‘Mini-forests’ are rare in the US. The Algonquin Garden Club is planting one in Kane County

The Algonquin Garden Club will transform a small plot of land in the Dixie Briggs Fromm Nature Preserve in Dundee Township into a “mini-forest,” the first of its kind in the area.

The club is using the so-called Miyawaki method to plant more than 200 native trees, shrubs and plants in a densely packed, 600-square-foot area to promote a fast-growing forest that will be self-sustaining.

Miyawaki forests are a relatively new idea in America, with only a handful found in Illinois.

“Not a lot are in the U.S. They’re mostly overseas,” said Cynthia Germata, the garden club president.

Planting the forest will start with a groundbreaking event open to the community from 10 a.m. to noon Oct. 25.

The local conservation effort began when the Ruthless Readers book club came to some garden club members about two years ago with the book “Mini-Forest Revolution: Using the Miyawaki Method to Rapidly Rewild the World,” Germata said.

From there, members started brainstorming how to raise money and where to plant the forest. After two years of work, the club received more than $6,000 in grants to help fund the project.

Donations include $3,500 from Nicor Gas Charitable Giving, $2,100 from The Nature Conservancy through Volunteer Stewardship Network, $250 from Espoma Organic, and $250 from Ames Tools, according to the Algonquin Garden Club. The club contributed $700.

Green Soils of East Dundee donated four loads of compost and collaborated with Wild Prairie Pickers, Dundee Township Open Space and Friends of the Dundee Natural Areas.

The Algonquin Garden Club is a nonprofit organization that has been around since 1929. The working club of 23 members maintains multiple gardens in the village, according to club member and Dundee Township Open Lands steward Carol Weinhammer.

“It’s a lot of physical work, but we’re doing it because we feel it’s very important,” she said.

Weinhammer’s property backs up to the conservation area where the mini-forest will be. She has more than 200 trees in her backyard, which will be planted during the groundbreaking event.

The future mini-forest land has been vacant since invasive buckthorn trees were cut down about six years ago, Weinhammer said. Now the land will be transformed into a home for only native plants, creating a vital habitat for local pollinators and wildlife.

“Everything we are going to plant will provide either a berry or a flower for native birds and pollinators,” she said. “It’s almost like a food forest” for birds and mammals.

Since vegetation is planted closely together, growth is expected to skyrocket. In about three years, the 2-foot-high trees may grow to be 10 feet tall.

“They will grow 10 times faster than any other trees planted in a forest because of the way they are planted,” Germata said.

The garden club still needs help from volunteers and donations to finish the project. With the forest on public land, Germata hopes visitors will stop by to see its progress.

The club plans for this to be the first of many new mini-forests in the northern Illinois area, helping to restore tree canopy coverage.

“We’re hoping more towns, more garden clubs, communities catch on to this process, because we certainly need more trees,” Weinhammer said. “And we need the right kind of trees.”

Anyone interested in volunteering can email the Algonquin Garden Club at miniforest2024@gmail.com. For information, visit algonquingardenclub.org/mini-forest-alliance.