# Resilient Lawns Sub-Committee Home Base **URL:** \ **Category:** Discussion\ **Created:** [February 3, 2024, 6:12pm UTC](https://westcentralmnclimate.network/t/resilient-lawns-sub-committee-home-base/260 "2024-02-03T18:12:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![syd](https://westcentralmnclimate.network/user_avatar/westcentralmnclimate.network/syd/32/19_2.png) [@syd](https://westcentralmnclimate.network/u/syd)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2024, 6:12pm UTC](https://westcentralmnclimate.network/t/resilient-lawns-sub-committee-home-base/260/1 "2024-02-03T18:12:58Z")
This post serves as the home base for Resilient Lawn Sub-Committee meetings, conversations, and notes. It has been turned into a wiki so any member with a log-in to the site can edit and organize this post. [Local Resilient Lawns - Collecting Conversation](https://westcentralmnclimate.network/t/local-resilient-lawns-collecting-conversation/234) **Past Meetings:** - [Notes: Saturday, January 24th, 2026](https://westcentralmnclimate.network/t/resilient-lawns-sub-committee-home-base/260/6) - [Notes: Saturday, March 16th, 2024](https://westcentralmnclimate.network/t/resilient-lawns-sub-committee-home-base/260/3) - [Notes: Saturday, February 17th, 2024](https://westcentralmnclimate.network/t/resilient-lawns-sub-committee/260/2) - [Notes: Saturday, April 20th, 2024](https://westcentralmnclimate.network/t/resilient-lawns-sub-committee-home-base/260/4) - Notes: Resilient Lawn Expert Meeting - Friday May 24th, 2024 **Links & Resources:** - City of Morris Urban Forestry Management Plan - [CityMorrisUrbanForestryMngtPlan\_Final\_AdoptedSept2021.pdf](https://westcentralmnclimate.network/uploads/short-url/8s5oFaC0jCxWasQ1GzAoanKoRKx.pdf) - [Stevens County MN Resilient Lawns One-Pager DRAFT - Google Docs](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Ht3P7cECoj4AbC5qzUSWtHRQaxzoa64mv6UbOTbfK4k/edit) - [Local Resilient Lawn List - Google Sheets](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1EbszWFyqDDg7Ll-UdwYrbpijOOE0610AjQQYZI6t2Z4/edit?usp=sharing) - [Resilient Lawn Library](https://westcentralmnclimate.network/t/resilient-lawn-library/243) **To Do: (updated 2024)** - Finalize [Resilient Lawns One Pager](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Ht3P7cECoj4AbC5qzUSWtHRQaxzoa64mv6UbOTbfK4k/edit) - _anyone is welcome to edit & suggest here_ - Resilient Lawn/Rain Gardens Map - Local Resilient Lawn List: [Local Resilient Lawn List - Google Sheets](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1EbszWFyqDDg7Ll-UdwYrbpijOOE0610AjQQYZI6t2Z4/edit?usp=sharing) - **All Sub-Committee members should strive to add two or three lawns/neighbors to this list** - Expanding Conversation - Reach out to PDT Garden Club to ask if we could crash their meeting to chat about Resilient Lawns - Consider reaching out to Park Board in the future ---
**Author:** ![syd](https://westcentralmnclimate.network/user_avatar/westcentralmnclimate.network/syd/32/19_2.png) [@syd](https://westcentralmnclimate.network/u/syd)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2024, 5:42pm UTC](https://westcentralmnclimate.network/t/resilient-lawns-sub-committee-home-base/260/2 "2024-02-17T17:42:04Z")
**Meeting Notes: February 17th @ 10:30AM** **Community Check-ins** - @syd is excited about Game Night at Johns Total Entertainment Tonight (4-7PM) - @briana_dokken is excited to learn context about Resilient Lawns efforts - @cberthiaume has thoughts! Don’t worry they will share the thoughts in the meeting! - Crystal shared a cool book, “Nature’s Best Hope” - @mgm is thinking about butterflies & monarchs, she shared this article: [Why there may be much fewer monarch butterfly sightings in the US this summer - ABC News](https://abcnews.go.com/US/fewer-monarch-butterfly-sightings-us-summer/story?id=107098635) - @Nic_McPhee is thinking about big projects at work & school (good luck Nic!) Syd shared some context and history of the Resilient Lawns Work **New Conversation:** - Cameron was thinking with Griffin about applying to the Lawns to Legumes program to establish an example plot. - Instead of creating an example plot, can we collect examples that already exist in our community? Could we create