Milwaukee's Juneau Park Native Plant & Pollinator Garden
A native plant garden is being installed at Juneau Park (in the red circle) in downtown Milwaukee.
The Eastern Region has partnered with Milwaukee County Parks to create a pollinator & native plant garden in downtown Milwaukee.
A Memorandum of Understanding between the Forest Service's Eastern Region and Milwaukee County has been signed and the beginnings of a Native Plant & Pollinator Garden is taking shape at Juneau Park in the heart of downtown Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
The Eastern Regional Office and Milwaukee County Parks have removed turf grass and planted hundreds of native plants and seeds to raise the awareness of the important ecological service provided by native pollinators such as bees and butterflies; the benefits of landscaping with native plants that reduce our carbon footprint and maintenance costs; and the need to control non-native invasive plants.
Non-natives such as tree of heaven, garlic mustard, common buckthorn, non-native honeysuckles and others were removed from Juneau Park and more than 40 species of native tallgrass prairie and dappled woodland plants were added. The park garden will be signed and interpreted and members of the public will be invited to volunteer their time and energy.
Plans are to expand this garden north along the heavily used Oak Leaf Trail which skirts the Lake Michigan shoreline for several miles. Juneau Park, a beautiful and important green space in a busy urban environment, thus offers several important ecological messages in an illustrative form while providing very enjoyable recreational and stewardship volunteer opportunities for the public. Come join us!