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San Diego Botanic Garden presents Parkdale Lane Elementary native pollinator garden project to Encinitas commission
Summary
A San Diego Botanic Garden representative described a donor-funded project to remove invasive ice plant at Parkdale Lane Elementary School, install native pollinator plants, place interpretive signage and boulders, and noted prior related work in the district.
The Habitat Restoration Program Manager from the San Diego Botanic Garden presented a donor-funded native pollinator garden project at Parkdale Lane Elementary School, describing plans to remove invasive ice plant (Carpobrotus edulis), install a variety of native species chosen to provide year-round nectar and larval host plants, place interpretive signage and landscape boulders, and engage volunteers in planting and restoration.
The presenter said the project grew from a private donor who wanted to help pollinators and that the Botanic Garden proposed three goals: enhance pollinator habitat at the Botanic Garden, add habitat on a City of Encinitas property (the Moonlight Beach parcel), and create a project at Parkdale Lane Elementary. Work began in November, the presenter said, and the planting portion took place in November and early December.
"So the goal, as I mentioned, is to remove the non native ice plant, Carpobrotus edulis, to install a wide variety of native species," the presenter said. The presenter described removing decades of duff beneath the ice plant, hauling plant material to green waste, scraping the slope, mulching, installing boulders with a crane and then planting native sages, buckwheats, ceanothus, Fremontodendron species, seaside daisies and agaves, among other species.
The presenter noted an existing relationship with the Encinitas School District based on previous restoration work at Oceana Elementary School and said a district facilities staff member approved the Parkdale project. The presenter described the Parkdale work as partly a trial project: the Botanic Garden did a section of the slope rather than the entire area because of capacity and district maintenance limits.
The presenter also explained volunteer involvement: the Botanic Garden runs habitat restoration volunteer groups that work in open spaces weekly and that volunteers participated in the Parkdale removal and planting. The presenter said the donor provided funding sufficient to install boulders and to do the job at a larger scale than a minimal pilot.
No formal action or vote was recorded in the transcript. The presentation concluded with an offer to answer questions.
