Weed Out! Racine

Working in coordination with the City of Racine Department of Parks, Recreation, and Cultural Services, we control and/or remove invasive plants. Actual tasks vary according to season and location. In spring we pull garlic mustard and dame's rocket. We may also pull nightshade, motherwort, and even dandelions. In the summer we pull burdock and look for wild parsnip.  In fall, we cut and treat honeysuckle and buckthorn. We also restore native plants to the wooded areas as we have resources available.

Weed Out! Racine is a volunteer organization that aims to maintain the biodiversity of our public spaces and native places by stopping the spread of invasive species. Volunteers from the St. Catherine's HS Environmental Club and the local group of the Sierra Club have been working in Colonial Park since 1999. Weed Out! Racine began in 2006 as a way to educate the community about the problems caused by invasive plants in our woods and elsewhere. and thereby recruit more volunteers. In 2011, WO!R received a grant from the Racine Community Foundation to remove invasives from the buffer areas along the Root River. We prepared a protocols manual for the City Parks Department.