Richmond Education Gardens and Apiary

The Villages of Clarendon Hills and Westmont are working together to design and develop the Richmond Education Gardens and Apiary. This new project will be located on the Village public right of way between the Clarendon Hills Public Works facility and the Downers Grove Township Highway Garage, just south of the Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) Railroad. This right-of-way is owned by both the Village of Clarendon Hills and the Village of Westmont. Once completed, the Gardens will provide a new place in our communities to promote education programs about natural and organic gardening methods and our environment.

The Gardens are being designed to include a hobbyist apiary surrounded by native vegetable, wildflower, butterfly, wall and rain gardens. Each of the elements will include a plaque with basic information and supporting website references describing these elements’ purpose and other relative educational information. The Gardens will promote the following values: access to resources, community ownership of process and product, localization, empowerment and collaboration, healthy eating, and organic and environmentally sound gardening and landscaping practices. These values will be taught through honeybee stewardship, demonstrating garden soil preparation and composting practices, using local seeds and transplants, and cultivating and growing native vegetables, wildflowers and plants at home and throughout our community.

In 2022, Kye Johnson completed her Girl Scout Gold Award Project by creating a Native Plants Brochure that assists citizens with learning about the importance of native plants, their benefits to the local ecology, and tips for planting and caring for native plants. The brochure has been published on the Village of Westmont website and can serve as a helpful resource that compliments the goal of REGA.

Visit the Richmond Gardens website for all the exciting details. For more information regarding the Richmond Gardens project, contact us via email.