- Author: Edie Warkentine
We're Certified!
The native plant garden at the Eastern Sierra Visitors Center (ESVC) is now a Certified Pollinator Garden!
The Eastern Sierra Land Trust (ESLT)'s Eastside Pollinator Garden Project encourages the creation of pollinator-friendly gardens in Inyo and Mono County. To become certified, the garden must feature:
- Three "food" features
- Both of 2 "water" features
- Two "shelter" features
- Plants native to California (preferably the Owens Valley) make up 50% of the Pollinator Garden space
- Minimal artificial lighting unless illuminating a structure or hazard
These are described below.
On August 27, 2021, Master Gardeners Edie Warkentine and Joanne Parsons met with the ESLT's Americorp Volunteer in charge of the Eastside Pollinator Garden Project, and received the official certification plaque, which we now proudly display at the entrance to the native plant garden.
Food Features
Clump plantings: plant each variety in groups of three (excepting trees)
Seasonality: The garden has three different bloom times
Diversity: The garden has three different scents, three different flower types, and/or three different flower shapes
One bird or butterfly feeder, such as:
- Thistle feeders for Goldfinches
- Fruit feeders for Orioles
- Nectar feeders for Hummingbirds
- Rotting fruit set out during butterfly migration
Larval host plants, such as: Milkweed, Indian Paintbrush, Mallow, Hollyhock, Dill, Sunflower, and more
Water Features
One water source:
- Wet irrigation ditches
- Bird baths
- Natural water features (pond, creek, etc.)
One water conservation measure:
- Mulching
- Lawn removal
- A drip irrigation system
Shelter Features
One natural shelter:
- Bare ground
- Dead wood
- Brush piles
One constructed shelter:
- Bird nesting boxes
- Bat houses
- Bee boxes
- Bee nesting logs
- Author: Dustin Blakey
Here are some photos from the beginning of this project. Looking back at these images is a great way to gauge our progress.
- Author: Edie Warkentine
About the Site
The garden was planted in three distinct zones, representing the areas attracting visitors to the visitors' center: (1) the Mojave Desert, (2) the Owens Valley, and (3) the Sierra Foothills.
Soil was amended to provide appropriate habitat for the three types of plants: (1) Type I (Mojave Desert) 60% Topsoil – 40% sand; (2) Type II (Owens Valley) Ripped. 100% Topsoil (3) Type III (Sierra Foothills): 50% Topsoil – 30% sand, 20% Decomposed granite.
A plant list was developed in consultation with the Inyo National Forest botanists. See attached documents below.
Garden Plans
These are photographs of the original documents detailing the site's plans.
Plant List 1
Plant List 2
Plant List 3
The original interpretative plan for the garden included:
- Developing a brochure providing the visitor with basic orientation and interpretation of the garden and encouragement to visit the garden.
- A mural on the back of the restroom building, featuring some of the native plants in the garden and the relationships of these plants with insects, birds, mammals, reptiles, and the importance of these plants to the various cultures that have inhabited the Great Basin.
- Interpretive panels to provide visitors with some basic concepts that apply to all native plant species like pollination and water saving strategies.
- Garden tours when time and staff allow.
- Creating special events centered around the garden.
- Using the garden as a focal point for lectures, programs on growing native plants as well as the arts. Using arts to interpret the garden.
This plan remains a great vision for the future and a challenge to the ESVC staff and Master Gardener volunteers. Due to changes in technology over the past ten years, in lieu of a paper brochure, the Master Gardeners will be hosting information about the plants on its website, available to the public. Information about the garden and the plants will posted on the Master Gardener's website and linked through QR codes accessible on visitors' cell phones.
- Author: Edie Warkentine
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: