Wild Ones Prairie Edge Garden Tours ~ Minnetonka Residential Native Garden and City Outlot Restoration

Note: This tour includes two locations. The tour begins at 6:30 pm at 17109 Stodola Rd, Minnetonka, MN 55345

David trained as a Minnesota Water Steward with Riley Purgatory Bluff Creek Watershed District. As his capstone project, he and a teammate designed and installed a pair of rain gardens on each side of his driveway in late summer of 2019. David received a 75% rebate on the services and materials cost of the project. The only ‘services’ expense was a rough excavation. All other expenses were materials. The gardens are fed by a trench installed near the end of the driveway, bringing the runoff from 1200 sq ft of driveway into the 200 square feet of rain garden (100 sq. ft. each side). 

In 2020 David planted a native pollinator garden in full sun and also a shade garden under a mature crabapple tree. The shade garden is currently his favorite native planting, especially in spring.  Like many people focusing on landscaping for biodiversity and water quality, David does not use chemicals to keep his lawn looking like a pristine carpet of green.  In 2020 he seeded an area of fine fescue east of the driveway to see how that performs in his yard. 

Tour of a City Outlot Restoration

Address: 15324 Oric Ave, Minnetonka, MN 55345
In urban environments, natural landscapes that were once biodiverse and contiguous have been transformed to small and often highly degraded fragments. What potential do these sites hold for ecological restoration, pollinator habitat, and public demonstration sites? How does one go about restoring a site such as this? After approaching the city and writing a Nine Mile Creek watershed grant on their behalf, in 2015, Heather and her neighbors began restoring this highly degraded 1/2 acre city-owned lot in her neighborhood. Come on the tour to learn about some of the challenges, opportunities, and amazing outcomes that have unfolded in the neighborhood corner lot restoration. Learn about pollinator habitat enhancement and management considerations, and celebrate the diverse pollinator populations that now thrive in the corner lot.

Heather Holm is vice president of the Prairie Edge chapter. She is a pollinator conservationist and award-winning author of four books.