Helpful info on recycling, plantings

Thanks for an unusually helpful couple of essays in the HomesSaturday section on June 2. Bev Bennett’s informative advice on recycling household goods instead of adding to expensive landfills may remind us of the controversy going on now as landfills south of the city of Chicago fill up.

I especially welcome Dawn Klingensmith’s information on low-maintenance and native plantings for yards, as I’m planting an area this season in my own yard. I have happy childhood memories from the 1940s and 1950s of neighborhood children playing games on the lawns, but times have changed and American children today are busy playing organized team sports. Our park districts and school systems require more and more playing fields and gymnasia with indoor courts.

At the same time, our suburban towns are plagued with flooding in this area’s occasional heavy rainstorms. Flooding will only become worse as we lose mature ash trees to the borer epidemic. Yards planted with native shrubs, perennials and grasses such as buffalo grass can both weather the volatile northern Illinois climate — including its droughts and floods — and absorb more water during thaws and rainstorms.

The noninvasive exotics and ornamentals you love, and your vegetable garden if you have enough sun, can prosper alongside them. Add a rain barrel, and you should have water to maintain the tomatoes through a dry week.

Edna E Heatherington

Glen Ellyn