Volunteers have been working to remove buckthorn in portions of the park over the past few years. The process was accelerated when goats were brought in to defoliate the undergrowth in September 2023. You can see the results below.

The goats were brought back in June 2024, but the results were less spectacular. Rather than requesting that the city invest heavily in high-frequency goat browsing, we shifted to a different strategy. (There are many approaches to buckthorn management and the best success often requires a combination of methods.) This ~1 acre section under the cottonwoods (see image below) was selected as the highest priority area. 

Public Works staff sprayed the buckthorn seedlings/saplings this fall and the volunteer crew later cut down the brush to prepare for seeding with native grasses. Prior to the spraying, we hosted a volunteer event on Sept. 28 in coordination with the MN Master Naturalist program; many buckthorn seedlings were hand-pulled to clear portions of this area for planting native plugs (with flagging tape separating the planting & spraying areas).

Over the following two weeks, over 1,000 native plugs (grown by our volunteers) were planted before planting was interrupted by knee surgery. Unfortunately, it was very dry this fall and watering by hand was difficult and sporadic, so we will have to wait and see how many of the plugs survived. The planting will (hopefully) resume in the spring. 

As of late November, the grass seeding has begun. 40# of seed is a lot for two people to handle, so we are currently looking for volunteers.

UPDATE Oct. 2, 2025

Planting has continued in the cottonwood grove and restoration efforts are beginning to expand towards the meadow. Now that we have permission to use Buckthorn Blaster herbicide daubers on cut stumps, we're feeling more optimistic about the possibility to get the buckthorn under control. This year, most of the buckthorn removal efforts have been focused in the aspen grove near the school. City staff sprayed that area in September and, with most of the buckthorn seedlings and saplings dead or dying, we are preparing to plant in that area. Once the brush cutting is complete in an area, we can begin to plant flower and grass plugs (if the weather cooperates) and we'll be seeding the area later this fall. As always, we're looking for volunteers.