The Problem
Over-use of water by non-native plants & lack of community knowledge of beauty & uses of native plants.
Over-use of water by non-native plants & lack of community knowledge of beauty & uses of native plants.
Develop an unused area of our school garden into a walkable native plant garden with plants that can also be used for fibers and natural pigments by the art classes. It will also be used by science and history students to learn about invasives vs. natives and ecosystems. Before the school closure our Club Officers were planning to present and table at the LA Environmental Fair at the LA Arboretum. They worked with the Art Club to begin formulating a plan for the plants, consulting the native dye list from the art teacher. As of school closure we began a tentative garden design based off the color wheel. The Community Gardeners & students from various clubs and classes helped us clear the designated patch of grasses. Community gardeners helped rototiller the section. Garden Club learned about the importance of Native Plants from Tree People & made posters. With a generous donation from Tree People of several sages, Catalina Cherry trees, California Buckwheat and other plants we began planting some natives. Unfortunately the school closure halted our progress and we have not been able to access the garden due to school closures. Hopefully some of the planted natives survive and we can continue the project when face-to-face school resumes. UPDATE: We planted 2 Cataline Cherry trees, California buckwheat, purple sage and California sage donated by TreePeople before the school shut-down. We look forward to continuing this project when schools reopen.