The Friends of Lovelace Park are working to keep Lovelace AMAZING!
Summer 2022 at the park:
Sigrid, our Fearless Leader, has plenty of ideas for how we can keep Lovelace lovely this summer!
CLEAN UP THE GROVE – Wednesday, June 29th, 9:00 am – cleaning up the Eagle Scout project area with its ten trees and shrubs. Tasks are to pull the weeds, cut whatever old roots are sticking out, and then spread mulch. If you have them, please bring rake, shovel, gloves, and pruner (some will be available if you don’t). Please drop Sigrid a note through the web form if you can come!
WATER THE NEW TREES AND SHRUBS – the city has placed plastic bags around the new trees and shrubs. They were filled with water by the city crew last week, but this may not happen weekly as there is a tremendous staff shortage. Lets “adopt” each of the five shrubs/trees we planted (1 SE corner, 1 SW corner, 3 north side by the walk way). Just bring a gallon of water to add to the bags on the south side of the park. For plants with water bags on the north side, use the hose by the pollinator garden. For the Grove plants, just fill a bucket from the pond.
WATER THE MEADOW PLANTS – Bring a container to fill at the garden hose on the north side of the park and water the prairie/wildflower plants that are growing in the meadow. If we don’t get enough rain, these lovely plants – some of them are blooming – likely will not survive as they don’t yet have the deep enough roots.
A bit of city business- if you haven’t filled in a city Volunteer Waiver this year, you can access it here and submit online. If you’d rather fill it out old school on paper, Sigrid will always have hard copies on hand.
Trees planted in 2022:
On April 29th, Tanya Marquez and eight of her fellow zs.com employees, joined by three Friends of Lovelace volunteers, planted five trees. Our new arboreal park residents include an American Yellow Wood, a Redbud, and veritable rainbow of Serviceberry varieties. The trees were graciously donated by zs.com employees and Natural Habitat Evanston. Thanks go to everyone involved for this beautiful investment in our park and our planet!
Want more trees and flowers at Lovelace? Donate now!
We’d love to replace even more of the trees we’ve lost along the perimeter of the park in recent years and add more flowers to the pollinator garden, but these things cost money.
Thanks to Natural Habitat Evanston, you can now make a tax deductible donation to make that happen!
Natural Habitat Evanston will collect donations for the Friends of Lovelace and pass it along directly to the City of Evanston Parks and Recreation for purchase of city-approved trees and plants at Lovelace.
100% of your donation goes to purchase the trees and plants (minus the Paypal fee, if you choose that convenience).
To donate, visit https://naturalhabitatevanston.org/donate and be sure to type “Lovelace” in the text box below the donation amount.
A HUGE thank you to our like-minded friends at Natural Habitat Evanston for facilitating the purchase of trees and plants to further enhance our lovely Lovelace Park!
Lovelace Meadow- Saved!!
A message from our fearless leader, Sigrid:
A big THANK YOU to all who contacted City Officials about the possibility of creating the Lovelace Meadow.
From Emily Okallau “We were never against this project (in fact, I’ve always thought it was a great idea), it was only a matter of understanding how we would be able to implement it within the constraints that we have. We are ordering a native seed mix (with about a dozen species) that is best suited for average soil moisture conditions. We plan to reseed and overseed over the next couple of years, so we can add more dry or wet species depending on what we observe.”
Please send a Thank You Note to Emily, eokallau@cityofevanston.org and Stephen, swalker@cityofevanston.org and to let them know how grateful we are for making this happen.
The Native Plant Pollinator Garden Project
This Friends of Lovelace project is a stunning success thanks to all the hard work put in by our volunteer community. The garden is ablaze with color and abuzz with pollinators each summer. Pollinators aren’t the only ones visiting, either- plenty of wildlife is stopping by!
The seedheads and grasses continue to provide for wildlife through the winter as well. These areas provide shelter for rabbits. Cardinals, Blue Jays, and Goldfinches eat the Echinacea seeds all winter when foraging is challenging. 
The Lovelace Meadow Project
Our efforts to create a more natural, unmowed section of the park have been successful!! Please see above.
The area north of the sledding hill (colloquially referred to as ‘The Swamp’ by locals) consistently overflows onto the paved path and provides a view only of muddy grooves carved into the ground by the City of Evanston mowers. This area will be well served by water-thirsty native plants that can mitigate the flooding and provide habitat for birds and pollinators alike.
Soon the muddy tracks in the grass in this area will be replaced with lovely native plants and flowers. All hail the Lovelace Goddess, Sigrid, for bringing this project to life!
Free Barbless Fishing Hooks- while supplies last!
Did you know that Barbless Hooks are required when you fish at Lovelace? But no worries, Friends of Lovelace have you covered. Just drop us a note through the website contact form and we’ll make sure to get them to you. Limit two hooks per request.
Click HERE to see the winning photo in the Friends of Lovelace 2022 Photo Contest!
Our Mission Statement
We are a group of neighbors living near and enjoying this wonderful recreational resource. We are committed to enhancing the park and assisting the City’s Maintenance Crew by volunteering for the following tasks:
- Mulching the trees correctly. Click here for a diagram.
- Working with City Crew when planting new trees to select the proper spots (not in the sledding area).
- Establishing a pollinator garden to attract butterflies, bees, and other pollinators.
- Collaborating with other organizations in collecting litter and debris.
- Offering our services when needed or requested by City Crews.