CHIA Ohlone Greenway Coastal Prairie Restoration Project
Berkeley
Years gardened at this location: 5 years
Garden size: 40 yards of 8’ strips on either side of the Ohlone Greenway (adjacent to the Peralta Community Garden)
Showcase feature: Five years ago community members who wanted to grow local native grassland plants formed a group called CHIA. CHIA cleared a weedy area by hand, and planted more than 60 species that are native to East Bay grassland/coastal prairie/coastal scrub plant communities. Most of these plants are genetically native to the East Bay and were acquired from Native Here Nursery. Many plants have been propagated from seeds by volunteers at the Peralta Community Garden Nursery.
Other garden attractions:
- Thick layer of mulch was used to suppress weeds.
- Plants along the trail receive no summer water.
- Buttercups and other wildflowers now appear on their own when the rains begin.
Gardening for Wildlife: The large array of native plants provide habitat for birds, bees, butterflies, and moths, and their larva. Observations of local wildlife include:
- fluffy feathers sticking to tarplant stems are evidence of birds foraging for nutritious seeds
- tiny solitary bees love the Gilia and buttercups.
- Green yellow striped moth larvae crawling over tarplant
- orange butterflies hovering over cow parsnip
- Cooper's hawks flying low and dipping
- mice scurrying and hiding
- skippers mating on the needle grass
- hummingbirds chasing each other around the fuchsia
- ladybugs enjoying the aphids on the bush lupine
- black and orange caterpillars on the bush lupine
- brown caterpillars in early spring camouflaged on dead buckwheat stalks
- people in summer harvesting seeds for workshops