Learn about City of Naperville programs, services, projects and resources that help preserve and protect our natural resources.

Leave Leaves & Salt Smart: Eco-Friendly Yard Care for Fall & Winter

With cooler weather on the way, join the City and The Conservation Foundation to learn how to take an eco-friendly approach to preparing your yard for fall and winter. Hear about the benefits of leaving leaves where they fall and salting smart during winter storms; learn how to handle water in your yard, and gain new strategies to prepare for the changing seasons – all while protecting watersheds and wildlife.

Learn about The Conservation Foundation’s Conservation@Home program and how this “everyone-can-do-something” program provides free resources for those making earth-conscious choices in home landscape design.

When: 6:30 to 7:30 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 19

Where: Council Chambers at the Naperville Municipal Center, 400 S. Eagle St.

Who: Open to the public; with tips and expert advice from The Conservation Foundation

Cost: Free!

Healthy Yards and Healthy Communities

The actions we take to maintain our yards can have direct consequences for the health of our community and our rivers. These ideas and resources can help achieve a beautiful yard while also caring for the environment.

• Plant a tree. Each year, the City hosts an Arbor Day Tree Sale, in which residents can choose from a number of container-grown species including maples, oaks and elms for use in beautifying their yards and sustaining the environment.
• Replace turf grass with native and deep-rooted plants.
• Collect rainwater in a rain barrel. Order your own here.
• Use smart technology to water your lawn and garden only when it needs it. Learn how irrigation controllers can help you water more efficiently.
• Consider installing a native planting pollinator garden.
  
  
  • Learn about what is planted in the City’s pollinator garden located on the east side of the Municipal Center roof at 400 S. Eagle St..
  • Register your pollinator garden for the Million Pollinator Garden Challenge 
  • Earn a certificate for your garden through The Conservation Foundation’s Conservation@Home Program
• Create a Monarch Waystation
  • The City encourages residents to plant habitats for monarch butterflies to lay eggs. Habitats that meet criteria established by the Monarch Watch organization can become certified as a Monarch Waystation.
  • See tips for creating a Monarch Waystation

A Beautiful Yard Without Pesticides

Studies show that use of lawn chemicals can have environmental ramifications, especially for children. These chemicals potentially can contaminate surface and groundwater, affect outdoor and indoor air quality, and threaten the health of pets and wildlife. Alternative approaches include:

• Leave grass clippings on the lawn to act as a natural fertilizer.
• Overseed to fill in existing bare spots in the late summer or early fall. This approach will prevent weeds from taking over these spaces in the spring.
• Aerate your soil to facilitate healthy grass growth.
• Keep your mower blade setting at least 2-3 inches tall to allow your grass to developer deeper, more drought-resistant roots.

Have you also considered using native plants in your landscaping? Join the many homeowners who have incorporated native plants into their landscapes to create beautiful outdoor spaces, invite birds and butterflies to their yards, reduce their use of water, fertilizers and pesticides and protect our rivers.

The Conservation Foundation’s Conservation@Home program offers free advice and ideas to help eliminate chemical use, incorporate earth-friendly landscaping and create native gardens.

No Mow May

No Mow May is an increasingly popular way for homeowners to support bees and other pollinators by voluntarily delaying mowing. Naperville offered this program for the first time in 2023 with more than 170 households registering with the City to participate. By waiting to pull out their lawnmowers, residents allowed early flowering plants like clover and violets to grow, which provided a critical food source for newly emerged pollinators. View the benefits of reduced mowing from Bee City USA. 

Compost and Yard Waste Services

• Learn about the Combined Yard Waste/Organics program, which allows residents to recycle food scraps and regular yard waste together in one container for pickup by refuse contractor Groot Industries. Food scraps and yard waste currently make up about 20 to 30% of the waste stream, but composting these materials keeps them out of landfills, where they take up space and release methane, a potent greenhouse gas.
• Learn how to start making compost at home with this article from The Conservation Foundation.
• Find details about the City’s Yard Waste collection program
• Find details about the City’s Bulk Brush Collection program, offered every spring
• Find details about the City’s Bulk Curbside Leaf Collection program and free bagged leaf collection, both of which take place every fall 

Electric Lawn Equipment Rebate 

All available funds for the 2023 Electric Lawn Equipment Rebate have been granted, and the program is now closed, as of June 30, 2023.  

This popular program, introduced in 2022, provides a $50 rebate to residents who purchase a battery-powered electric lawn mower, snow blower, leaf blower, trimmer, edger or manually powered reel lawn mower. Participants are eligible for one rebate per household per calendar year, and rebates are available on a first-come, first-served basis. 

Please check back here for information on future Electric Lawn Equipment Rebate opportunities as they become available.