ENCINITAS: City forming battle strategy against invasive plants
By RUTH MARVIN WEBSTER - Staff Writer | ∞
Jason Giessow, president of the California Invasive Plant Council, looks at invasive pampas grass growing along Encinitas Boulevard last week. (Photo by John Koster - For the North County Times) 
The invasive plant species purple loosestrife flourishes in Encinitas' wetlands. It adapts, outcompetes and replaces native grasses and other flowering plants that provide higher-quality nutrition for wildlife. (Photo by John Koster - For the North County Times) ENCINITAS --- Hard to believe now, but pampas grass was once the Angelina Jolie of the plant world: prized for the showy plumes used to decorate Victorian-era women's hats and drawing rooms from San Francisco to Manhattan.
The plumes were so popular that at the end of the 19th century, the Santa Barbara area was home to a pampas-grass industry of sorts. At first, a few hundred plants were sold for landscaping, but then the plant's large, dramatic foliage was shipped all over, to the East Coast and to Europe, especially England and Germany.
Soon, though, the species escaped backyards, and within a short time, became a threat to the local landscape.
While still sold today at some local nurseries under the name Cortaderia selloana, pampas grass ---- that once-coveted ornamental gem ---- is now a flora non grata, clogging waterways, threatening fire safety and generally crowding out native varieties everywhere.
Encinitas is among the North County cities that are tackling the problem in different ways.
"There's a lot of ways to hit this nail," said Doug Gibson, executive director of the San Elijo Conservancy. "There's the velvet hammer of regulations, but there are other ways, too."
Regulation or policy?
In spring, the Oceanside City Council voted to declare pampas grass ---- as well as Arundo donax and tamarisk ---- a public nuisance to be eradicated.
But the city of Encinitas has taken a slightly different approach.
The city formed a subcommittee in November 2007 to draw up a comprehensive list of invasive and toxic plants, and to help create a policy to deal with them. The panel included botanists, environmentalists, policy makers and master gardeners.
In May, the subcommittee presented the City Council with a draft policy and a list of 86 invasive plants that should be banned from city property and new developments. The committee also drew up a separate list of 20 toxic plants to be removed from public property and within five feet of equestrian trails.
Now begins a period of public outreach to meet with growers and local stakeholders for their input. The matter will then go back to the City Council.
"We have tried not to take a business or political stance about this," said Shannon Bryant, a natural resources planner for the Marine Corps at Camp Pendleton who is on the city's invasive-plant subcommittee.
"Besides, the minute you take out the pampas grass, you'll get another invasive that you will have to address because it is going to colonize the niche."
High cost of vigilance
Bryant said that, besides pampas grass, North County's main offenders are castor bean, tamarisk, fennel, mustard and arundo. The California Noxious and Invasive Weed Action Plan states that invasive species infest over 20 million acres in California.
These non-natives are such a huge problem that California is estimated to spend about $100 million a year to combat them, according to the California Invasive Plant Council.
"There's probably over 1,500 acres of pampas grass from San Diego to Santa Barbara, and the worst areas are in North County San Diego and southern Orange County," said Jason Giessow, president of the California Invasive Plant Council, who also sits on the Encinitas subcommittee.
Encinitas resident Giessow said that the cost of maintaining open space is one of the primary reasons that government and private agencies need to deal with the issue.
"Non-native plants increase the cost of maintaining open space," Giessow said. "And that cost is passed on to the public, by way of the homeowner, the city or the developer. We all end up paying up for the impact, so that is why it is best that they don't get out of hand and are controlled in a sustainable way."
Found everywhere
Invasive and toxic plants sprout beside nearly every roadway and cascade down sandstone cliffs throughout North County.
"Here we have a pretty typical situation," said Giessow last week, as he stopped to point out dozens of pampas grass bushes growing freely on the south side of Encinitas Boulevard at Delphinium Street. "Nobody planted these here, but someone planted them somewhere. You get a breeze that takes up the fluff from the plumes, and it's out of control before you know it."
