By Mary O’KEEFE

Montrose Shopping Park is looking more like a California-friendly garden thanks to the City of Glendale Community Services and Parks.

At the July 2 meeting the Montrose Shopping Park Association, members voiced their concern about the barren look of Honolulu Avenue and Ocean View Boulevard. Community Services and Parks had taken out the grass and plants in compliance with Gov. Jerry Brown’s executive order concerning drought. Part of that order announced in April required the State Water Resources Control Board to implement mandatory water reduction in cities across the state. The cities are required to reduce water usage by at least 25%.

The city had taken the plants out to reduce water and had put decomposed granite (DG) in its place with few plants. At July’s meeting, MSPA board president Andre Ordubegian said he and the board appreciated the city’s goal of reducing watering but was concerned about the look of the shopping park with its barren and brown look. Jess Duran, director of Community Services and Parks, and Chris Peplow told the board they would work on another design, with the MSPA’s input.

During the MSPA’s Aug. 6 meeting, Koko Panossian, Glendale senior parks service manager, brought the board what it had called the Montrose garden proposal. It included drought-tolerant, California native plants with mulch in some areas. The MSPA board members had requested color and Panossian said the plants that would line the avenue and boulevard would add the color they wanted.

The planting began this week along Ocean View Boulevard.

“We are about half way done,” Panossian said on Wednesday. “We have worked for the last three nights and Ocean View and Honolulu are almost complete.”

The crews will not be back in the area until about the week of Sept. 7. Panossian said this would give the MSPA members time to look at the plants and see if this is the direction in which they would like to continue.

There are a variety of plants that have been and will be planted within the shopping park and, although they may look barren in August, by spring they will bloom with colors.

“We did add some mulch in some area but are leaving some DG,” he said.

And because it is the La Crescenta, or Rockcrescenta, area there will be large rocks along the way.

With this new California, drought-friendly garden with its drip irrigation method, Panossian said they expect a 75% reduction in water use.

The city and MSPA have worked together to be water- wise, while keeping the “park” in Montrose Shopping Park a pleasant place.

  JESSY SHELTON, Mary Okeefe