Revised February 26th, 2024
Note: This content has been archived and may no longer be accurate or relevent
On 11.13.23, Shorewood City Council approved a buckthorn removal contract that permits Garlon4 herbicide, an environmentally harmful, but effective, chemical treatment against buckthorn.
To voice your objection and prevent future widespread chemical treatments in our parks you can electronically sign the appeal at www.change.org and forward to your neighbors.
You do not have to live in Shorewood to sign this appeal. Freeman Park is a Regional Park providing services to residents of Shorewood and surrounding communities.
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- Hundreds of residents and their pets walk through the wooded areas of the park each day. Garlon4 causes skin irritation in pets and humans and can cause vomiting and diarrhea in pets.
- Garlon4 is an herbicide produced by Dow AgriSciences. It is one of several methods Minnesota DNR suggests for buckthorn but it also kills other saplings and seedlings like oak, basswood, maple, aspen, boxelder and elm.
What you can do:
- If you agree that Garlon4 and other herbicides labeled DANGER, WARNING or CAUTION should not be widely used in Freeman Park, send a message to Shorewood City Council to stop this harmful chemical treatment by electronically signing the appeal at www.change.org.
- Encourage other residents to sign the petition and ask them to share.
- Attend City Council meetings when this matter is being discussed.
Submitted by: Friends of Freeman Park
View video of Council discussion
See related articles
Learn more about Garlon 4 herbicide
What the labelling of Garlon 4 means
Contact the Shorewood City Council
Note: This article was submitted by the Friends of Freeman Park and does not necessarily reflect the views or positions of SCA. Other articles are welcome and may be published at the sole discretion of the SCA editors.
I would suggest that you include alternative solutions to chemical uses in our parks. Perhaps, also form a group to work towards eradicating buckthorn in our parks and on our properties.
Steve – thank you for your suggestion. Alternatives include repeated cutting and exhausting the plants root system as well as the tried and true method of pulling plants. Continued research is also being conducted by Univ. of Minnesota that includes plants that outcompete the growth of buckthorn as well as fungi that attacks the plant root system ( see Mike Schuster, PhD U of M Invasive Terrestrial Plants and Pest Center). Hope this helps.
I would suggest that anyone thinking about signing this petition should go to and watch the ENTIRE city council discussion regarding the limited use of this herbicide in the park. I do not believe the Garlon 4, used as described by Prairie Restoration, is as much of a danger as some are suggesting. I walk that park almost daily and have dogs I would be concerned about if I did not feel comfortable with the approach.
This article talks about the primary method being used to first remove the buckthorn https://shorewoodcitizenadvocates.com/taking-action-on-buckthorn/ (SCA “Taking Action on Buckthorn.” Then will come the “exhaustion” method to keep the buckthorn out. No chemicals needed for this method.
We should not be using harmful chemicals ANYWHERE!!! That includes salt on roads, sidewalks, parking lots…..!