Volunteers transplanting saltgrass

One of the current projects being undertaken by the Inyo-Mono County Master Gardeners is assisting in the revitalization, renewal and maintenance of the landscape at the Eastern Sierra Visitors Center (ESVC) in Lone Pine.   Although the major emphasis of the project is the native plant garden, our fearless leader and Farm Advisor, Dustin Blakey, visited the ESVC to consult on some its other landscaping issues, resulting in a proposed landscape plan, which largely has been adopted and is in the process of implementation.

Recently, the BLM brought in a SCO team to assist in creating a saltgrass landscape in a portion of the property in the front of the ESVC.  A significant portion of the property around the ESVC is covered in a variety of weeds and unwanted native plants; to create a “barrier” between that part of the property and the more developed property, which is covered in rocks and trees, Dustin suggested creating a saltgrass landscape, by taking plugs of saltgrass already growing on the property and creating a cohesive mass that can ultimately grow together into a beautiful carpet of saltgrass. 

Since there was healthy saltgrass growing around the base of some of the trees, we transplanted plugs of that saltgrass to the empty landscape. The biggest challenge was loosening the soil enough to be able to remove plugs and then plant them.  Water was used to loosen the soil, and the SCO crew had electronic augers, which they used to dig holes for the new plants.  Holes were just large enough to accommodate the plug's root casing and to permit planting of the plug at the same soil depth as its place of origin.  As one crew member removed a plug from beneath a tree, another planted it in the hole.

Immediately after planting, the plugs were watered from a nearby garden hose.  The current challenge is keeping the soil evenly moist, but not soaked, until new growth appears.  At that point, we will be able to determine a more permanent watering schedule, according to the specific needs of the plant.

It is a bit early in the season to accomplish the task of transplanting saltgrass, but an important lesson is to use human resources when they are available! 

For additional information on saltgrass, see:

• Making Salt Grass Grow | LADWP Intake Magazine
• Saltgrass Plant Fact Sheet (usda.gov)
• Saltgrass, Distichlis spicata (calscape.org)