The Strand Native Garden | Manhattan Beach
This garden is built entirely from California natives suited to this coastline: low water, high habitat value, and better for the ocean just steps away.
Landscape Transformation
BEFORE
PROPOSED DESIGN
Planting is shown at maturity for clarity. Growth and seasonal variation will occur over time.
NATIVE PLANT PALETTE
WHY NATIVE PLANTS MATTER
Native plants are ecological powerhouses. They're food sources and habitat for pollinators that keep the whole ecosystem running. And some of those relationships are so specific they're irreplaceable. Seacliff buckwheat, for example, is the exclusive host plant for the El Segundo Blue Butterfly, an endangered species found nowhere else in the world outside a handful of dune sites right here in the South Bay. No buckwheat, no butterfly. Plant it, and thousands of years of evolution shows up right on schedule.
A garden like this also changes what's happening underground. A diverse mix of native plants builds healthier, more biologically active soil, and the more alive that soil is, the more water it can actually absorb instead of shedding as runoff. Natives are also known for deep root systems that reach into the subsoil, where moisture lingers long after the surface has dried out, so they end up drawing on water most gardens never reach.OCEAN FRIENDLY GARDENS
This garden follows Surfrider Foundation's Ocean Friendly Gardens program, the same one covered on the sign nearby. The program runs on three principles, known as CPR: Conservation, Permeability, and Retention. Conservation means choosing native, climate-appropriate plants that need little water or energy to thrive. Permeability means using materials and soil that let rain slow down and sink in, rather than sheet off pavement. Retention means capturing that water on-site so it recharges the ground instead of picking up pollution on its way to the ocean.Learn more at surfrider.org/programs/ocean-friendly-gardens.INSTALLED BY ENVIROSCAPE LA
This garden was installed by Enviroscape LA, a South Bay landscape company led by Mike Garcia, who has worked in horticulture for more than 40 years. He's also a founding board member of the Manhattan Beach Botanical Garden, an all-native garden Enviroscape installed more than 30 years ago, just down the road from this one.