Habitat Hopscotch in Hancock Park

Nature Nexus Institute does lots of work to restore habitat, especially in the Baldwin Hills Parklands, and to promote the use of native plants, both in public and private spaces. Native plants thrive on the usual 10 to 12 inches of rain we receive annually in our region-they are water-wise! In addition, they prefer the nitrogen-poor native soils local to Southern California. This eliminates the need to use fertilizers high in nitrogen and other components that are necessary to grow a lawn and other introduced flora. Runoff from overuse of these fertilizers eventually reaches our ocean, causing increased algae blooms. These blooms often create toxic conditions for sea life. The blooms are a factor in the Domoic Acid outbreak that we have witnessed recently, which poisons birds, sea lions, and dolphins, with sometimes fatal effects. In addition, the planting of native plants attracts a huge variety of pollinators and the birds and other creatures that eat them. A Native Plant garden is alive!

Fortunately, interest is on the rise amongst the public in “going native”, and we often receive inquiries from people who are thinking about trying this in their own personal landscape. Almost a year ago I received an inquiry from Wendy Guzin about this subject. Wendy is a dedicated gardener and Conservation Co-Chair for the Hancock Park Garden Club. She wanted to schedule a tour for club members to learn more about native plants. In short order, we convened first at the Westwood Greenway-a city-sponsored project that features a daylighted stream along a portion of the Metro “E” line and is planted exclusively with plants native to California. Opportunities to plant natives in public spaces are abundant, and the City, County, and State are increasingly doing just that-hurray! Our next stop was to visit NNI’s Greenhouse at the Baldwin Hills Scenic Overlook, where we met up with staff member Arely Medina-Perez. Arely has been managing our Restoration Project at the Overlook for years-she has become an expert on this type of work. She taught our group how to collect the seeds of natives and how to clean them in preparation for their germination. It was a lovely and informative morning and a treat to meet the gardening aficionados of Hancock Park. And I thought it would end there.

Then, in early July, much to my delight, I received a phone call from Wendy. She had converted her entire front yard from lawn to native plants and wanted me to see the project. Arrangements were made and I recently had the pleasure of seeing the results of her hard work. Wendy used the “Lasagna Method” to eliminate her lawn. This consists of layering sheets of cardboard and mulch over the lawn, killing the lawn and enriching the soil simultaneously. After several months of this treatment, she was ready to plant. Coffeeberry, Ceanothus, Deergrass, Seaside Daisy, and Yarrow are just some of the species that were put into the ground. Water-wasting sprinklers were replaced with a drip irrigation system (native plants do need a little help while getting established), and a pond-like depression, lined with rocks, was also installed to capture rainfall. The results look fantastic! During my visit, I observed three types of butterflies, and native bees busily harvesting nectar from the Yarrow flowers. Wendy also told me that lizards make their home in her garden, feasting on the insects attracted by the flowers. It truly is all connected. 

But probably the best connection of all is the people connection. Passerbys ooh and ah over the garden, and tell Wendy they love her work. Wendy’s next-door neighbor is now experimenting with a few natives in her yard. And of course, she keeps the Hancock Garden Club apprised of the progress of this conversion from lawn to habitat. This is the key element-people tend to learn best by actually seeing a concept at work. One of the arguments that is used against planting natives is that the yard will look dead for part of the year because some native plants go dormant in the summer months. Wendy did copious amounts of research to find natives that remain green year-round (like ceanothus), and to plant wildflowers that bloom at different times of the year (her Yarrow was in full flower during my visit in August!). Her yard is truly a demonstration garden that hopefully will inspire others to do the same. And that is a wonderful goal. I like to use the term “Habitat Hopscotch”. By this I mean if even every few yards and parks were planted with natives, native creatures that have co-evolved to use these plants could hopscotch from garden to garden, increasing the biodiversity and resilience of our region. The resulting reduced use of water and fertilizer is a benefit to the pocketbook and the ecosystem. And as Wendy’s garden now stands as living proof of the beauty of native plants, the hope is that Hancock Park will see more examples of “Habitat Hopscotch” in the future.