Oak Park Garden Center

06/12/2026

I’m late in posting this, but please know: if the heat index exceeds 95 degrees, we close to protect our customers and employees. No sale is worth risking your health. Stay healthy. Stay cool.❤️

04/19/2026

It’s getting chilly, but spring is happening at Oak Park! We love this time of year!!

04/17/2026

Hey, pond peeps! We are starting to get in plants and fish! Water Hyacinths will wait a week or so.

04/12/2026

Just sayin’

04/11/2026

The plants are coming! The plants are coming! New shipments daily!

04/11/2026

Have you seen the National Geographic series, ‘Secrets of the Bees”? It is wonderful and gives such an appreciation for these little gals.

03/27/2026

🌿 We’re Hiring! 🌿
Looking for a job where you can work outdoors and get hands-on working with with plants? Join our team at our landscaping nursery!
No experience? No problem—we’re happy to train the right people.
We’re looking for motivated individuals who:
✅ Enjoy working outside
✅ Like working with plants and fish
✅ Are dependable and ready to work
✅ Are eager to learn new skills
If this sounds like you, stop in and fill out an application. We’d love to meet you!
Join our team and grow with us 🌱

03/03/2026

02/16/2026

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1CGSrpU2PN/?mibextid=wwXIfr

A "clean" yard with no trees looks open and low-maintenance… but for birds, it's a wasteland with no cover, no nesting sites, and no food.

A single ornamental tree is better than nothing. But one tree supports a fraction of the species that a layered canopy does — because different birds need different heights.

Warblers forage in upper canopy. Robins and thrushes want mid-level branches. Wrens and towhees stick to low shrubs and understory. Remove a layer, and you lose the species that depend on it.

The fix is easier than people think:

Keep what you have. A mature oak or maple already supports hundreds of insect species — which means food for dozens of bird species. Removing a healthy tree erases decades of habitat in one afternoon.

Add one understory tree. A native dogwood, serviceberry, or redbud under a taller tree fills the mid-canopy gap most yards are missing.

Mix deciduous and evergreen. Evergreens give winter shelter when deciduous trees drop their leaves. One holly, cedar, or spruce changes winter survival odds dramatically.

Let dead branches stay (when safe). Woodpeckers, chickadees, and nuthatches need dead wood for nesting cavities. A standing snag is a high-rise apartment.

Plant berry producers. Winterberry, elderberry, and native viburnums feed migrating birds when insects are gone.

Skip heavy crown-thinning. Dense canopy is the point — thinning for "more light" often removes exactly the cover birds need.

One mature tree supports more life than an entire lawn