Greening the gap: The potential of mini forests

Hello Monitor readers,
For July, I’d like to share words from Gavin Edwards, an intern with Renewing the Countryside.

GREENING THE GAP
As a college student commuting through the Twin Cities each day I began noticing little things that I had never considered before, forgotten things. Patches of grass wedged between traffic lights, a barren strip of land alongside a parking lot, or a field of mowed grass that’s always empty, never being touched.
These overlooked spaces became a quiet obsession of mine during my previous semester at the University of Minnesota, where I study Environmental Sciences at the College of Food, Agriculture, and Natural Resource Sciences (CFANS). I moved to the Twin Cities in 2023 leaving behind my hometown of Grand Rapids, Minnesota. Three hours north of the Twin Cities, space feels abundant alongside trees that dominate the landscape. In Itasca County where Grand Rapids is located, over 80% of the land is covered by tree canopy with over 10% density (Global Forest Watch, 2010). Back home I grew up surrounded by nature. Coming to the Twin Cities I didn’t realize that I had taken this for granted until I began noticing just how differently land is used in an urban environment.
This past spring I interned with Renewing the Countryside, working alongside Hannah Lewis and Melvin Giles to help establish mini forests across the Twin Cities. Mini forests (also known as tiny forests) are densely planted patches of native trees, shrubs and other species. These spaces are designed to mimic what a naturally occurring forest would look like if allowed to regenerate on its own. Mini forest projects commonly use the Miyawaki Method, a planting technique developed by Japanese botanist Akira Miyawaki. After assessing the soil, a diverse mix of native tree saplings and understory plants are carefully selected and planted close together. With regular monitoring, watering, and weeding these mini forests can become self-sustaining within three years, at which point they no longer require maintenance.
Working on these projects has changed how I see the world around me. Every vacant lot, every lonely strip of grass I see now as opportunities, pockets of potential. In an urban environment like the Twin Cities where space is at a premium, we have to think critically about how we use the land we have left. Minnesota has lost vast amounts of forest cover over the past two centuries due to clearcutting, development, and the pressures of a changing climate. Today Minnesota has an estimated 44% loss in tree cover when compared to pre-colonization. As extreme weather events become more frequent and ecosystems become increasingly unstable, solutions like mini forests can offer hope. Trees do much more than beautify a neighborhood, they store carbon, purify the air we breathe, cool the surrounding ground, and reconnect people with nature.
May Peace Be In the Rondo, Frogtown, Hamline/Midway, Como, and Surrounding Communities... May Peace Be In Our Homes and Communities… May Peace Prevail On Earth (MPPOE).
Editor’s note: This is the last column by Melvin Giles as he passed away on July 1, 2025. Find all of his columns on our website at www.MonitorSaintPaul.com.