Sustainability & Green Initiatives

Keay Nature Center, located at the corner of Skokie Boulevard and Hibbard Road, is a nature park featuring a winding path, water feature, and myriad native plants.

When visiting Keay, you will be met with a plethora of flora and fauna, including various native habitat gardens. Gardens within Keay Nature Center include rain gardens for greater water absorption and filtration, and native woodland, wetland and prairie gardens. A variety of animals can be found throughout the park. Consider checking out the pond located at the southwest end of the park to see fish, geese, ducks and more!

If you find yourself in Keay Nature Center in the spring, you can see native ephemerals such as Prairie Trillium, White Trillium Mayapples, Trout Lillies, and Virginia Bluebells. Come summertime, you will find Black-Eyed Susans, Joe-Pye weed, Goldenrods, Purple Coneflowers, Nodding Onions, Culvert’s Root, and various Milkweed and Aster species. Additionally, the tree collection at Keay features native trees such as Northern Catalpa, Red Oak, Sugar Maple, White Pine, Hackberry, and Redbud.

In 2015, the Park District secured a grant from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and The Ouilmette Foundation to establish a bird habitat in Gillson Park. In 2016, with the support of the community, over 250 volunteers and a landscape designer, they successfully planted 20,000 plants in Gillson Park, creating a welcoming haven for migrating birds.

Wilmette’s beautiful lakefront plays a crucial role for migrating birds. Over 325 bird species make round-trip flights annually utilizing the Mississippi Flyway, which comprises the Great Lakes region, to reach their breeding grounds up north. These birds travel at night, and as the sun rises, they need a spot to rest and refuel. If they find themselves over the water, finding land becomes a necessity.

Once they land, the birds require a suitable habitat with the right shelter and food. The ideal habitat provides variety in terms of height and ground litter– something that migrating bird habitats naturally offer. For sustenance, they rely on caterpillars and bugs, which thrive in areas with native plants. These caterpillars are quite selective about their diet, and only consume plant material native to the area.

To learn more about the birds traveling through our region, visit Audubon’s Bird Migration Explorer.

The Mallinckrodt gardens were initially established in the fall of 2007, when the Park District acquired the property. The garden was revitalized in 2015, when the soil was amended and supplemental plantings were added. There are a wide variety of plants at Mallinckrodt, including native species such as Black-Eyed Susans, Joe-Pye weed, Goldenrods, Purple Coneflowers, and various Milkweed species.

The Wilmette Park District offers community garden plots in two locations:

Centennial Park, adjacent to the Centennial Recreation Complex near the intersection of Old Glenview and Hibbard Roads. There are 69 plots at Centennial Park.

West Park, located at 3555 Lake Avenue. There are 85 plots at West Park.

To learn more about Wilmette Park District’s garden plots, go here

The Wilmette Golf Club employs a variety of environmentally-sustainable landscaping practices. Natural areas on the course include three acres of low/no-mow area; a one-acre bioswale; and six acres of water habitat.

Our Golf Club attempts to conserve water whenever possible. The course utilizes two 800-foot wells and a reservoir for irrigation and maintenance water. Additionally, the driving range (5 acres) is not watered in the summer to save water for more crucial areas.