UC MG Outreach: Pleasant Hill Instructional Garden
Pleasant Hill Instructional Garden Bears Fruit
The Pleasant Hill Instructional Garden (PHIG) is an educational garden, model and outstanding example for sustainable gardening and landscaping, water conservation and habitat preservation. Using IPM methods that attract beneficial insects and birds, and utilizing native and related Mediterranean plantings, this garden was developed over the past three years with the cooperation of state and local government, businesses, students at the Mt. Diablo Adult School and other local schools, community organizations and the UC Master Gardeners of Contra Costa County.
This year, the garden will once again participate in the City of Pleasant Hill’s annual Week of Caring and Community Service Days. Here are some of the projects that volunteers will tackle:
- Conduct general & fall garden maintenance to prepare for participation in next spring’s Bringing Back the Natives Tour. Tasks include composting, mulching, pruning, deadheading, weeding, raking, trash pickup and dividing plants. The garden will illustrate how mulching benefits soil health and water conservation.
- Create a bird bath fountain. A bowl made on Earth Day will be scooped out, connected to the irrigation system for a continuous stream of water, and then mounted on a permanent stand. It will be an educational feature about the essential elements of a wildlife habitat, while conserving water at the same time.
- Create a seasonal wetland and bog water feature in the dry stream bed to provide habitat for frogs, salamanders, birds and insects, continuing work begun by the California Landscape Contractor’s Association and Green Life Studios.
