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Many visible projects at Monona Butterfly Garden and Trails over past two years

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The last two years have been busy at the Monona Butterfly Garden and Trails. The main project this year was removing all the plants in the south terrace at the Butterfly Garden, bettering the soil and replanting the space with new plants that will add color, benefit butterflies and pollinators and not encroach on other flowers. (Submitted photos)

Work took all summer and involved over 200 volunteer hours. It started with a lot of tough digging.

Jim Langhus (left) and others have been paving sections of the Butterfly Trail, starting with the most erodible areas.

By Audrey Posten, Times-Register

 

The last two years have been busy at the Monona Butterfly Garden and Trails. Volunteers have spent time replanting a large section of flowers, maintaining benches and bridges and extending and paving portions of the trail.

 

“We’ve done a lot of big things you can really see,” said Jim Langhus, who’s led the group since the Butterfly Garden’s creation over 20 years ago.

 

The main project this year was removing all the plants in the south terrace at the Butterfly Garden. Some perennials had been there since the beginning.

 

“But everything was taking over—things we didn’t want—so we were only getting one or two things that were overshadowing everything that was underneath,” explained Langhus. “So we just decided to take out everything, even the perennials that were in it.”

 

Work took all summer, starting with a lot of tough digging. Volunteers used garden forks because shovels simply weren’t enough.

 

“First we dug out all the plants in it, then dug it to take out roots,” shared Langhus. “Then we dug it again, mixing in compost and fertilizers.”

 

Compost will help make the soil loose, and easier for volunteers to maintain.

 

Finally, the space was replanted and mulched. The rock border was also redone.

 

“We put some of it back in and then bought other plants to put in too,” Langhus said. “We chose native things as much as we could. We also chose things that draw butterflies and other pollinators. Perennials that don’t draw pollinators, we really stayed away from, or things that would just take over again.”

 

“We’ll also continue to put annuals in because they give you the full season color. Especially the marigolds and zinnias—they give you lots of color and are great for pollinators. Perennials just give you a spot of a month or two when it’s their blooming time,” he added. “Next year, it will all be planted at the same time, so it should look even better.”

 

Langhus said the project was made possible through a $1,000 grant from the Clayton County Foundation for the Future (CCFF), as well as $300 in matching funds from donations to the Butterfly Garden and Trails. Most importantly, however, the project utilized over 200 hours of volunteer work.

 

That included 16 hours from Guttenberg and Decorah Rotary Club members, who were looking for a service project between the two communities. MFL MarMac alumna Lexi Dettbarn also contributed over 20 hours as part of a community service requirement for her masters program.

 

“She helped me throughout the whole thing,” said Langhus. “Then Carol Grady and Ila Benzing were mainly the ones doing the work. Pat Martin helped with design and choosing some of the plants to put into it. It’s a good job done.”

 

But that’s not the only noticeable improvement. Last year, projects included maintenance to the benches. Rotten wood was replaced thanks to John Fuelling, who also constructed a new wooden arbor. The wooden bridge in the garden got new tread and hand rails, and hardware is being replaced on the bridges over the creek. Composting bins were also enlarged.

 

“All the weeds our gardeners pull get composted and go back to the garden. That was a really good project, and started as a suggestion from some master gardeners who’d gone through here,” said Langhus. “We built it three years ago and needed to have twice as much space. It’s working really well.”

 

Lastly, the group is working on extending and paving the Butterfly Trail, especially in places where it erodes badly. Work is starting next to the accesses.

 

“The pathway we’re paving is being funded by personal donations,” said Langhus. “Over the past year, there’s been a real strain on that. What used to get us 10 feet of path may only get us six or eight feet today. When you think about a mile of trail, it’s big bucks, so it’s not going to happen over night. Hopefully, it will start to happen more consistently.”

 

This fall, the city of Monona will finish its Phase III Monona Butterfly Trail extension from the Gateway Park Campground up north to Spruce Street, with shared hike-bike lanes from Spruce to Water, through city park and heading west on Iowa Street. This leads hikers to the entrance of Monona Memorial Gardens, taking the city to being about 75 percent finished with its eight-foot, hard-surfaced Butterfly Trail.

 

“We have the Butterfly Garden, the Memorial Garden and Garden View Park all hooked up, and now with the extension of trails, it goes past the pool to Gateway Park, which has a whole bunch of things people can do. Then the trail system will continue around to the city park,” Langhus shared. “The really nice part is there’s a mile and a half to two miles of trail where people don’t have to worry about the street. That’s nice for people with children. We’re also going to continue working on handicap accessibility too, to do what we can to make this a place where anyone who wants to can come here.”

 

Monona has continued to extend its trail system—something Langhus is excited to see.

 

“I love that because it means the city has bought into the idea and the community finds this is an asset worth having and growing,” he remarked. 

 

That’s been particularly visible during the COVID-19 pandemic, when Langhus said use of the Butterfly Garden and Trails has increased.

 

“People do see the value more. We have seen more people on the trails and more dog walkers on the trails,” he said.

 

These beautiful natural and recreational areas don’t stay maintained on their own, though. Langhus said the Butterfly Garden and Trails have benefitted from multiple grants over the years. The city also contributes $1,000 per year and helps with mowing, weed spraying and tree removal, while Monona Chamber and Economic Development Executive Director Rogeta Halvorson has written for grants and tapped into funding sources for trail extensions and kiosks. Additionally, the Butterfly Garden and Trails has an endowment through CCFF, the interest from which can be used for activities. Memorials and donations are also important.

 

If people are unable to financially support the project, Langhus encourages volunteerism.

 

“Give us a few hours a week or, every three or four weeks, come down for an afternoon. Anything is better than one or two people doing all the work,” he said.

 

Having a diverse group of volunteers is helpful not just in completing work, but also in contributing ideas. Langhus said he’s seen some volunteers take ownership of projects, allowing him to step back and focus on other activities.

 

“This is one of the big challenges: to find people who will take ownership. They have other ideas, and sometimes they are really good ideas, and it’s great to have those fresh sets of ideas coming into a project,” he shared.

 

“This is not a one-man show, but it’s a good show,” Langhus added. “It’s taken a lot of people and money and people saying ‘Yes, you can do that.’ All of these things put together create a really nice asset for the community.”

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