Did you know a small group of Cherryhill neighbors has begun taking care of the strip of land outside the DeAnza Park fence along Ticonderoga Drive? You may have noticed a beautiful native garden that seemed to have sprung up out of nowhere last year. The origin of this bee and butterfly-friendly garden is a testament to neighbors coming together to help foster native plants and bring beauty to an otherwise overlooked space.

In August 2020, a group of neighbors led by Theresa Fremon created a native plant garden comprised entirely of annual wildflowers, which bloom from February until September. They were inspired by a volunteer group in Palo Alto called Primrose Way Pollinator Gardens. The Palo Alto group takes little corners of overlooked public land and turns them into native plant gardens under the guidance of a professional landscape architect who specializes in native plant gardens. While not a landscape professional herself, Theresa has been gardening with native plants for 20 years in her own yard. She had her eye on the long, dry patch of land at De Anza Park that used to contain huge mulberry trees. Saddened when the city cut down the mulberry trees and replaced them with native oaks, Theresa also saw an opportunity in the spaces below the new trees. She didn’t notice any irrigation and thought it would be a good space for a native plant garden.

Theresa contacted Juanita Salisbury, who runs the group in Palo Alto, and Juanita graciously helped created a proposal to send to the City of Sunnyvale. It took some work figuring out what department and person to contact, but Juanita helped do that and guided Theresa in what to say – namely, do not ask for any money or help, but reassure the city group would do everything. By then, Theresa had recruited neighbors willing to help and they formed a little informal group. The city contacts were very nice and accommodating. It turns out, the Urban Landscape department manages the land. The land is owned by the School District but is shared with the city who in return manages it.

The group sent in a comprehensive proposal to plant native plants, but were originally turned down due to the lack of irrigation and the thought that the group might unknowingly get in over their heads. According to Theresa, they were correct! The Urban Landscape department suggested the group try Serra Park, which has irrigation, and they could support the proposal there. The group expressed thanks but still wanted to clean up the land at De Anza first. The city kindly provided wood chips to make the bare areas look nicer.

Then, one of the group’s young volunteers, a 9 year old girl named Sara Shah, suggested throwing some seeds down. Since native California wildflowers do not need any water besides rain, the idea seemed genius! The city approved the idea and the group sowed 26 different kinds of native CA wildflower seeds (all local to this very spot), and about 10 of the species sprouted. The group also threw in some other native seeds local to Southern CA, like the bush sunflowers, which are fun for the birds.

The Park Manager (Joseph) stops and says hi when he drives by, and he was thrilled with the help and the stunning display of flowers in 2021. No one has a ton of time to volunteer, but thankfully the garden is not a lot of work. The group is actually relieved they did not tackle the original proposal. Aside from sweeping the sidewalk, they only pull some weeds when necessary. Based upon the current bounty of green plants currently in the space, 2022 looks like it will be an even more incredible display!

A MESSAGE FROM THE GROUP TO ANYONE INTERESTED IN JOINING THEM:

“We are a small group of neighbors in Cherryhill. We create and maintain public gardens around our neighborhood. We started in 2020, and, with permission from the city, we take care of some land at De Anza Park (on Ticonderoga & Muscat). We also take care of few large planters on Sunnyvale-Saratoga, and behind San Antonio Park. We have removed non-native ice plant, put down wood chips, sowed native wildflower seeds, sweep the long sidewalk regularly, pull weeds, and maintain a bird bath. The goal is to have fun, meet neighbors, support pollinators and wildlife habitat, and make it easier to garden with native plants at home. If you want to be a steward with us and/or share your ideas, please feel free to get in touch! We don’t really have a schedule or management, it is up to each person to decide what, when, and how much they want to do… for example, it can be very easy, if your toddler wants to help with the bird bath, just bring a bottle of fresh water on your next walk and pour it in the bird bath near the white fire hydrant on Ticonderoga and Muscat. It is easy and fun! Or if you ever want to do more, great! No one minds if you show up late or leave early or forget altogether! We cannot stress how flexible and supportive we are of each other, and how forgiving the garden is with regards to ebbs and flows of attention we can give it. The most important (and most fun) way to help out, is to just enjoy the spring and summer blooms, and take pictures of any plants, insects, birds, or animals you notice when you walk by the garden. The native plant garden at De Anza Park is about 3,000 square feet and runs along the long sidewalk on Ticonderoga next to the athletic field. There are so many wildflowers that sprouted there this winter, and we believe the garden will be utterly breathtaking when it blooms this year from February to September. The height of blooms should be around late May. Hope this brings much joy to the neighborhood!”

Below are the BEFORE and AFTER pictures (click the arrow on the middle right side of the photo):