Join the Saint Paullinator team

On April 14, 2022, Como Community Council was awarded the Lawns to Legume Demonstration Neighborhood Grant through the Board of Water and Soil Resources (BWSR). Funding is provided by the Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund (ENRTF) and is targeted in priority areas to benefit the Rusty Patched Bumblebee and other at-risk species.
A group of community members (later named the Saint Paullinators of South Como) linked to the District 10 Environment Committee proposed the plan for pollinator habitats throughout South Como Community. The demonstration neighborhood was awarded over $27,000 from the Lawns to Legume Program to install five boulevard gardens, four bee lawns, a community pollinator garden, prairie habitat and blooming boulevard trees.
The project, which began with community meetings in May and will continue through 2023, includes five parts. The first was to identify tree removal in the neighborhood and recommend blooming, pollinator friendly replacements A list of trees was submitted to forestry in June. The second was a community pollinator garden installed by local installer, Sacred Spaces, at the Orchard Rec Center. This space has been watered and weeded by community members and the Saint Paullinator group. A big thank you to our wonderful volunteers who have kept that garden looking beautiful!
Throughout August, Sacred Spaces continued the third and fourth part of the grant. Maddie and her team installed five boulevard gardens and three bee lawns in the demonstration neighborhood. Site hosts applied for the installations and will continue their weeding, watering and other care. During this time, a local donation from Julia Brokaw started a Seedling Steward program to supplement and donate plants for the installations. Thank you to the eight site hosts and seedling stewards for all the work they’ve already done!
Up next for the Saint Paullinators is the prairie installation. The group is scoping out sites for the installation including the lot on Jameson and Front (by the Front Hi-Rise) and are currently discussing options for installation sites. They have been working with Metro Blooms to start the design process for a proposed spring 2023 installation date.
If you’d like to be involved in the South Como Lawns to Legume Project or be a part of the Saint Paullinator Team, please reach out to organizer@district10comopark.org or join our Facebook group @saintpaullinatorsofsouthcomo.
A huge thank you to our Saint Paullinator Planning Group: Julia Brokaw, Dawn Lamm, Julie Rasmussen, Suzanne Rhees, Luke Sandstrom, Sue VonBank, Julie Ann Wegscheid, and Jessica Willman for the hours you’ve spent to make this project happen. Looking forward to seeing how this project grows in the years to come.

Como Curb Cleanup this Fall
Como Community Council is partnering with Capitol Region Watershed District for the 2022 Como Curb Cleanup.
When it rains, leaves on streets release nutrients into the water that flows into storm drains and the lake. There it becomes food for invasive algae. Studies have shown that sweeping up the leaves that sit against the curb where this stormwater/ice melt flows is surprisingly effective in reducing this damage.
Join 100+ neighbors in sweeping your curb once a week this fall to help keep Lake Como clean. You can learn more and register as an “official” participant to help us track our effectiveness on the D10 website.