 Bruce Vento Nature Sanctuary (BVNS) has a rich history – it was a significant site for Native Americans, the home of a brewery, a rail yard, and a dumping ground from the 1970s to 1990s. After a long period of abandonment, East Side community members and organizations rallied together to transform and restore the site, becoming a Saint Paul park in 2005. Massive restoration efforts have taken place in the years following the dedication of the park. including many phases of invasive plant removal, soil amending, and planting native species. These efforts continue today to enhance native plant communities and habitat.
The newly formed Bruce Vento EcoStewards volunteer program has been instrumental in the ongoing restoration efforts at the park. Volunteers gather bi-monthly for an evening of invasive species removal, planting native plants, or seed collection. Since our first volunteer event held in Spring of 2017, we have seen our volunteer program grow, allowing us to better manage invasive species like spotted knapweed, and successfully establish native plants.
Because of the efforts of these volunteers, BVNS continues to improve as an asset to the community and environment, providing visitors a beautiful place to recreate and view wildlife. Volunteerism in the park is just another aspect to this area’s transformation and history.
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 It’s getting closer to that time of year again! Creating an eye catching display with an assortment of winter greenery for your front porch, back deck or window boxes is not only enjoyable, but brings beauty during the winter months. At home outdoors, these arrangements come alive after a sprinkle of snow, especially with the addition of twinkling, holiday lights.
Basic ingredients can be found in most garden centers or in your own backyard. Sizes of the boughs will depend on the size of your pot. Here is a basic list for a twelve inch pot:
5 Spruce tops or other stiff, upright evergreen boughs, in varying heights of 12 to 36 inches long
10 Pine, cedar or other soft boughs, 12 to 24 inches long
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 Any number of colorful or interesting tree or shrub branches, seed heads, cones or pods like: white aspen, birch, yellow or red twigged dog wood, pinecones, berries, grain seed, hydrangeas, sumac or lotus pods.
Start by placing and pushing the largest size spruce tops and branches into the soil in the center of the pot. Try to place this center stem as straight as you can.
Add the remaining upright stems around the center stem. Push the stems into the soil a minimum of six inches deep to protect your arrangement from wind and heavy snow.
Next, add cedar, pine or other soft evergreen boughs so that they drape over the top and sides of the pot and cover any exposed soil.
Finally, add decorative twigs, branches or other ornamental finds into the arrangement. For a bit of pizzazz, ribbon, plastic ornaments or solar powered holiday lights are easy to install and come in a variety of colors, types and sizes.
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SPNR’s Garden Education program piloted a project called Rooted in Rec with youth enrolled in Summer Blast at six recreation centers this summer. Participants learned how to tend gardens and grow their own food. They weeded and watered, dug for worms and other decomposers, caught beneficial and detrimental insects (and learned how to tell the difference between the two), produced some plant-based art, and harvested the fruits of their labor. Onions, jalapeños, and cherry tomatoes made a simple salsa; lettuce, bell peppers, sweet peas, for salad; tomatoes, basil, oregano, peppers and more went on personal pizzas. The corn is still growing, and the Jack-O-Lantern pumpkins should ripen right on schedule for Halloween!
Rooted in Rec is partially supported the Minnesota State Horticultural Society’s Garden-in-a-Box program.
 Thanks to a grant from Capitol Region Watershed District, the Environmental Education program was able to expand the Parks Ambassadors program this year. This initiative aims to break down barriers to parks and waterways among underrepresented groups by providing tours, activities, and transportation.
So far this year, Natural Resources staff brought 130 people on 13 park outings with activities ranging from fishing, walking, biking, and picnicking.
Environmental Education staff worked with several partners including Saint Paul Public Housing Agency. In one recent outing, residents of Dunedin Terrace and Montreal and Cleveland Hi-Rises visited Hidden Falls Regional Park to enjoy the mighty Mississippi River. After a cookout and yard games, participants enjoyed fishing thanks to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. While the fish were tiny, the smiles were huge as residents watched eagles fly by as the sun was setting over the river. Natural Resources hopes that residents will return to enjoy these parks in the future.
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Fall is a great time to get out and enjoy the mild temperatures, clear sunny skies, and amazing fall colors, especially in Saint Paul’s amazing regional parks all along the Mississippi River. It is also a great time to think about what we can to do to protect our trees for winter. The Saint Paul Tree Advisory Panel has the following recommendations for you.
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Winter -- or the “leafless season” -- can last almost half the year. During the growing season, it’s easy to pay attention to trees but don’t forget them the other half of the year because they are still exposed to many threats. Read below to see what you can do to prepare your trees.
#1 Threat: Most damage to trees and shrubs during winter is from animals. Eliminate this threat by excluding the critters from the plants with a protective barrier like hardware cloth.
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#2 Threat: Deicing chemicals kill plants and are very toxic to all parts so avoid using them! Instead, shovel early and often.
#3 Threat: Water-stress. Water throughout the growing season, right up to the point when the soil freezes. Mulch around your trees and shrubs as far out as you can stand it with 3-4 inches of organic mulch.
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#4 Threat: If your trees and shrubs break apart from winter snows and ice, tie the stems together for support before winter starts.
None of these steps are effective after damage has occurred so the best time to prepare the plants is around Halloween and then remove anything that can affect their healthy growth by Easter.
For more information visit: www.treeadvisorypanel.org/tree-reports
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 We have some great volunteer opportunities for this fall! Back for the 2017 fall season…. Seed Squad! If you did not join us last year you have a great opportunity to come to one of our drop in events this year. You will be collecting seeds that will benefit our pollinators and our wildlife. Seeds will be used to supplement natural areas in need of increased plant diversity around the city. The collected seeds will be used in frost seeding in late fall, propagated in our hoop house or sown after the 2018 spring prescribed burn season.
Celebrate National Public Lands Day on Saturday, September 30th at Hidden Falls Regional Park. Join us and the Saint Paul Audubon Society to plant the next generation of floodplain Cottonwoods and to view the amazing bird species that relay on them. We will be hosting the planting paired with a tour at 11:30am and another at 1:30pm. To guarantee a spot you can RSVP otherwise drop-ins are welcome. We will provide all tools, gloves and binoculars.
For more information about both event dates please visit our website at st.paul.gov/naturalresources.
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 Saint Paul Natural Resources welcomes Katie Black, a 2017-2018 Minnesota GreenCorps Member. Minnesota GreenCorps is a statewide initiative to help preserve and protect Minnesota’s environment while training a new generation of environmental professionals. Over the next 11 months, Katie will assist in educating the public about pollinator decline and protection and will be leading volunteers in conservation projects.
Katie is a native of Bismarck, North Dakota and a 2017 graduate of Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota. Katie is excited about a year in a new city; she hopes to explore all that Saint Paul has to offer, especially when it comes to the outdoors and music. She looks forward to learning about environmental protection along communities in Saint Paul.
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