The Floral Park Project
This was initiated as the Capstone Project for the Minnesota Master Naturalist program.
Project at a Glance
- Invasives removal: Manually remove sprouting buckthorn, burdock and other invasives from the area, disturbing the soil as little as possible.
- Cut buckthorn with main stems larger than ¼ inch and treat with an herbicide provided by AHPR. Apply herbicide with a paint brush to minimize harming any nearby native plants.
- Pull off burdock leaves. Burdock is a biennial, so this only needs repeating for a few years then the burdock should be down to manageable levels. Any remaining seed heads should be cut off and put in the trash.
- Cut thistle and treat with herbicide. Repeated cutting weakens the plant so it should eventually die out.
- For plants small enough to uproot, do so only when the ground is soft and moist, for the best chance of getting all of the roots out. Pack down any loosened soil.
- Natives identification: Identify the native plants that return to the area on their own. Identify other natives that could be replanted here to restore diversity.
- Seed collecting: Locate other sites in the area where seed from suitable plants could be collected. Permission was granted from John Moriarty at Ramsey County Parks and Rec to collect from County Parks if needed, Long Lake Regional Park in particular.
- Reseed: Plant native seed at appropriate times of the year. According to Dave Crawford at the DNR, shrubs are best planted in spring; most wildflowers in fall.
- Monitor: Return about once a month for invasives maintenance and track the progress of natives. Prevent invasive plants from blooming if possible, or going to seed.
- Document: Keep a journal of activities and observations.
Latest Activities
| Date | Description | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 13 August 2008 | survey for native regrowth; invasives removal |
Native regrowth: where the canopy is more open it looks to be filling in nicely with more natives than non-natives, mostly wet-mesic plants. Found a few blue vervain, smartweeds, Pensylvania buttercup, willowherb, white vervain and lots of burnweed. The shadier spots are still pretty bare. Invasives: pulled some burdock, only a few plants had any flower heads, most are just the first year rosette of leaves. |
| 20 July 2008 | survey for native regrowth; invasives removal |
Native regrowth: in the sunnier areas there is a fair amount of elderberry coming up, but it is still pretty naked otherwise. Spotted a few buttercup, enchanter's nightshade and white avens plants, but not enough. It will take a lot of seed collecting to replant this area; may ask about buying some seed instead. Invasives: pulled some catnip and mustard plants growing near the edge of the clearing, and a few burdock. There is still buckthorn around the edges and a few in the middle of the area, but will get them in the fall. |
| 14 May 2008 | survey for spring growth; start invasives removal | Spring growth:
Invasives: the ground wasn't quite soft enough to pull much up, though did uproot some small buckthorn sprouts. Lots of burdock coming up around the perimeter; will take the loppers to it next visit if it's tall enough |
| 30 Apr 2008 | survey for spring growth | no sign of ground cover or spring ephemerals coming up, but spotted some elderberry sprouting. Burdock and dandelions are sprouting, too. |
| 15 Apr 2008 | survey for spring growth | shrubs are just budding, no ground cover coming up yet |
| 21 Dec 2007 | remove buckthorn | cut down some tree-sized buckthorn |
| 25 Nov 2007 | remove buckthorn | pulled a good number of small sprouts and marked a few dozen shrubs for cutting over the winter |
| 27 Oct 2007 | buckthorn pull at Hazelnut Park | photo opportunities; scout out natives for possible seed collection |
| 20 Oct 2007 | remove invasives | wooded area is mostly cleared now; photographed some sprouting plants not on the list for removal to research later |
| 19 Oct 2007 | remove invasives | |
| 17 Oct 2007 | remove invasives | |
| 12 Oct 2007 | remove invasives | herbicide obtained from AHPR |
| 11 Oct 2007 | scout out locations for seed collection | too late this season for collection |
| 10 Oct 2007 | pull invasives | buckthorn and burdock |
