Battle of the Buckthorn!
Volunteers Needed to Remove Invasive Buckthorn from Tower Hill.
The next volunteer session is:
Thursday, August 27 5:30 - 7:30pm.
All are Welcome! Meet at the picnic tables on the south lawn.
Tools and training provided – just bring yourselves to Tower Hill Park!
If you have them, you can bring pruning shears, loppers, or mini-hand saws, etc. Otherwise tools will be provided. More dates announced later.
Goal:
Seven volunteers recently trimmed new leaf growth from the buckthorn
patch on the west and south sides of the Hill. Additionally, trimming
was done on the south edge of the Park along Seymour Ave SE. We will continue cutting in those areas this Thursday. If time permits, we may cut into new territory on the west side. With 1 or 2 more trims this summer on the Hill, we move much closer to our goal of total eradication!
We
are also planning to replace the buckthorn. Last winter we top-seeded a
mix of prairie grasses. Recently, 15 flowering fruit tree saplings were
planted in the patch - plum and service berry. Next winter, we will
top-seed a mix of prairie flowers. We hope to restore the park closer to its original state of oak savanna.
This
project is a collaboration between The Prospect Park Garden Club, PPA’s
Environment Committee, and Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board.
This is the second year of our long-term concentrated effort to
eradicate the invasive buckthorn from Tower Hill Park. Last year, over
multiple work sessions, we stripped branches and leaves from the
buckthorn over a wide swath of the Hill from its southern to western
slopes. We had well over 100 volunteers over the course of the season.
We will continue to work our way around the hill.
Email environment@prospectparkmpls.org with questions. PPA Environmental Committee
