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Floral Park Project Background

Project Members: Kris O’Brien, Katy Chayka

Project Selection

We both wanted to do a project that means something to us personally, preferably in our own neighborhoods. Both of us are concerned with and involved in invasive species removal, not just buckthorn control.

So much attention is given to removal, but not enough on what to do with the aftermath; we agreed a restoration type of stewardship would be a useful project. It would be a good learning opportunity for us as well as benefit the locale, wherever it happened to be.

Site Selection

Our preference was a park or open space in Arden Hills or New Brighton. Kris called around and eventually located a contact (Michelle Olson) at the Arden Hills Parks and Recreation Department (AHPR), who seemed greatful for our interest and suggested several locations.

We investigated a few sites:

  • Crepeau Nature Preserve: a 12-acre park with what seemed like 11 acres of buckthorn. We deemed this site too large a project for the 2 of us to manage on our own.
  • Hazelnut Park: AHPR had planned a buckthorn removal on October 27, so there was the potential to see it through from the beginning.
  • Floral Park: AHPR had already done buckthorn removal here in 2006, after which the Girl Scouts planted some flower beds. It was a pretty park and looked well-maintained. We noticed, however:
    • A fair amount of buckthorn was returning, though much was small sprouts that could be removed by hand. Other invasives, such as burdock and thistle, were also present.
    • A few native plants appeared to be returning to the area, but identification was difficult at this time of year.
    • The wooded area immediately behind the flower beds was nearly devoid of underbrush, other than buckthorn sprouts. AHPR did not have the resources to do much other than repeatedly spray herbicides to keep the buckthorn at bay. We figured the natives were being killed off as well.

Floral Park looked like an ideal location. We limited our Capstone Project to the wooded area immediately behind the flower beds, with the intent to expand from there over time. This stewardship is expected to last several years.

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