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Page 1 of 3 <br /> <br />NEW BUSINESS – 5C <br /> <br /> MEMORANDUM <br /> <br />DATE: May 20, 2025 <br /> <br />TO: Parks, Trails and Recreation Committee <br /> <br />FROM: Kerri Seemann, on behalf of Arden Hills Greening <br /> <br />SUBJECT: Cummings Park Planting <br /> <br /> <br />Background <br /> <br />I received this message on 2-1-2024: <br /> “Good afternoon! I live next to Cummings Park in Arden Hills. Recently, the city has been <br />removing a lot of diseased ash trees from around the perimeter of the park between the <br />trail and the private property lines. When they have removed Buckthorn, and or other <br />“brush” in the past, the Canadian thistle, buckthorn, garlic mustard and other weed crop <br />in their place. I am worried about what will grow on this space. I called the city today to <br />see if they had a plan and they said that they intend on planting a few trees as <br />replacements but they will not be covering all the area. They told me that a good <br />resource might be our community parks committee and maybe start there. I’m <br />wondering if you have any suggestions on things that might grow in these “wild rough“ <br />areas in our neighborhood parks.” <br /> I put together a list of native plants that would be suitable for that area, as well as made a note of <br />which weedy species would require management. I discussed it with a couple members of the <br />Public Works staff who thought that the general idea was good, but had concerns about <br />maintenance. <br /> I contacted several employees of Boston Scientific earlier this spring to see if their volunteer <br />groups would be interested in weeding/site prep for this project. They said that they could <br />potentially get 30 volunteers and are eager to get something scheduled. <br /> <br />I contacted the other two residents who live adjacent to that section of the park to find out how <br />they felt about the space. They both have concerns about privacy now that the buckthorn has <br />(mostly) been removed and would like to see some screening added. <br /> <br />Funding was obtained from the Arden Hills Foundation to cover some of the cost of seed to grow <br />plants (either for Cummings Park or Chatham), which would be ready to transplant in the fall. <br />Bareroot shrubs were donated by Alliance Tree Care. That still would not be enough plants to <br />cover the whole area, but it would be a good start… perhaps half.