MINNESOTA – Forest Service’s Urban Connections partner, Frogtown Green, planted 125 shade and fruit trees in October in three St. Paul, Minnesota, neighborhoods with some of the lowest tree canopy coverage (Frogtown (76), Summit University (20) and Hamline-Midway (20)). All three neighborhoods are racially and ethnically diverse, low-income communities with high percentages of rental properties.

The trees, paid for by a State and Private Forestry grant from USDA Forest Service to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, were nurtured in three gravel beds in each community throughout the spring and summer. They were planted with the assistance of Rennie Gaither, an AmeriCorps Community Forestry Corps member, using Frogtown Green’s decade-old “Tree Frogs” planting model. This model is resident-led and volunteer-powered. In the adjacent neighborhoods, volunteers were recruited from members of Unity Church-Unitarian and the Hamline Midway coalition’s environmental committee. Emphasis was placed on reaching residents of rental properties.

Each tree recipient also received a Tree Owner’s Manual, a tree tag reminder to water the tree when there is little rain and a 5-gallon bucket to help with watering. Planted trees were staked and mulched for extra protection. A late fall email reminded the tree owners to water before the ground freezes, suggested protecting the bark from animal damage over the winter, and reminded residents not to use more deicing salts than necessary in the winter.

Also, in 2021, the Frogtown gravel bed was moved to a larger site, called the “Lily Pad.” The Lily Pad is a 25,000 square foot community garden and gathering space dedicated to teaching household-level actions residents can take to make Frogtown more sustainable. Exhibits and signs demonstrate actions such as composting, planting trees, growing vegetables, planting pollinator habitat and conserving water. The community connectors, who are funded by an Urban Connections agreement, did community outreach for tree sign-ups and hosted a fall community festival at the Lily Pad. The original gravel bed site is still a mini park with benches, a small free library, a river birch tree, fruit trees and pollinator plants such as raspberries and honeyberries (a native non-climbing honeysuckle).

The work of Frogtown Green is a great story of residents working together for years to improve their communities. Their story can—and has—inspired others. Check out these stories to learn more: Neighborhood Climate Action: Frogtown Green and Growing Equitable Shade, and Fighting Climate Change, One Tree at a Time.