By Pat KRAMER

hree years ago, Sunland–Tujunga resident Eve Sinclair tore out her lawn and replaced it with a drought-tolerant landscape, including native plants, after learning how they attract pollinators and wildlife, which then leads to a healthy food web. Since doing so, she said she now has a partnership with the native plants and insects, as well as a water bill that averages less than 100 gallons a day, which costs less than $37 for a two-month period based on a recent LADWP bill.

After creating her own garden, Sinclair became involved in regenerating the Howard Finn Community Garden that lies behind the Sunland–Tujunga Public Library at 7771 Foothill Blvd. in Tujunga, where she now serves as its garden chair. On Saturday, Jan. 28 from 10 a.m. to noon, the Community Garden will be the site of the first Native Plants & Gardening Event to provide free information on the many benefits of native plants. The workshop and tree planting are being presented in conjunction with TreePeople, the Theodore Payne Foundation, and the Neighborhood Council Sustainability Alliance for the City of Los Angeles.

Starting at 10 a.m., Lisa Novick, director of Outreach for the Theodore Payne Foundation, will share information on how residents can benefit from replacing a lawn with native plants. She will be joined by Pam Gibson of TreePeople who will talk about their mission to inspire and support the people of LA to plant and care for trees, harvest the rain, and renew depleted landscapes to grow a greener, shadier and more water-secure city and a healthy, thriving Los Angeles.

At around 11 a.m., the event will shift to outdoors for a demonstration on how to plant native trees at the Community Garden, a short distance behind the library at Howard Finn Park. (The Garden is enclosed by a chain link fence adjacent to the children’s play area.) Among the native trees that will be planted are several Catalina cherry trees, native grapes and golden currants.

The event is open to the public and everyone is encouraged to join the work party by wearing comfortable clothing and work gloves. All ages are welcome and light refreshments will be served.

“Hopefully,” said Sinclair, “we can all learn to recognize and support the value of our local resources – the native birds, insects and plants – so we can help them survive and prosper by providing in our gardens what they need. By doing so, we can enjoy all what they provide to us, like conservation of water, native fruits, beauty and support to the food chain that they attract. These are just some of many, many good reasons to join us this Saturday for the first Native Tree Planting and Gardening event.”

The Neighborhood Council Sustainability Alliance (NCSA) of Los Angeles brings people together from all over the city to educate the public on ways to improve our sustainability and resilience through advocacy, sharing of best practices, and community action. This includes drought response strategies, climate action, and collaborating with public agencies and environmental and community organizations to support effective engagement on LA’s Sustainable City Plan.

  Pat KRAMER