Homeowners

Canada Geese

They are abundant and prevalent in St. Louis Park. This can be a concern due to the large quantities in parks and community areas. To find out more about this animal, click here.

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Clean Green!
Reduce toxic chemicals in your St. Louis Park home, the amount you spend on cleaners and leave your house smelling clean and fresh. Below are just a few ways to clean your house using natural products.

General Cleaner: 1/2 cup baking soda mixed with a liquid vegetable based soap makes a great cleaner for counters (and won't leave scratches), sinks and other surfaces.

Disinfectant Spray: 2 cups water, 1/2 cup vinegar and 10 drops of an essential oil like lemon oil or tea tree oil. Spray this onto counters, bathroom, and floors.

Window and Glass Cleaner: Club soda in a spray bottle. Wipe clean.

Furniture Polish: Put olive oil and lemon juice on a clean cloth. Wipe onto wood. Wipe off. Take care not to get onto upholstery.

Click here for more green recipes.

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Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs
They use about 2/3 less energy than standard incandescent bulbs to provide the same amount of light, and last up to 10 times longer. Please recycle them as hazardous waste. For proper disposal, all St. Louis Park residents may call Hennepin County at: (612) 348-3777 or go to Hennepin County.

Click here for more information on compact fluorescent light bulbs.

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Compostable yard waste bags required Jan. 1

Beginning January 1, 2010, a state law requires residents of Anoka, Carver, Hennepin (including City of St. Louis Park residents), Ramsey, Scott, and Washington Counties who bag their yard waste or other compostable waste to put their waste out for pick up in compostable bags – either paper bags or compostable plastic bags. Residents of Dakota County are already required to use compostable bags for yard waste.

This rule will not impact your service if you put your yard waste in a container, or you take your yard waste to a collection facility and remove waste from the bags yourself.

What is a compostable bag?

Compostable bags include paper Kraft bags (large brown paper bags) or compostable plastic bags. Compostable plastic bags are usually clear or tinted an opaque shade of green, white, or pink; however the color is not the sure way of determining the compostibility of a plastic bag. Compostable plastic bags should clearly state that they meet ASTM D6400 standards for composting and that they are “compostable”. Bags marked “biodegradable” or “degradable” do not meet the state law.

The shelf life of compostable bags is approximately 1- 3 years. Review the product’s specific shelf life and purchase accordingly.

How can I tell the difference between types of plastic bags?

Look for the word “compostable” on the box. The words “lawn and leaf” or “yard waste” do not guarantee that the bag is compostable and acceptable to use under the new rule. Visually compostable plastic bags are usually clear or tinted an opaque shade of green, white, or pink, compared to traditional black plastic bags.

Why is using compostable bags important?

Once your yard waste is picked up, it is delivered to a compost facility. Plastic bags must be debagged, which increases costs and the chance that plastic bags will be blowing around on site. Some compost sites shred the bag and its contents and attempt to screen the torn pieces of plastics later. Not all plastic shreds can be screened out, which reduces the quality of the finished compost.

Where can I buy compostable bags?

Most home improvement, grocery and hardware stores now carry bags. If you don’t see them at your local store, ask an employee. Many stores are just learning of this requirement and may appreciate the request.

Compostable bags tend to cost slightly more than the traditional black plastic bags; however, given the new demand, prices may be lowered.

When do I have to use compostable bags?

Compostable bags are required for use with yard waste and compost collection. So any yard waste, food waste, organics, or other compostable material must be placed in a compostable bag when collected at the curb.

What if I do not use a compostable bag?

If you do not use a non-compostable bag for yard waste, Waste Management cannot collect your waste. Compost drop-off sites will also require the material to be removed from non-compostable bags and you will be required to take the bag with you.

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Energy
Do you know there are many different ways St. Louis Park residents may save on energy bills?

Click on the links below to learn more.

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Greening Your Home
Get the whole family involved in achieving a greener home, making St. Louis Park a greener place to live!

Here are some ideas to get you started:

Turn off lights when no one is in the room.
Close heat vents in areas of your home that are not being used - bedrooms by day, office at night, etc.
Install a programmable thermostat and set it to lower temperatures at night and when no one is home during the day. Each degree lower can decrease a heating bill by 1%.
Unplug coffee makers, toasters, food processors, etc. when not in use.
Use power strips to turn off groups of appliances when not in use. Group together the DVD player, VCR, stereo and gaming units and power them down when no one is around.
Set humidifiers and dehumidifiers to turn on only when the humidity level warrants.
Don't overuse exhaust fans in bathrooms, kitchens or basements as they can suck out a roomful of warm air very quickly requiring your furnace to work harder.

