Jan 16, '26:  People do very little in Colonial Park in January

The dead & dying ash trees were removed in '17 & '18, so there is not much for people to do here until spring.  It's hard to show grand plans and planning in pictures, so these photos will fill in until March.  If you'd like to be part of that planning, contact us with the button below.

Nov. 15:  What we (with help) have been doing in Colonial Park

The cardboard we put down in spring to suppress reed canary grass (RCG) (a strong invasive that ruins regular growth & hurts water quality) seems to work, so we did some in November.  The 'live stakes' will grow in spring (we hope:) and encourage local native plants, while the cardboard keeps down the RCG for a couple years until the native plants get going.

Snow is covering the park now, so everything looks clean and quiet.  Come visit Colonial Park any time — 6 am to 10 pm.  

What's with the pictures  (I'll learn how to do captions someday)? Parks Dept (thank you PRCS)brought us a pile of chips.  Then we cut the RCG stalks to the ground, opened up & cleaned the cardboard we had collected, staked it to keep it down all winter, covered it with chip mulch, and cut holes to put in the live stakes.  Finally we tagged the live stakes so we can find them in spring to keep track of them.  We need to learn how well different stakes make it (or don't).

Oct. 1:  What we (with help) have been doing in Colonial Park

We’re into the last month or so of work this season helping the Park recover.  We’re getting out burdock (the burrs that led to Velcro) and some thistles.  The cardboard “Reed canary grass suppression” pieces we put down has nicely growing elderberry plants, but the grey dogwood shoots we stuck through the cardboard appear not to have made it through the summer. Some small woods flowers we planted in protective hoops last year are doing nicely now.  The water diversion plan to reduce water over the River path seems to work; we’ll see how well this winter.

Also, The Root River Council and Racine City installed more benches along the trails.  Come visit Colonial Park this weekend or any time — 6 am to 10 pm.  The new benches along the trails let people  take breaks, or simply enjoy the "undeveloped" park, along the way.

On June 15, '25 we 'planted' silver maple seeds in a wet area.  

On June 7, '25 we pulled garlic mustard, and dames rocket.  We also planted 40 swamp milkweed plugs near the (very wet) wetland.  Later, we added some marsh marigolds practically in the water.  On June 10 and 14 we pulled a lot more "weeds" -- invasives & gross undesirables like thistles.

On May 24, '25 we pulled garlic mustard, and dames rocket.  On Reddit there’s a post “Pulling weeds by the roots feels oh-so-satisfying!”  And it's true!  

On May 17, '25 we got 18 more native plants in the ground, protected by hoop cages.  Some have cardboard to make summer maintenance easier.  Some are near the bench near the bridge to Lincoln Park, so you will see native flowers there in time.  Of course everything is growing, so come take a look!

What we (with help) did on May 13 

We planted 36 small forbs (flowering perennials) in protective rings.  These will add to the native plants that survived the loss of the ash trees.  Many thanks to the folks from Johnson Financial on their Service Day.

On April 26, '25 we planted 100 small trees. They are nearly twigs, but they can dream if they get planted.  The Root River Council and the City (PRCS) installed six more benches.

On March 22, '25 we smothered reed canary grass