“Think globally, act locally.” Just
as a small
“pocket park” can enrich a
neighborhood, so might
a “pocket oak restoration” enhance the
environment
and improve the views here in the Altadena
foothills. Native
oaks provide a botanical foundation for restoring
the dramatic
beauty and natural habitat that has often been
lost in the
foothills because of development. In September
2004, some
residents of the Alzada Road/Jaxine Drive
community approached
the Conservancy about facilitating a small oak
restoration
project.
The landowners, Luke Davis and Efi Latief, were
interested
in restoring oaks on the lower portion of their
property,
on the flat, eastern side of Alzada Road. There
are few large
oaks here because of land clearing that occurred
back in the
1960s for residential home construction. Invasive
black mustard
and foreign grasses have crowded out native
wildflowers, leaving
poor habitat for birds and other wildlife and an
unaesthetic
“vacant lot” appearance to the land.
Their neighbor, Robert Chave, decided that he
would rather
be looking at native oak trees than scrubby annual
non-natives,
so he made a donation to the Conservancy for the
project.
The oak restoration entailed planting
approximately 19 trees
- Coast Live oaks (Quercus agrifolia) and
Engelmann oaks (Quercus
engelmannii) - of mixed sizes (in one, five and
possibly 20-gallon
containers). In turn, the landowners are committed
to protecting
the oak trees as they mature and will provide the
young trees
with interim care (watering) until they are
established and
able to survive without human intervention. With
the record
rains of 2004-2005, the oaks are growing nicely.
Lori Paul,
VP, coordinated the purchase and planting of oaks
obtained
from the non-profit Theodore Payne Foundation for
[California]
Wildflowers and Native Plants. A California native
plant specialist,
Steve Hernandez, conducted the actual excavation,
planting,
and deer barrier protection for the trees.
If you are interested in working with the
Conservancy on
a small native plant restoration project, contact
us.
