Stay in the know about wildlife, water quality, and ecosystems on Sanibel and Captiva Islands and in Southwest Florida
SCCF Plantings Help Keep Beach Ecology Intact
Each summer, the Native Landscapes & Garden Center staff are able to take part in beach restoration and enhancement projects on several local beaches.
Pictured here is Garden Center Assistant Emily Harrington planting a green buttonwood (Conocarpus erectus) as part of the Sanibel-Captiva Road/Shoreline Project, which consisted of planting a mix of native trees and dune stabilizer plants such as sea oats (Uniola paniculata) and sea oxeye daisy (Borrichia frutescens).
“These projects span throughout the island at public and private beaches to help add to and diversify the beach dune system,” said Becca Grotrian, Native Landscapes & Garden Center Manager. “This summer we planted at eight different beaches from the Lighthouse down towards the Blind Pass area with a couple being on the bay side such as Bailey Road and Seagrape Lane.”
These plantings take place in the summer to take advantage of the natural rainfall so the plants typically don’t need supplemental watering.
“Having a healthy beach dune system is very important, not only do the plants help out with erosion but they also protect inland areas from storms by creating a barrier to absorb some of the strong wave and wind energy,” Grotrian said.
“Having a healthy beach dune system is very important, not only do the plants help out with erosion but they also protect inland areas from storms by creating a barrier to absorb some of the strong wave and wind energy,” Grotrian said.
Pictured here is a planted section at Bowman’s Beach, which included sea oats, railroad vine (Ipomoea pes-caprae), seacoast marsh elder (Iva imbricate), dune sunflowers (Helianthus debilis), and sea purslane (Sesuvium portulacastrum).
The dune system is also important to much of our wildlife by providing shelter, foraging and nesting. For example, gopher tortoises (Gopherus polyphemus) make their burrows in back dune areas where they also can forage on plants like prickly pear (Opuntia), gopher apple (Geobalanus oblongifolius), and golden creeper (Erondea littoralis).
Funding for the annual beach planting program comes through grants given to the City of Sanibel’s Natural Resources Department. Many of the species not only can grow on the beach but can grow in an upland landscape if you have a dry, full-sun area in your yard.
The Native Landscapes & Garden Center at the Bailey Homestead Preserve is open Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. We also continue to offer contactless deliveries and curbside pickup. On-island deliveries are made on Wednesdays and curbside pickup is also on Wednesdays, from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. Simply place your order online by midnight on Tuesday for pickup or delivery that Wednesday.
Please email our Garden Center Assistant Sue Ramos at sramos@sccf.org with any questions or requests.
SCCF members will get their discount by entering this promo code: SCCFMBR10