Larchmont Buzz: Native Micro-Forest at Griffith Park Appears Promising
On Saturday we visited the newest addition to Griffith Park, a native micro-forest at the Bette Davis Picnic area. While the park just celebrated its 125th anniversary this past weekend, the micro-forest is just three months old and already it’s showing promising signs, according to LA Parks Foundation Executive Director Carolyn Ramsay, whose organization planted the experimental forest using dense planting known as the Miyawaki Method. The practice has proved successful in tropical environments, but this is the first test of native plants in a Mediterranean climate. The planting was funded by the Los Angeles Parks Foundation with a grant from the Hancock Park Garden Club.
The Miyawaki Method of afforestation involves using strictly local, indigenous species and planting them very densely, with various layers of vegetation (e.g. understory, shrub, tree, and overstory trees) planted side by side to provide a thick, impenetrable quality over time. The resulting self-managing forest is said to require zero maintenance after two years and will be a treasure for local wildlife, children, students and the landscape design community. Currently, the plants are being watered but the hope is to gradually wean them off any additional irrigation.
