Iowa’s First Mini-forest

About Iowa's First Mini-Forest

Iowa’s first Mini-Forest was planted at West Des Moines’ Brookview Park on May 3-4th of 2024. Volunteers worked to plant around 1,200 seedlings of various native Iowa tree species within an area no bigger than an area no bigger than a Tennis Course. The Brookview Mini-Forest is open to the public and can be utilized by schools to teach young students of the importance of environmentalism.

Creating the Brookview Mini-Forest

Our work at Brookview Park began with prepping the Brookview Park site for the Mini-Forest. The work was long and tedious: we had to dig out the planting grid, grill holes, put up signs, and prepare for planting.

On May 3-4th, we begun the actual planting process. Working with the City of West Des Moines, the Urban Forester, Waukee APEX students, Brookview Students and Staff, and Volunteers, we began planting the hundreds of seedlings, adding mulch, and setting up the fence to protect the little trees as they grew. 

After a successful planting day, the Brookview Mini-Forest was finally established and open to the public. Although the hard part of the project was done, our work is far from over. From here, we will continue to periodically maintain the trees as they grow and promote our mission in the hopes of adding more Mini-Forests to the State of Iowa.

Plant species in the Brookview Mini-Forest

Trees

  • American Basswood
  • Black Cherry
  • Boxelder
  • Black Oak
  • Bottomland Bur Oak
  • Bur Oak
  • Common Hackberry
  • Kentucky Coffee Tree
  • Northern Pecan
  • Red Oak
  • River Birch
  • Shagbark Hickory
  • Shellbark Hickory
  • Sugar Maple
  • Swamp White Oak
  • Sycamore
  • Tulip Tree

Shrubs

  • American Hazelnut
  • Arioniaberry
  • Black Elderberry
  • Buttonbark
  • Gray Dogwood
  • Ninebark
  • Redosier Dogwood
  • Wild Plum

Small Trees

  • Pawpaw
  • Redbud

Des Moines Register

“A climate change book club needed hope. So, it decided to plant Iowa’s first mini-forest.”

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