a “Resilient Lawns Walking Tour” of Morris. - Sharing the Lawns to Legumes application is an immediate work we can do: [https://bwsr.state.mn.us/l2l](https://bwsr.state.mn.us/l2l) **One Pager:** - Why would you want to have a Resilient Lawn? - wildlife, pollinators - reducing needs for chemicals (runoff, water quality) - lower maintenance - Where can I see examples? - Walking Tour of Resilient Lawns in Morris - Walking Tour of Rain Gardens in Morris - Public Rain Garden - Highland Drive (who put it there, how do they maintain it?) - Behind the Mall native plantings - UMN Morris Prairie Plantings - How to get started - Lawns to Legumes - SWCD Rain Gardens - Morning Sky Greenery - Cater to the wide array of folks - not just the ones who do the most lawn changes - If you want the lawn you have, how can you take care of it more resiliently - How can we frame resilient lawns in a way that does not make big ag think we are upset with them? - “we want pollinators because we are an agricultural area, have resilient lawns to help support farmers” - Nic & Sue could apply to Lawns to Leguemes as an example lawn - WCMNCN friends help plant it - Good visual & story - “Community barn raising, but for lawns. :-)” Nic How can we continue this conversation once we create the one pager? - Park Board - Put up signs in yard - Normalizing the behavior - Reach out to folks with these types of lawns (we \<3 your lawn list) - Master Gardeners - garden tour - Pomme De Terre Garden Club - Vicky Dosdall - Sue Granger - Seed collection events, USFWS events - Bee house making **Next Steps:** - One Pager (syd) - Resilient Lawn/Rain Gardens Map - Everyone adds two or three neighbors to the [Local Resilient Lawn List](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1EbszWFyqDDg7Ll-UdwYrbpijOOE0610AjQQYZI6t2Z4/edit?usp=sharing) - Expanding Conversation **To Do:** - Cameron - Talk to Sue about the Mall - Talk to Public Works about Highland Drive - Syd - Draft up one pager - [Create a list:](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1EbszWFyqDDg7Ll-UdwYrbpijOOE0610AjQQYZI6t2Z4/edit?usp=sharing) Sally Finzel can give us names - Garden Club reach out and ask if they have a meeting with no agenda that we could crash and chat about lawn stuff ---
**Author:** ![syd](https://westcentralmnclimate.network/user_avatar/westcentralmnclimate.network/syd/32/19_2.png) [@syd](https://westcentralmnclimate.network/u/syd)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2024, 4:41pm UTC](https://westcentralmnclimate.network/t/resilient-lawns-sub-committee-home-base/260/3 "2024-03-16T16:41:07Z")
**Meeting Notes: March 17th @ 10:30AM** **Community Checkins** - @syd has been thinking about the [10 Principles of Disability Justice](https://www.sinsinvalid.org/blog/10-principles-of-disability-justice) and the book [Crip Kinship](https://moonpalacebooks.com/item/6nvBPLOyqFgsSQ2CQsyE4w). - Crystal is thinking about being busy with work! Lots of connection and learning and goodness! - @briana_dokken is thinking about Math Nerd stuff! - @cberthiaume is thinking a lot about trees because they were at the Spring Expo for the Tree Board. - They are working on an updated “Trees You Should & Should Not Plant” list, they will share that once it’s done! - Crystal shared the Moorhead forestry page: [City of Moorhead : Forestry](https://www.cityofmoorhead.com/departments/public-works/forestry) [**One Pager Draft**](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Ht3P7cECoj4AbC5qzUSWtHRQaxzoa64mv6UbOTbfK4k/edit?usp=sharing) _all friends welcome to edit and suggest things on this document_ - What is the purpose? What are we doing with this? - Using it as an intro and welcome into the conversation for folks who ARE and ARE NOT YET interested in transitioning into/learning about resilient lawns - Resilient Lawn & Tree Meeting - Welcoming community members to having a conversation about resilient lawns in our community. - What questions do we want answered at this meeting? - What experts do we want to come share? - What community education should happen here? (dispel no mow may, share about tree pruning) - More pictures in the one-pager! - We should create a digital “one-pager extended” with more resources for folks