Posts Tagged: Spring Survey
Help Stop Invasive Garden Plants from Overrunning California's Landscapes!
Participation in the 2015 Spring Nursery Survey is easy, educational, and fun! Volunteers will:
- View an online training
- Download required survey materials (e.g. survey form & plant ID key)
- Sign up to survey a randomly selected store in their county
- Visit the store and record information about any invasive plants being sold
- Submit information to PlantRight
PlantRight will host two training webinars to reflect different survey periods for Southern California (San Luis Obispo, Kern San Bernardino Counties and south) and Northern California:
Southern California Webinar:
Monday, February 23rd, from 7:30 – 8:30 p.m.
Northern California Webinar:
Wednesday, April 15th, from 7:30 – 8:30 p.m.
Sign up at: www.plantright.org/survey-registration
“2014 saw many common invasive plants decline in availability, yet some are more popular than ever. Help us prevent the next big invasive by making the 2015 survey our most successful yet!” –Chris Crawford, PlantRight Survey Manager
2014 Survey Highlights
Driving this positive change was a large decrease in periwinkle (Vinca major), dropping from 17% in past years to 9% of surveyed stores. However, the number of stores selling the most recently added invasive plants on PlantRight's list (updated in early 2014) increased. Notably, the drought-tolerant emerging invasive Mexican feathergrass (Nassella tenuissima) increased in prevalence from 27% in 2013 to 38% in 2014.
A comprehensive report and simplified fact sheet detailing the results can be found on the Spring Retail Nursery Survey – 2014 Fact Sheet. These results act as PlantRight's guiding light, shaping its strategy and helping it move forward collaboratively with the nursery industry.
2015 New Plant List
After a year-long review, PlantRight is very excited to share its brand new 2015 list of Suggested Alternatives for Invasive Garden Plants. This list identifies the top ten priority invasive plants for sale in California and provides recommendations on beautiful alternatives. Without the help of the UC Master Gardeners and the data collected from the annual spring survey, the new and improved list would not have been possible.
-- For questions, contact Chris Crawford, PlantRight Survey Manager, at ccrawford@suscon.org or (415) 977-0380, ext. 331.