Composter Helps Out Hart Park Planting Day with Gift of 'Black Gold'

Gardeners call it 'black gold.'

It's compost, the product of decomposed organic matter under controlled conditions.

And a gift of a large load of it will go a long way toward making a success.

Sandy Syburg, the owner and president of Purple Cow Organics, based in Oconomowoc, said Thursday that he would be glad to donate 10 cubic yards of his product to help ensure a good start and long life to the plantings.

Syburg's company contracts with Wauwatosa to compost all of the city's leaves, yard waste and tree trimmings, and he said it was an appropriate gesture to see that some of that contribution was going back into sustainable projects in the city.

He said that even though Purple Cow contracts with 38 cities and villages and numerous private suppliers in Southeast Wisconsin and beyond, he would try to see to it that Wauwatosa got its own compost back from what it saved.

Wauwatosa Patch, a sponsor of the park clean-up, weed-out and plant-in event, requested the donation after an examination of the soil conditions for a planting area in the new  part of the park east of 68th Street.

The finding was: clay fill – almost devoid of organic matter.

Syburg said that such urban soils might contain no more than 2 percent of organic matter, which is not only critical to holding moisture in the soil but also to supporting beneficient microbial life that will help plants get established and thrive.

Well-made compost contains anywhere from 35 percent organic matter upward, depending on the source material and process, he said.

And every additional 1 percent of organic matter increases the moisture-holding capacity of soil by 16,500 gallons per acre/inch.

Too much math? Let's just say it's really good for the soil and really good for the plants that grow in it.

"Wow," said Rosemary Wehnes, president of the Friends of Hart Park Foundation, which is sponsoring the planting. "That's really great, and we're very appreciative of the generous donation.

"It certainly will help make this a success."

The trees and shrubs to be planted, 320 of them, arrived Wednesday afternoon from Johnson's Nursery in Menomonee Falls, and were tucked away in the garage behind the Muellner Building.

Nine cubic yards of mulch provided by the city was sent the same day.

The volunteers, hundreds of them, are lined up for a big morning Saturday of planting in .

An annual River Cleanup has been sponsored for 17 years by what is now Milwaukee Riverkeeper – formerly Friends of Milwaukee's Rivers, and before that Friends of the Menomonee, founded right here in Wauwatosa.

After the expansion of Hart Park through an MMSD flood management project, the Friends of Hart Park (FOHP) was founded and began co-sponsoring the spring event by hosting a weed-out program to remove invasive buckthorn, honeysuckle and garlic mustard.

This year, through a $4,000 grant from the Southeastern Wisconsin Watersheds Trust, also known as the “Sweet Water Trust, FOHP bought $3,000 worth of native trees and shrubs to plant in areas cleared of invasives, with another $1,000 worth of native wildflower species to be planted in the fall.

Most of those plantings are intended to improve diversity of vegetation along the riverbank west of 68th Street. They are partially shaded and in mostly native soils.

Wauwatosa Patch is sponsoring two plantings, a grove of savanna bur oaks and another of Kentuck coffee trees, in a more open area east of 68th Street, that are exposed to full sun and are in fill soils.

The gift of 'black gold' will go a long way toward making sure that those plantings survive their critical first year and thrive beyond.

Volunteers of all ages and abilities are welcome.

Let’s go!

Annual River Cleanup, Weed-Out and Plant-in at Hart Park

When: 9 a.m. to noon April 21

Where: Meet at the Muellner Building, Hart Park, 7300 Chestnut St.

Provided: Tools, gloves, free T-shirts, coffee and snacks

Bring: Your own favorite tools including shovels, saws, loppers, shears and rakes

Wear:  Boots, pants, long sleeves, safety glasses or sunglasses

Contact: ihartpark@gmail.com or 414-828-1357. Skilled volunteers to lead planting teams are needed. If you have experience with invasive plants or in horticulture, please contact us.

To come: In the fall, FOHP and Patch will again be recruiting volunteers to plant native grasses and forbs in the area.

More you can do: If you enjoy walks in Hart Park, consider bringing a bag to pick up any litter you see on your hikes.