who want to learn more - funding opportunities - grasses & plants - Make sure to mention that you don’t have to replace your whole lawns! This is a gradient [**Local Resilient Lawn List**](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1EbszWFyqDDg7Ll-UdwYrbpijOOE0610AjQQYZI6t2Z4/edit#gid=0) - Keep adding to this list!! **Other Notes & Chats:** - Cameron - Research on City Center Mall & Highland Dr. - City Center Mall Native Plantings was a project with the [MN Design Team](https://www.aia-mn.org/get-involved/committees/minnesota-design-team/) - 18 Highland Drive rain garden put in by SWCD. From Matt Solemsass: “We installed the rain garden on Highland Dr. I actually used to live right across the street from it and have a raingarden in the yard there as well. The city staff would never do any maintenance on it so the neighborhood would do any maintenance that was needed. We have probably built 60 or more rain gardens in the city and surrounding county in the last 10 years. We offer cost-share to homeowners for doing these and generally do anywhere from 2-6 a season. We already have a well established program in place.” - WCMNCN at booth things and farmers market things! ---
**Author:** ![syd](https://westcentralmnclimate.network/user_avatar/westcentralmnclimate.network/syd/32/19_2.png) [@syd](https://westcentralmnclimate.network/u/syd)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2024, 5:04pm UTC](https://westcentralmnclimate.network/t/resilient-lawns-sub-committee-home-base/260/4 "2024-04-20T17:04:02Z")
**Meeting Notes: April 20th @ 10:30AM** **Community Checkins** @Syd is planning for her MCAP award ceremony, is excited to trick all the business boys into having a party in her yard. @cberthiaume is battling the dryer in their apartment building because it toasts the heck out of their clothes. Cameron and Syd hopped on the Zoom this morning and had a good chat about what our next steps should be. We think that Resilient Lawn’s next steps involve **inviting a group of wider experts to share with us some of their experience and knowledge before we step out into wider community education**. We thought our idea was pretty good, so it’s what we planned for! Here is the list of groups we brainstormed to invite to a meeting: [PDT Garden Club](https://www.facebook.com/pommedeterregardenclub/) - Syd [Resilient Lawns List](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1EbszWFyqDDg7Ll-UdwYrbpijOOE0610AjQQYZI6t2Z4/edit#gid=0) Folks - Syd [Morning Sky Greenery](https://www.morningskygreenery.com/) - Syd Stevens County [Master Gardeners](https://extension.umn.edu/master-gardener/about-master-gardener) - Cameron [City of Morris Tree Board](https://www.ci.morris.mn.us/morris-tree-board/) - Cameron [Stevens County SWCD](https://www.stevensswcd.org/contact/) - Cameron We are planning to have this **Resilient Lawn & Tree Care Experts Meeting** on **Friday, May 24th at 10:30AM online at [bit.ly/climate-network](http://bit.ly/climate-network)**. Cameron and Syd are each going to reach out to the groups and introduce them to this idea/this meeting. If we hear back with interest we will then invite them to the google calendar invite that you all have been invited to already. Here are the details we typed up in the google calendar description that can help guide some of our introduction/invitation emails: > The [West Central MN Climate Network](https://westcentralmnclimate.network/) (WCMNCN) is a group of neighbors putting people power and motivation behind supporting our community’s resiliency efforts. We would love to do that with YOU and your organization! > Recently, the WCMNCN has been hosting conversation, brainstorming, and planning to increase education and implementation of resilient lawn and tree care in the City of Morris. > We would love to expand our conversation with more local experts in order to effectively promote, implement, and educate the public about the importance & necessity of this work! We would like to hear from you before we do any of this community engagement or education. > So what are we asking from you? We would love it if you could join us at a zoom meeting (tentatively scheduled for Friday May 24th at 10:30AM) to share your expertise! We