Click here for more ideas.

Locally, the Center for Energy and the Environment has low cost loans to help make energy efficient improvements.

Click here for more information on their programs.

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Mulch - Wood Chips
Free shredded wood mulch from tree trimming or storm damage clean-up is available to St. Louis Park residents. Mulch is stored near the intersection of Cedar Lake Road and Colorado Avenue (south side of Cedar Lake Road adjacent to the railroad tracks). The site is open weekdays and weekends during daylight hours. Before going to the site, you may wish to call (952) 924-2565 to verify availability.

The city also offers mulch delivery within St. Louis Park. The cost is $60 for a half load (2 to 2 1/2 yards) and $110 for a full load (5 yards). For more information, call Rick Beane, Park Superintendent, at (952) 928-2854.

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Phone Books Piling Up? Opt Out!
Tired of phone books piling up on your front doorstep, especially if you don't use them anymore? Opting out is even better than recycling. Currently, Minnesotans recycle about 20 percent of the 5,000 tons of phone books that are delivered in the state each year.

Simply click here to go to the website and enter your ZIP code to find the participating phone book publishers in your area that are making it possible for you to opt out of receiving phone books. You will need to inform each phone book publisher listed that you would like delivery stopped. The opt-out takes 60 days to process. You may miss the deadline for a few of the phone books this year, but opting out today will ensure you won't receive them next year.

If you have phone books that you need to recycle, contact Hennepin County for information on your recycling options. Most curbside programs take phone books year around.

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The City of St. Louis Park loses hundreds of trees a year due to development, diseases and other factors. Unfortunately not all trees are being replaced and our mature tree canopy is diminishing. Trees are very important to our urban environment, providing benefits such as filtering our air, oxygen, shading our city (keeping our energy costs down) and increasing property values. Click here for a list of recommended trees to plant in St. Louis Park.

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Spring Landscaping Workshop
Get a jump on your spring landscaping. Learn from the City's Environmental Coordinator about the emerald ash borer and its potential effects on your trees. Hear about the latest trends and ideas in landscaping, as well as environmentally friendly gardening techniques.

Tuesday, March 30, 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
City Hall Council Chambers, 5005 Minnetonka Blvd.
Free - No registration required

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Tree Care
You can help protect all your trees by

Watering trees - even mature ones - during prolonged dry periods. The best way to water small trees is to let a hose run very slowly at the base of the tree for about an hour. For trees larger than six inches in diameter, water under the outer edges of the branches for one or two hours using a sprinkler.
Saving routine pruning and trimming for winter. (Don't trim elms, oaks and honey locusts in the spring or summer. Trimming between mid-April and mid-August greatly increases their disease susceptibility.)

You are welcome to call the city forester at (952) 924-2565 with any questions about tree care, tree selection or planting. For more information about trees, click on www.mntrees.org.

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Tree Diseases and Infestations
Tree with diseases such as Dutch elm and oak wilt (whether on boulevards or private property) must be removed so they don't spread the disease to nearby healthy trees. Trees with infestations of insects such as Emerald ash borer must also be removed. Downed trees with the following symptoms must also be removed:

Emerald Ash Borer Symptoms:

This is an invasive insect that could potentially kill all ash trees (with the exception of mountain ash).
Currently, this has only been found in Minnesota in St. Paul.

For current information and status, click here.

Dutch Elm Disease Symptoms:

Wilting of one or more of the upper branches. The leaves on these branches turn dull green, then yellow, wilt and eventually fall off.
Brown staining of the wood immediately under the bark. (In healthy trees, the sapwood is milky white.)

For more information, click here.

Oak Wilt Symptoms:

Leaf discoloration begins at the outer edge of the leaf and progresses inward. Leaves turn a dull green, bronze or tan and finally turn brown and shrivel.

For more information, click here.

City forestry staff identifies and marks trees to be removed with orange paint. If the marked tree is on the boulevard or public right-of-way, the City of St. Louis Park pays half the cost and the adjacent property owner pays the other half of the tree removal and disposal charges. The City will arrange for a contractor to remove the tree.

