Featured Projects

Wadsworth

Two Acres of Turf Grass Turned Native

We have worked with the owner of this two acre property for over five years now, doing native seeds and live plants to reduce the turf grass and fill the land with natives.

We also rescued an ancient oak on the property by removing the invasive trees growing underneath it, which borrowed the view of the corn field next door.

Over five years
Two acres
Turf to native plants

More from Wadsworth

Nine more from the same property, five years into the conversion.

Border collies on a stone seat beside restored prairie and savanna — The prairie five years on

Wild bergamot in full bloom in restored prairie — Wild bergamot

Butterfly milkweed in orange bloom in restored prairie — Butterfly milkweed

Native prairie plants including blue false indigo — Blue false indigo coming in

Monarch caterpillar feeding on a milkweed bud — Monarch caterpillar on milkweed

Black swallowtail butterfly resting on prairie vegetation — Black swallowtail

Bumblebee feeding on a native yellow wildflower — Bumblebee at work

Red milkweed beetle on a milkweed leaf — Red milkweed beetle

A border collie running through tall restored prairie grass — Tall grass, five years in

Prescribed burn moving through an oak woodland in Lake County, Illinois

Prairie Crossing, Grayslake

Prairie Crossing Named Us Environmental Manager

Prairie Crossing is one of the first and largest conservation subdivisions in Illinois. In March its homeowners association appointed Eubanks Environmental as Environmental Manager on an annual contract.

Every prescribed burn on the property now runs through us, common acreage and individual lots alike, along with the invasive species program. David personally leads the volunteers who help burn the prairies and wetlands.

Annual contract
Common areas and private lots
Volunteer burn crews

Pictured: a prescribed burn on one of our Lake County sites.

A vernal pond holding spring water in an oak and hickory flatwoods — Pictured: a vernal pond in restored woodland on one of our Lake County sites.

Green Oaks

Fourteen Acres of Rare Oak Flatwoods

The Dennis Dorsey Conservation Area is fourteen acres of village owned oak and hickory flatwoods, with rare vernal ponds full of blue spotted salamanders, rare wildflowers and wildlife.

David was hired as the consulting ecologist twelve years ago and works alongside dedicated homeowners next to the site. The area is named for a beloved Village of Green Oaks public works official who passed of ALS.

Twelve years
Village owned
Rare vernal ponds

A finished paver patio and stone retaining wall on a residential property — Pictured: a finished paver patio and retaining wall from our hardscape work.

Lake Villa

A Full Property Build Near Druce Lake

A residential project near Druce Lake that finished planting this summer.

Finished this summer

Decks, bluestone and flagstone patios
Ledge stone steps and retaining walls
Raised timber vegetable beds
Custom picket fencing by our master carpenter
Specialty garden fencing
Boulder placement and native plantings

The Work Itself

Photographs from our sites across Lake County and the north suburbs. These are grouped by the kind of work they show rather than tied to any one property.

Prescribed fire

Fire is how prairie, savanna and wetland are meant to be maintained. We run burns for homeowners associations, villages and private properties.

Burn crew in protective gear working a line of fire through dry prairie — Burn crew working the fire line

Prescribed fire burning along the edge of open water at dusk — Fire along a wetland edge

Crew member conducting a prescribed burn in an open woodland — Burning in open woodland

Prairie and native planting

Turf and bare ground converted to native prairie, then left to fill in over several seasons.

Dense native prairie in full bloom with black eyed susans and asters — Established prairie in bloom

Restored prairie with native wildflowers along a roadside — Roadside prairie planting

A field of yellow native wildflowers in full summer bloom — Summer bloom on a restored field

Young native planting with black eyed susans establishing among new trees — A planting filling in

Native prairie planting maturing along a residential street — Prairie along a residential street

Restored open woodland with native understory plantings beneath mature trees — Woodland understory restored

Shoreline and water

Boulder placement, erosion control and native shoreline planting on lakes and ponds.

Crew setting boulders along an eroding shoreline — Setting shoreline boulders

Finished stone shoreline with native grasses and wildflowers at the water's edge — Finished shoreline planting

Flagstone patio meeting a boulder edged pond — Patio meeting the water

Pond with lily pads edged by placed boulders — A finished pond edge

Newly planted native plugs along a restored stream bank — New planting on a stream bank

Woodland and wetland restoration

Clearing invasive brush, then bringing back the ground layer that belongs underneath.

Cleared and seeded woodland slope after invasive brush removal — Cleared and seeded slope

Restored woodland with erosion matting after clearing — Woodland after clearing

Erosion control matting installed on a graded woodland slope — Erosion matting on a slope

Stonework and hardscape

Patios, steps, walls and fire pits, built to sit inside a native landscape rather than on top of it.

Crew laying an irregular flagstone walkway — Laying a flagstone walkway

Circular flagstone patio set into a freshly planted bed — Flagstone patio in a new bed

Detail of a finished paver patio surface — Paver detail

What it brings back

The point of all of it. Native plants bring back the insects and wildlife that depend on them.

Eastern tiger swallowtail butterfly feeding on a purple coneflower — Swallowtail on coneflower

Monarch caterpillar feeding on a milkweed leaf — Monarch caterpillar on milkweed

Common buckeye butterfly resting on a spike of purple native flowers — Common buckeye butterfly

Blue flag iris in bloom — Blue flag iris

Spiderwort flower with rain droplets on its petals — Spiderwort after rain

Blue false indigo in flower among prairie grasses — Blue false indigo

Crews and volunteers

Most of this work happens with people on the ground, staff and volunteers both.

Crew in high visibility gear clearing invasive brush in a winter woodland — Winter brush clearing

Volunteers carrying buckets while collecting prairie seed beside a pond — Collecting prairie seed

Worker applying herbicide with a backpack sprayer in dense vegetation — Targeted invasive control

Since 1993

Leading Volunteer Crews Since 1993

Leading volunteers is a staple skill set, group after group, dating back to 1993.

1993 to 1995 Cook County Forest Preserves Steward for Indian Road Woods, working alongside a home school group for several years.

Monthly, ongoing Libertyville Township Open Space Workday leader for the past seven years, on the second Saturday of every month. Cutting buckthorn and invasive brush, collecting prairie seed for other Township sites, planting native trees and shrubs, and training volunteers to herbicide safely toward state permit certification.

Since March Prairie Crossing Leading the resident volunteers who help burn the prairies and wetlands across the community.