Hello Master Naturalists,

One of the predominant invasive plant species at Fontainebleau State Park in Mandeville is the Chinese Tallow Tree. In mid-2021, a small group of Master Naturalists, Master Gardeners, and Sierra Club members started working with Fontainebleau State Park to remove tallow trees in the vicinity of the visitor center. The work that has been done to date appears to be effective. We are seeing minimal to no resprouting of stumps that we treated with Garlon. Our focus now is to remove the remaining trees before they produce seeds this fall. The trees are actively growing making them more susceptible to the Garon at this time of the year.

We will be working on the last Saturday of the months of June, July, and August from 9:00 AM – noon. These dates are June 25, July 30, and August 27. We will be focusing on the wooded areas along the entrance road to the visitor center parking lot. The area is somewhat shady, and the ground may be wet if we’ve had recent heavy rain. Work includes pulling seedlings, cutting larger trees with loppers, hand saws, or chainsaws, treating cut surfaces with Garlon, and hauling cut trees to the edge of the roadway. People are needed for all tasks, and for each person with a chainsaw, another one or two people are needed for hauling the trees.

Please bring whatever tools you are comfortable using along with gloves, hats, mosquito repellant, and water. Send me an email and sign up on Track It Forward to let me know you will be coming. I will notify you if the schedule changes because of weather.

There are some good casual lunch places near the park as well as ice cream and snowball stands for refreshments after we finish working. Enjoy comradery with fellow MN’s and support growth of our native trees!

Hoping to see you at the park!

Carolyn Monteith
carolyn.monteith@gmail.com
504-908-2594