting their gardening. The neighbor, who they said had a dispute with them over storing gardening supplies, announced the complaint at a condo board meeting, they said. At that point, they stopped work.

"We just decided that we probably better wait," Losik said.

To volunteer with the forest preserve, call (773) 631-1790. For more information on the Preserve Keepers Corps, visit fpdccvolunteers.org/roles keepers.html.