Many hundreds of walkers, skaters, dogs and their owners and people eager for a cup of coffee pass by a large native plant garden just north of the Como Lakeside Pavilion every day. Little do they know that this large garden is weeded, mulched, pruned and generally cared for by a dedicated crew of volunteers, and has been for the past eight years.
The City of St Paul informed the District 10 Environment Committee in 2006 that it no longer had the funds to maintain the garden. Committee members stepped up and have been managing all the maintenance since that time. We applied for and received a grant from the St Paul Audubon Society in 2008 to restore the garden to its roots as a native plant garden, which meant digging out many non-natives and replacing them with plant stock purchased with the grant. Now, several times each year, we hold work days in the spring and fall in the garden, with volunteers from the District 10 Environment Committee, St Paul Audubon Society, and other interested people.