Restoration 11/12/23

By: Jenna Huang

“The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago. The next best time is now.” As expressed in this old Chinese Proverb, there has never been a more crucial time for environmental action, whether it’s through restoring old habitats or even just growing native plants in your backyard. This is exactly what members of the AAPASD Student Leadership Club have focused on, and through collaborating with the Friends of Los Peñasquitos Canyon Preserve (FLPCP) organization, they aim to learn more about San Diego’s native habitats while helping their local environment. 

At their most recent restoration event, volunteers spent a majority of their time planting cacti pads under the guidance of another volunteer, Del, who was in charge of the organization’s cacti planting efforts. According to Del, Black Mountain Open Space Park has been a home to several native species, such as birds, pocketmouse, woodrats and lizards, and with newly grown cacti, these animals will hopefully be able to find a new habitat and repopulate in their native homes. Cacti make great homes for these small animals as they are stationary and provide a good source of protection for them.

To plant these cacti, the volunteers dug thin slots in the ground using a shovel, and using tongs, placed a cactus pad into these slots. The volunteers made sure to place the cut portion of the cacti in the ground to stimulate rooting. Later, when water is added to the cactus, the sand and soil around it will soften, allowing it to stay in place and grow successfully.

After finishing with the cacti, the volunteers returned back to the main site to assist with other tasks. On their way back, the volunteers spotted several different plants throughout Black Mountain Park, including numerous artichoke fissil and Colter’s Horseweed. According to Del, Colter’s Horseweed, or Conyza Coulteri, is an extremely rare but native plant species that hadn’t been planted in the park, however had simply grown in the area, perhaps introduced through a hiker’s shoes or a native animal.

Once they returned to the main site, the volunteers split off to collect seeds from several different plants, with the hope to grow them in their own backyards to have new saplings to plant at the next restoration event in a few weeks. Under the instruction of Beth Mather, President of the Friends of Los Peñasquitos Canyon Preserve, volunteers collected different parts of these plants to grow in their backyards, whether it was the dried buds from the gum plant, or the tips of bearded plume grass. The bearded plume is known to attract native rabbit species, and therefore by planting more, more rabbits will hopefully find a new habitat in the park. Additionally, volunteers collected seeds from buckwheat, which were very easy to remove and could be extracted through simply grabbing a handful of the plant. They also collected seeds from Jimson Weed, a plant that can be characterized by its white flowers, however is poisonous to dogs.

After the volunteers finished their work, they regrouped to enjoy some snacks and discuss the day’s events. Through the event, volunteers learned a lot about San Diego’s native plant and animal species while getting the opportunity to help their local environment. In the future, they look forward to helping FLPCP in more restoration events!