If the marked tree is on private property, the homeowner is responsible for 100 percent of the removal and disposal cost. The City will arrange for a contractor to remove the tree. (Contractors selected by the City have met licensing requirements and have submitted competitive bids for tree removal and disposal.) Property owners are free to reject the City contractor's bid and hire their own contractor to remove a tree from private property.

To schedule a free inspection of trees on your property, please call (952) 924-2565 to speak with the City's forestry staff.

Oak and Elm Tree Injections:

If you have a healthy elm tree or an infected oak tree, you may wish to have your tree injected with a fungicide that prevents Dutch elm disease or halts oak wilt disease. For questions or concerns about tree removal or injections, please contact Jim Vaughan at (952) 924-2699 or jvaughan@stlouispark.org.

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Tree Removal Restrictions
City ordinance prohibits anyone (homeowners, rental property owners, developers and commercial property owners) from cutting down live trees from public land. The city has an ordinance that provides requirements for tree removal and replacement on public and private land. Click here for more information.

If your construction plans call for tree removal, contact

Zoning Administrator Gary Morrison at (952) 924-2592 or gmorrison@stlouispark.org OR
Environmental Coordinator Jim Vaughan at (952) 924-2565 or jvaughan@stlouispark.org.

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Tree Replacement
If a diseased tree is removed from the boulevard, public property, the city will plant a replacement boulevard tree at no charge to the adjacent property owner. If the diseased tree is removed from private property, the homeowner can buy a replacement tree from the city at a reduced price (usually between $150 to $275) by contacting the city forester at (952) 924-2565.

Tree Planting
Effective in 2010, council has passed the Urban Reforestation Program and Policy that will provide a healthy and diverse tree population to support the City's vision regarding environmental stewardship. This policy will enable the City to plant more trees on the boulevard. If you're interested in a tree for your boulevard, please contact the city forester at (952) 924-2565 or click here for more information.

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The tree canopy of St. Louis Park's private properties is dwindling. For every new tree residents plant, five more trees are lost to storms, pests, and disease. The presence in Minnesota of emerald ash borer, an invasive pest that has the potential to wipe out all our ash trees, makes it even more critical to start planting tomorrow’s trees today.

In 2010 the City of St. Louis Park has teamed up with Tree Trust to make it affordable for you to reforest your own yard. Please do your part to restore the city's tree canopy by planting one of these trees this spring.

Click here to order your tree online today or click here for more information.

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Tree trimming
Routine trimming of public property trees is handled by city contractors. Boulevard trees are only trimmed once every seven years at no cost to the adjacent property owner. The adjacent property owner may opt to pay for earlier trimming as long as they use a tree service licensed by the City of St. Louis Park. To view a map of rotational boulevard tree pruning area, click here.

Property owners are responsible for the full cost of trimming trees on private property. Property owners may use only tree trimmers licensed by the City of St. Louis Park. For a list of licensed tree trimmers, click here. Trimming to remove dead branches or storm damaged oaks and elms is allowed at any time; however, routine trimming of oaks and elm trees is prohibited between May 1 and July 31. Pruning during these months is prohibited because the pruning wound produces attractants for the beetles that spread Dutch elm disease and oak wilt.

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Water Conservation
Here's how to conserve water and lower your water bills
Sprinkle lawns early in the morning or in the evening. Don't sprinkle lawns from noon to 6 p.m. when as much as 75 percent of the water evaporates. Remember that the sprinkling ordinance does not allow sprinkling between noon and 6:00 p.m. on every day of the week. Before noon and after 6:00 p.m., the city follows and odd even system (sprinkle on even days if your address is even-numbered). Water trees and gardens with a hose or soaker hose rather than a sprinkler. Use mulch around trees, shrubs and flowers to retain soil moisture. Sweep driveways and sidewalks with a broom rather than hosing them down. Repair leaky taps and toilets. A dripping faucet can waste 15 to 20 gallons of water a day.

Please help us avoid a water shortage. During a typical hot summer day, St. Louis Park rises to 12 million to 14 million gallons each day, as compared to 5 million to 6 million gallons each day in winter.

Water Conservation Toolbox

Water use by residential customers ranges from watering lawns and gardens to showering and tooth brushing. The Metropolitan Council's Water Conservation Toolbox includes information and an extensive list of resources for residents who want to use their water efficiently.

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Water Conservation Tips and Practices
Click here to check out tips and practices for St. Louis Park homeowners to save water.

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When City Permits Apply:
When considering construction projects, a permit may be necessary. Please click on the links below for more information.

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