Why do we plant so many Native plants when there is a drought?
This is one of the questions we are always asked. We asked Joey Algiers who works at the NPS as a Restoration Ecologist in the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area.
“Native plants really only need 3 - 4 months of biweekly watering after planting to get them established. Some trees, maybe more. I think it’s actually the most efficient use of water. Last year, I think we used about 300,000 gallons of water to plant 50,000 plants. To put that into context, a family of four uses ~12,000 gallons of water a month. A swimming pool is ~ 15,000 gallons of water. The water we use is just to get the plants established, then they provide habitat for years and years and pass on the next generation of plants.Our plan moving forward is to focus on areas that can hand dry conditions, like cactus scrub, and areas likely to hold water like riparian and wetland areas. We also plan to plant everything in winter. This year is turning out that way. We have over 30,000 of our 50,000 plants in the ground and we’ve received two good rainfall events. It means a lot less water use. Also, we got the ok from Las Virgenes water district to use reclaimed water. That will go into effect soon.”
