In St. Louis Park, we encourage you to practice "Earth-friendly" or sustainable home landscaping. This is an approach in which plants thrive with minimal input of pesticide, fertilizers, water, and time. Earth-friendly landscaping reduces lawn maintenance, adds fertility to the soil naturally, provides wildlife habitat, conserves water and reduces air pollution.

• A Landscaping Award
• Donating trees & benches
• Invasive Species Information
• Keep fertilizer from reaching ponds and lakes
• Lawn care and landscaping
• Mulch - Wood Chips
• Permit required for some landscaping
• Pots
• Rain Barrels
• Tree care
• Tree removal
• Tree trimming
• Trees
• Trees replacement
• To view local native plant sites
• Native Plant Suppliers and landscapers in Minnesota
• Local "Hands-on" native planting club for gardeners of any skill level
• Native Plant List for Minnesota
• Native Trees for Minnesota
• How to use Native Plants in the Landscape
• Minnesota Native Plant Society
• Less Lawn

Win a landscaping award!
Evergreen Award Nomination Form

Homes, apartment buildings and businesses with exceptional plantings of flowers, shrubs and trees that are visible to passersby are eligible for the Evergreen Award. A certificate of recognition, publicity on the city's website and a green plant are presented to winners by the City Council each autumn.

For more information, contact Environmental Coordinator Jim Vaughan at (952) 924-2699 or via e-mail at jvaughan@stlouispark.org

Donating memorial trees and benches
The City of St. Louis Park encourages you to honor someone in the form of a dedicated tree or bench placed in one of our parks. A tree or bench is a wonderful way to preserve cherished thoughts of individuals you care about, at the same time enhancing our community and environment. Our wish is to provide a perfect setting for your dedication. For more information, please call (952) 924-2565.

• Memorial Bench and Tree Application

Invasive Species Information
The Minnesota Invasive Species Advisory Council (MISAC) has information about invasive species and the efforts to address them in Minnesota. It includes information about rankings of invasive species threats to the state, access to a database of locations of invasive species infestations, how to identify and report invasive species sightings, informational products, invasive species regulations, contact information for programs and people who work on invasive species, as well as links to select species profiles, and links to other web sites about invasive species. For more information, click here.

Keep fertilizer from reaching ponds and lakes
If you're fertilizing your lawn, please make sure to keep fertilizer off sidewalks, driveways and all other hard surfaces. Fertilizer on hard surfaces is carried by rainwater down storm sewer drains and ends of up in St. Louis Park ponds and Minneapolis lakes. Once it reaches ponds and lakes, fertilizer causes excessive algae growth and scum.

Lawn care and landscaping
Call before you dig -
Breaking a buried utility line can be costly and even life-threatening. Before you dig a hole, call Gopher State One Call at 651/454-0002. They will contact utilities to mark the location of buried electricity, gas and utility lines in your yard. This is a free service, and utilities will be marked within 48 hours (excluding weekends and holidays). For more information online, click here.

Mowing
Lawn mowers, leaf blowers and hedge clippers and other power equipment CANNOT be operated

• before 7 a.m. on weekdays
• before 9 a.m. on weekends.

Weeds and grass must be trimmed. If they grow higher than six inches, the City of St. Louis Park can have them cut at the property owner's expense. If you have a complaint about uncut grass or weeds, call (952) 924-2562 or e-mail lbocksell@stlouispark.org.

Pay attention to the public right-of-way
The strip of land along the curb (typically six ft. deep) is reserved for public use (i.e. sidewalks, snow pushed by plows, etc.). Do not install fences or plant shrubs on the public-right-of way.

Don't rake leaves and grass clippings onto the street
Raking leaves and grass clippings onto the streets is a violation of city ordinance. If you employ a lawn service, make sure they keep leaves and grass clippings off the street as well.

When rainwater carries leaves and grass clippings down streets and into lakes and ponds, they harm water quality. When leaves and grass decay, they release phosphorus which results in excess algae growth and scum. Leaves and grass clippings do more damage to our lakes than fertilizers, pesticides and motor oil!

Clean out catch basin grates
If your home is next to a catch basin (the opening on curbs), remove leaves clogging the catch basin opening so water doesn't pool up and create slippery spots.

Never dump leftover pesticides or chemicals onto the sidewalk, driveway or street, or down the storm sewer

Rainwater will carry these chemicals - directly and untreated - into area ponds and lakes where they harm water quality.

Don't fertilize unnecessarily -
Have your soil tested to determine whether you need to fertilize. The University of Minnesota sells soil sample test kits for $15.00. For more information, call (612) 374-8400 or click here. The Minnesota Extension Service recommends fertilizing lawns no more than three times a year: mid-May, early September and mid-October.

Don't fertilize the lakes
Don't allow fertilizer granules to fall onto the sidewalk, driveway or street. Rainwater will carry the fertilizer - directly and untreated - into area ponds and lakes where it harms water quality.

Minnesota law prohibits the release of fertilizer on impervious surfaces such as sidewalks, driveways or the street. Violation is a petty misdemeanor.

