Critical period cutting shows promise as an herbicide-free control strategy. Research shows it is also important to replant woodlands with native trees, shrubs, flowers and grasses after removing buckthorn.
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All articles filed in buckthorn
Using goats to control buckthorn and other invasive species
To learn more about managing invasive species with goats, join the East Metro Water Resource Education Program, Washington County Parks, and The Munch Bunch for an outdoor workshop on Tuesday, May 3, 6-7pm at Big Marine Park Reserve.
Register at tinyurl.com/2022goats.
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Tree care and woodland management
If you are working to remove large areas of buckthorn, MyMinnesotaWoods staff advise that late summer and fall are the best times to cut and treat buckthorn stumps with herbicide in order to prevent regrowth.
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Transformation underway at Sunfish Lake Park
Sunfish Lake Park visitors will immediately notice the changes on site, where contractors and volunteers have been clearing buckthorn since late winter.
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Students help to seed an outdoor laboratory at Crestview Elementary
The school is converting 2.5 acres of turf to prairie and rehabbing 7.5 acres of low-quality woodlands.
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New trails highlight major changes at Lake Elmo Park Reserve
This year, Washington County launched a major transformation at Lake Elmo Park Reserve, aided in part by a grant from the Minnesota Outdoor Heritage Fund. The park has added a new parking lot and entrance off of Inwood Ave., created new trails, and began work to restore 166 acres of prairie and oak savanna. On the east side of the park near the Nordic Center, Washington County added 2.2 miles of new ski trails.
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Search for hidden treasure, and sometimes you find goats
Charlie and I excitedly watched our beacon move ever closer to the hidden cache as we hiked down a trail into the woods. 350 feet to go. 300 feet to go. 100 feet to go! Then we heard a plaintive bleat from behind the trees. Had I heard a goat?
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Friends of Sunfish Lake Park lands $139,000 grant to manage buckthorn
This summer, Friends of Sunfish Lake Park secured a $139,000 grant from the Minnesota Lessard-Sams Outdoor Heritage Council Conservation Partners Legacy Grant Program to remove buckthorn and restore native plants in 40 acres of the park. The City of Lake Elmo will contribute $10,000 to the project and volunteers will provide at least 300 hours of in-kind support as well.
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So long sweet summer! Prepping lawns and gardens for the winter
By now, you’ve probably picked the last of the tomatoes, peppers and eggplants growing in your vegetable gardens. The predicted frost never quite made it to my house last weekend, but I know it’s only a matter of time before the winter temps will settle in for good. As you begin to prepare your lawn…
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Living the buckthorn and bittersweet life
Sometimes ignorance is bliss. I have a faint (ever-so-faint) recollection of the carefree joy I used to feel while hiking in the woods. “Aren’t these woods pretty?” I would think. “Look at all those pretty wildflowers along the roadside. Isn’t life grand?” My bliss was permanently disrupted, though, when I took my first ecology class…
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