Sunday, November 20, 2011

Planting Begins on Anacapa!

Volunteers plant natives on Anacapa
More than 500 natives were planted on Anacapa last week by CIR volunteers and NPS staff!  Nearly 10,000 plants have been grown in the Island nursery, and so those involved with the restoration effort are going to be busy in the next few months.  The best time to plant is during the wet season to take advantage of the rainfall, so NPS staff made a special effort to install as many plants as possible.  Staff used an auger to dig the holes in areas where iceplant had been removed, and then staff and more than 20 volunteer recruited by CIR planted mostly yarrow and native barley grass.  A small stake (color coded) was placed with each plant, which will help keep track of how each species did in each planting locaiton

There are many thousands more plants growing in the nursery including  two kinds of grasses, Coreopsis, yarrow, morning glory, wild cucumber and even some prickly-pear cactus.  There will be many opportunities for volunteers to participate in upcoming trips, so watch your email for announcements about these trips!

Volunteers including from Amgen plant on Anacapa