Politics & Government

Sustainable Garden Project Moving Along

The Leadership Manhattan Beach Class of 2012 is raising funds to install a sustainable garden that will educate the public about how they, too, can have such a garden at their home.

The wheelbarrows and rakes may have been temporarily put away, but the work for Leadership Manhattan Beach's Class of 2012 continues, even if behind the scenes.

Right now, the class' main focus is to raise funds to cover the costs of the hardscape and landscape materials needed for the sustainable garden they will install in front of the building at 425 15th Street at the corner of Valley Drive.

In January, the class and other volunteers laid down newspaper on top of the existing grass, covering the paper with mulch in order to smother grass, roots and weeds to die and become organic compost. 

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This work followed on the heels of the removal of two unhealthy trees on the property, which followed the class' approved application to handle the creation of the sustainable garden.

The city's Environmental Task Force had recommended converting the landscape at 425 15th Street to a water-conserving, sustainable landscape with at least 50 percent less lawn, environmentally appropriate plantings, a water-conserving irrigation system, mulch applied between shrubs and trees, and efficient walking paths made up of decomposed granite.

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LMB's Class of 2012 took it on, assuming the challenge of raising $25,000 to cover costs and performing their own labor and enlisting that of other volunteers.

LMB has quite a history.

Every year for the past 20, LMB has sponsored a class that then takes on a project that benefits the community. Class members are volunteers who gain valuable insight and knowledge into how groups and organizations work to accomplish goals. Each class brainstorms project ideas and agrees on one to implement. The Class of 2012 selected the ETF's desire for a sustainable garden at 425 15th Street.

LMB's Class of 2012 is funding the project via corporate sponsorships, silent auction donations and community in-kind donations. So far, they have raised $6,050 of the needed $25,000.

On Monday, Feb. 13, they held a fundraiser at California Pizza Kitchen in Manhattan Beach, receiving 20 percent of a diner's total check when the diner presented a flier.

On Saturday, March 24, the group will hold a fundraising party in Manhattan Beach. The event will include valet parking, live music, food, a martini bar, wine bar, silent auction and raffle.

The group is soliciting silent auction items. Email Mark.lipps34@gmail.com.

Since the garden is city property, the MB City Council must approve all plans before they are implemented. On Tuesday, March 6, at the next City Council meeting, a group member will present the final landscape design plan for the sustainable garden, with an updated layout and site map highlighting the placement of paths, plants, boulders and other design elements of the waterwise and sustainable demonstration garden. 

The garden is being designed to educate others and help demonstrate and inform them of ways to have a waterwise garden at home. The LMB Class of 2012 also intends to raise enough money to cover the costs of public educational materials made available at the garden.

They also plan to schedule educational community events and welcome residents who would like to help with planting and other aspects of the project.

By mid-March, the class plans to start the infrastructure of the garden: fine grading, drip-irrigation, electrical and lighting, and th installation of pathways.

Once the infrastructure has been completed, the class will begin to plant the garden.

The group has a website and Facebook page. Donations are being accepted online.


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