Friends of Minnetonka Parks
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Victoria Evergreen Preserve

Website
www.mtkaparks.org/victoriaevergreen
Contact the Friends of Victoria Evergreen

Send
Park Address  3801 Victoria Street

UPCOMING VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES

Garlic Mustard Removal, May 10, 4 - 6 pm
​Register for this event on the city website.

current RESTORATION project

2022 
Fourteen people attended the September 28th buckthorn blitz event; several were neighbors. The focus of the session was on releasing the bur oaks (young and old) that were surrounded by honeysuckle, buckthorn, box elder and prickly ash. There was quite a bit of black knot on the chokecherry which we removed and isolated it from the main pile of slash. 

Now, over a dozen released bur oaks can be seen right from the trail!
2021 
August to November: The Friends of Victoria Evergreen Park cleared a thick “buckthorn wall” around fourteen red and bur oaks on the east side of Skunk Hill. A project to remove box elder trees around the large oaks was shelved after only two days.
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Before Buckthorn Removal
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After Buckthorn Removal

​November: The Friends of Victoria Evergreen Park donated 180 Ginseng seeds and four seedlings that were planted around the park by a joint Friends & Natural Resources staff event. This is important because Ginseng was extirpated by European settlers in the 1870s. It has not been established in Minnetonka forests for 150 years. 

2022
We would like to continue clearing buckthorn around large oaks on skunk hill, and negotiate with the city to clear box elder trees that are in the drip line of oaks too.
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City Natural Resources Staff Plant Ginseng in the Deer Exclosure

CULTURAL HISTORY

In 1901, most of today’s Victoria Evergreen Park was owned land by C.J. Alger and G.B. Stephens. The abutting parcel to the east was called Williston Park, a neatly planned out subdivision with windy streets. It was one of the early areas that was subdivided and heavily marketed to Minneapolis folks looking for home lots. At the time, Minnetonka was mostly farms.

A 1937 aerial photo (right) shows that the Victoria Evergreen land was not being farmed. The eastern portion with rolling topography was dominated by open grown bur and white oak forming an oak savanna. 

In 1959, Victoria Evergreen land (19.9 acres) was owned by Aretz Realty Company. This is the same year that Minnetonka established its first park—Gro-Tonka.
Picture
1937 Historical Aerial Photo

natural history

GEOLOGIC FEATURE
Skunk Hill at the east end of the park is a geologic feature called a kame. The kame was formed when sand and gravel accumulate in a depression in a glacier. As the glacier melted over 10,000 years ago, it left this knob-like landform. This kame is dominated by oak trees. 
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View looking up Skunk Hill (kame).
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Skunk Hill

mysteries of victoria evergreen!

Do you and your family really want to get to know Victoria Evergreen Park?

Put on your “nature detective eyes” and see if you can find some of the mysteries in our park.

Download the file on the right and bring it to the park with you!
File courtesy of The Old Naturalist


Picture
victoria_evergreen_park_mysteries.pdf
File Size: 1738 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

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FLORA AND FAUNA

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At least two pairs of Pileated woodpeckers nest in the park and their call can commonly be heard. They are the largest woodpecker in North America.
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The so-called “dragon tree” is actually a box elder that is bent over. This is a common behavior of box elders.
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Black Cherry (Prunus serotina)
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Muskrat
© 2023 Friends of Minnetonka Parks.
​Friends of Minnetonka Parks is a 501c3 nonprofit organization governed by a volunteer board of directors.
  • Home
  • Friends
    • Mission
    • Who We Are
    • Volunteerism
    • Contact Us
  • VISIT A PARK
    • Big Willow
    • Cullen
    • Hilloway
    • Jidana
    • Lake Rose
    • Lone Lake
    • Meadow
    • Minnehaha Creek
    • Purgatory
    • Shady Oak
    • Tower Hill
    • Victoria Evergreen
  • Resources
    • Tree Aging App
    • Invasive Plants
    • Newsletter
    • YouTube Videos
  • Events
    • Volunteer Events
    • Education and Social Events