want to hear about past resilient lawn and tree care projects you have participated in, we want to promote the services and knowledge of our local organizations, and we want to hear your goals and ideas for resilient lawn and tree care in our community. > To read past notes on WCMNCN Resilient Lawns conversations: [https://westcentralmnclimate.network/t/resilient-lawns-sub-committee-home-base/260](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://westcentralmnclimate.network/t/resilient-lawns-sub-committee-home-base/260&sa=D&source=calendar&usd=2&usg=AOvVaw3NGuUAO8JG64rPGErppNvC) > With questions or concerns, email Syd ([syd.r.bauer@gmail.com](mailto:syd.r.bauer@gmail.com)) or Cameron ([cameron.berthiaume@ci.morris.mn.us@gmail.com](http://cameron.berthiaume@ci.morris.mn.us@gmail.com)). If you have other ideas of experts we should be inviting to this conversation, please let us know! When we send our invitation emails, and if you send out any invitation emails, make sure to cc the Resilient Lawns Sub-Committee: [mcphee@morris.umn.edu](mailto:mcphee@morris.umn.edu), [midd1cry@gmail.com](mailto:midd1cry@gmail.com), [dokke083@morris.umn.edu](mailto:dokke083@morris.umn.edu), [syd.r.bauer@gmail.com](mailto:syd.r.bauer@gmail.com), [gjerness@gmail.com](mailto:gjerness@gmail.com), [cameron.berthiaume.ci.morris.mn.us@gmail.com](mailto:cameron.berthiaume.ci.morris.mn.us@gmail.com) I will work more on the Resilient Lawns One-Pager before the Experts meeting, and you should get an email from Cameron about Tree ID training and volunteering to identify the trees in Morris. These are our plans for Resilient Lawn work until the next [WCMNCN meeting on May 4th at 10:30AM](https://westcentralmnclimate.network/t/may-2024-meeting-notes-sat-may-4-10-30am/265) online at [bit.ly/climate-network](http://bit.ly/climate-network). We would love to hear anyone’s thoughts and ideas about this! Shoutout to Cameron for being motivated, willing, and practical about next steps and how we can all put in work to make them happen! Thanks Cameron! ---
**Author:** ![syd](https://westcentralmnclimate.network/user_avatar/westcentralmnclimate.network/syd/32/19_2.png) [@syd](https://westcentralmnclimate.network/u/syd)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2024, 4:15pm UTC](https://westcentralmnclimate.network/t/resilient-lawns-sub-committee-home-base/260/5 "2024-05-24T16:15:27Z")
Resilient Lawn Experts Meeting - Friday May 24th, 2024 **Purpose:** We would love to expand our conversation with more local experts in order to effectively promote, implement, and educate the public about the importance & necessity of this work! We would like to hear from you before we do any of this community engagement or education. We want to hear about past resilient lawn and tree care projects you have participated in, we want to promote the services and knowledge of our local organizations, and we want to hear your goals and ideas for resilient lawn and tree care in our community. Sue Granger is our only expert here today! Lets chat about what that means for our group. **Notes:** - How do we want to continue this conversation about Resilient Lawns - What seems like good next steps? What are things we can participate in that are not us starting new ideas, but instead bringing our people power to already existing projects. - Crystal shared about Resilient Moorhead and their project to plant an edible forest and prairie plantings. Tangible projects bring people in. She shared this link about beautification and community development: [Easy Community Beautification Projects and Fixes for Stubborn Issues](https://www.useful-community-development.org/beautification.html) - Important for skeptics to see successes! ---