Choose a lawn fertilizer without phosphorous
To protect water quality, Minnesota State law prohibits the use of phosphorus fertilizers on lawns and turf in the seven county Twin Cities metropolitan area.

Most soil in St. Louis Park has ample amounts of phosphorus and does not need additional amounts. However, there are exceptions to the law. Phosphorus-containing fertilizer can be applied to residential lawns if

• A soil test indicates insufficient phosphorus or
• This is the first growing season for new seed or sod.

When phosphorous from fertilizers when it makes its way into ponds and lakes, it causes excessive algae growth and scum. Make sure the middle number on the fertilizer package (which indicates the amount of phosphorus) is zero. Commercial lawn care services will also provide fertilizers without phosphorus upon request.

Aerate your lawn
It removes plugs of grass, loosens the soil and promotes healthy root development. Aerated soil absorbs water more quickly and minimizes run-off.

Use weed killers and pesticides sparingly
Apply them only to the trouble spot-not the entire lawn.

Mulch - wood chips
2008 Special Services Guide
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 $50 for a half load (2 to 2 1/2 yards) and $100 for a full load (5 yards). For more information, call Rick Beane, Park Superintendent, at (952) 928-2854.

Permit required for some landscaping
Fences: If you're planning on building a fence, visit the Inspections Department in City Hall to complete a permit application. Please bring a site plan or property survey with you. A fence permit is $15 and includes a plan review to help reduce the likelihood of expensive, after-the-fact enforcement that occurs when fence installation inadvertently violates zoning requirements. For more information, contact Assistant Zoning Administrator Gary Morrison at (952) 924-2592 or gmorrison@stlouispark.org.

Irrigation systems: Either a licensed plumber or the homeowner/occupant may do the installation. Once installation is complete, either the contractor or the homeowner should call for an inspection to make sure the municipal water tie-in and backflow preventers were properly installed. Permits are required if you're connecting an underground lawn irrigation system to your building's water supply. Plumbing permits are needed for the piping connection because improper installation can allow water contaminated by fertilizer or pesticide to flow back into your home or our municipal drinking water supply. For more information, contact the Inspections Department at (952) 924-2588 or permits@stlouispark.org.

CowPots™
are plant pots made with composted cow manure, 100% biodegradable, and recycled. The pots are planted directly into the ground with the plant. Click here for more information.

Rain barrels
Do you realize the roof of your home is a large impervious surface?  Like your driveway or the street, rain water runs right off and into the storm sewer. Instead of going down the drain, this water could be recycled and used for your landscaping.

Rain barrels control storm water runoff and hold 8% of the runoff from your roof and 3 percent of the runoff from your entire residential property.  For more information about the types and uses of rain barrels in the metro area, go to Metrowide rain barrel info packet 

You can purchase rain barrels to fit your aesthetic and functional needs.

- Price: $75.00 ($0.25 with tax)

- 55 gallons, easy release spigot, made from recycled plastic, paintable

- Available at the following ReUse Center locations:

• 2801 21st Ave S, Minneapolis, MN 55407
• 1727 E Hwy 36, Maplewood, MN 55109 (Off White Bear Ave & Hwy 36)

Help your trees
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 anbout trees, click on www.mntrees.org.

Tree removal
Trees infected with Dutch elm disease and oak wilt (whether on boulevards or private property) must be removed so they don't spread the disease to nearby healthy trees. Downed trees must also be promptly removed.

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.)

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.

If the diseased 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. Property owners are free to reject the City contractor's bid and hire their own contractor to remove a tree from the boulevard. However, property owners who hire their own contractor to remove a boulevard tree are not eligible for the 50/50 cost sharing. Instead, the property owner will have to pay the entire cost of tree removal. Homeowners contracting for boulevard tree removal must also make sure that their contractor removes the tree by the City's deadline and removes the stump.

If the diseased 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.

Oak and Elm Tree Injections:

f 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. The cost of tree injection is shared by the city and property owner: the City will pay 40 percent and the homeowner will pay 60 percent for the injection.

For questions or concerns about tree removal or injections, please contact Jim Vaughan at (952) 924-2699 or jvaughan@stlouispark.org.

Tree trimming
To alleviate safety hazards, storm damaged trees or trees with limbs that obstruct streets or sidewalks will be trimmed by City crews at no charge to the adjacent property owner. However, wood disposal is the responsibility of the property owner.

Routine trimming of public property trees is handled by city contractors. Boulevard trees are trimmed once every seven years at no cost the adjacent property owner. The city will not do routine pruning of boulevard trees more frequently than once every seven years. However, 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 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.

Trees
The City of St. Louis Park cares for the 10,000 trees growing in parks and other public property. If you see a broken tree limb on public property or boulevards that could pose a safety hazard, call (952) 924-2565.

The city and property owners share the responsibility for caring for boulevard trees. Property owners are entirely responsible for caring for the trees on private property.

Tree replacement
The city will plant a replacement boulevard tree at no charge to the adjacent property owner. If the diseased tree was on 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.

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