Volunteers roll up their sleeves to "Weed Out" Milwaukee County Parks

MILWAUKEE -- One of Milwaukee County's largest parks is a lot cleaner now, thanks to a handful of volunteers. It was all part of Milwaukee County Parks 'Weed Out' event on Sunday, October 18th.

"This is probably a 30-year-old buckthorn," said Gil Walters, Friends of Estabrook Park.

Estabrook Park

The problem is an invasive plant taking over Estabrook Park.

"Twenty years ago, there was a very little buckthorn undergrowth and now it's taken over and a lot of the native plants have been crowded because of it," said Walters.

Volunteers like Gil Walters with 'Friends of Estabrook Park,' are working to make a difference. It's the type of help Milwaukee County Parks desperately needs.

"If we don't do it, the community does not have the resources to do it themselves," said Harold Schmidt, Friends of Estabrook Park.

Estabrook Park Weed Out

The Weed Out events are a weekly gathering of parks people and volunteers who want to preserve our parks to their natural habitat.

Weed Out

"We've been fairly successful in a couple of areas we're doing replanting," said Schmidt.

Sunday, they're after the fast-growing buckthorn plant.

"Try to get rid of all of it," said Schmidt.

It's kind of an impossible task, but the group is thinking big. First, they'll cut the plant exposing the inside and then apply a poisonous herbicide.

"It's absorbed by the roots and it won't come back," said Walters.

The work is hard but the volunteers say they enjoy it.

"I like to be outside," said Walters.

Estabrook Park Weed Out

The Weed Out events are held throughout the month of November all across Milwaukee County Parks. If you would like to volunteer information, CLICK HERE.