**Author:** ![Stardrop](https://westcentralmnclimate.network/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/s/ecb155/32.png) [@Stardrop](https://westcentralmnclimate.network/u/Stardrop)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2026, 4:54pm UTC](https://westcentralmnclimate.network/t/resilient-lawns-sub-committee-home-base/260/6 "2026-01-24T16:54:27Z")
Resilient Lawns Sub-Committee Resurrection meeting 1/24/26 Agenda: Discuss reason for joining sub committee Existing Documentation Brainstorm ideas Garrett: Not a fan of manicured lawns, wants to meet people where they are to convince them to use more sustainable plants/practices Talitha: City Sustainability project coordinator, part of the job! Specifically resilient lawns are more easy to explain/spread the ideas of. Morris Model has resources to educate people as well. Hunter: Wants to kill grass lawns and replace w/native plants. Likes the idea of meeting people where they are. Kim: Wants to re-do her own lawn and thinks the knowledge she finds could help others. Captain: Hates lawns. Someone who likes to see more sustainable practices - wants to broaden perspectives to help nudge people toward sustainability. Overarching goals: Create Resources for others to learn Communicate to the community at large Potentially build/find demonstrations of sustainable lawns Potential projects/ideas 1. Meet with experts - extension office/master gardeners? 2. Presentation to the public- at library? 3. Potential group order of plants/seeds? 4. One-pager? Look at what exists already. 5. Figure out soil type around here? - Garrett’s brother knows about soil typing. Homework: Everyone: Review the existing Resilient lawn information, checking for dead links/info [Https://westcentralmnclimate.network/t/resilient-lawns-sub-committee-home-base/](Https://westcentralmnclimate.network/t/resilient-lawns-sub-committee-home-base/) Garrett: Chat with brother about soil in area Kim: Reach out to new nursery in Morris Next Meeting: Feb 21 @10am. ---
**Author:** ![cberthiaume](https://westcentralmnclimate.network/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cberthiaume](https://westcentralmnclimate.network/u/cberthiaume)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2026, 3:06pm UTC](https://westcentralmnclimate.network/t/resilient-lawns-sub-committee-home-base/260/7 "2026-02-28T15:06:33Z")
## 2/21/2026 Notes - Garrett forgot to talk to his brother, Kim didn’t have time to prepare (happens!) - Captain’s thought: lots of resources and info already there - guides, explanations, etc. How do we apply this in our community? - Kim was thinking some of the goals might not be realistic - Garrett wonders if some pollinators travel farther than others? In terms of having pollinator corridors and stuff. - Because in Morris we might just have isolated plots? Maybe look into pollinator corridors? Are the pollinator gardens accessible to pollinators? - Maybe instead of inviting local orgs to us, we could go to local to local orgs with something specific - What do people want from their lawns? How do they feel about their lawns? - Garrett proposes pitching resilient lawns around fixing things that people don’t like about lawns - Kim imagines a rack of pamphlets - like lawn troubleshooting - Spending too much on fertilizer? Patchy lawn? Sick of mowing? - Etc. and then specific resources for those questions/topics/problems - Categories: - Practices - Plants - Time and cost savings - Maybe provide resources for a spectrum of options from minor practices to full lawn transformation - Resources specific to our area? - General and local materials - general guides combined with local stuff/materials (Morning sky greenery mixes, etc.) - Something to hand out at farmer’s market, library, etc. - Kim imagines a one-pager with two sides - We already have a WIP one pager and I have brochures I made during GreenCorps - Start with 50 copies of something… We can print at duplicating services or at the library - We don’t need to reinvent the wheel… we can use existing resources - Long-term goal: make our own resources or find one - Kim will look through extension office resources and see if we can utilize their resources - [https://grasses.cfans.umn.edu/sites/grasses.umn.edu/files/files/media/native\_grasses\_brochure\_final.pdf](https://grasses.cfans.umn.edu/sites/grasses.umn.edu/files/files/media/native_grasses_brochure_final.pdf) - Homework for next meeting: review resources - Next meeting: select specific resources or topics. Bring something specific. 1-5 resources that we think are helpful - Part of agenda: Distill down to information that is useful and easy to hand out. Refine. Goal: make or find a resource to use for farmer’s market