Gibson said the San Elijo Conservancy has spent close to $2 million in Encinitas in the past five years to remove invasive plants. Using state and federal grants, the conservancy has tackled the problem at the Encinitas Ranch Golf Course and the Encinitas Indian Head Canyon Preserve, as well as in big segments of Cottonwood Creek and Escondido Creek and around Olivenhain Pioneer Elementary School.
Gibson added that if residents know they have invasive species on their property, they can call the Conservancy to have volunteers come out to do a site assessment.
"And we'll see if we take them out for you," he said.
Contact staff writer Ruth Marvin Webster at (760) 901-4074 or rwebster@nctimes.com.
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Derek wrote on Aug 3, 2008 7:17 PM:When life hands you invasive plants, make biofuel!
Question wrote on Aug 3, 2008 9:15 PM:Is Encinitas going to ban wind and birds so "invasive" plant seeds won't blow or be dropped on their pretty part of the planet? Why is it liberals folks are so hot to ban, restrict and deny?
To Question wrote on Aug 3, 2008 11:26 PM:All folks ban, restrict and deny. You just don't notice it when YOUR FOLKS are "hot to do it", like BANNING gay marriage, RESTRICTING a woman's right to choose, and DENYING the war in Iraq was a mistake.
I think it's about time we stop planting water guzzling plants in a coastal sage scrub chaparral. It's water we need for more pressing needs.
question wrote on Aug 4, 2008 7:30 AM:Banning plants, plastic bags, and helium balloons are frilious needless intrusions on personal CHOICE. Some people are only PRO CHOICE on one question. On most others the government knows best and should regulate our lives.
Leave us alone with our African Daisy's and Olive Trees and a bag to put dog poo in.
Rational thought wrote on Aug 4, 2008 7:50 AM:Excuse me for noticing, but the war in Iraq, gay marriage, and abortion, are not issues under consideration for the city of Encinitas. Can we stay focused, please?
Steve wrote on Aug 4, 2008 8:09 AM:Don't be a pampas 'ss, just remove the pampas grass.
To Question wrote on Aug 4, 2008 8:33 AM:I'll agree to "leave us alone" as soon as "we, alone" find a way to miraculously supply all these homes with WATER that THE GOVERNMENT now provides for us! Or do you water your yard, bathe, and drink from collected rain water?
You say the government knows best to regulate our lives when it comes to who we can marry, our personal reproductive rights, and when and why we should start wars, but goll dangit, ask citizens to do something to conserve a dwindling resource during a long drought, THAT's where you draw the line?
Measures to conserve our MOST IMPORTANT and BASIC resource, water, are not "frivolous" —they are called being good stewards of our planet NOW so we'll pass along a healthy earth for future generations. Or is your pampas grass more important?
To Steve wrote on Aug 4, 2008 9:03 AM:Hee hee, you got it! Unfortunately, some people have a real problem when they are asked to restrict their lifestyles, or change how they do things, even if it's for a good reason (protecting the environment). It's all about them, don't ya know! Pampas 'ss, indeed!
Best plants wrote on Aug 4, 2008 11:46 AM:The best plants/bush/trees are both fire resistant or fire retardant and drought tolerant Categories of such plants include:
calif natives
cacti and succulents
plants from Australia
plants from the Mediterranean
MUST practice plant hygiene for every plant/tree (remove dead wood, old, dying, etc.).
The SD County water districts had free seminars starting in March 2008. Douglas Kent explained much about wildfire. His book "Firescaping" is an excellent tool to help you maintain your property.
Kent is a horticultural expert using common sense and science. Defensible space is the "... landscape's greatest contributor to a home's chance of survival."
We are in a high-fire wildfire zone.
And we have earthquakes.
Help protect your loved ones and your community.
Bernie wrote on Aug 4, 2008 2:03 PM:Thin your plants, bushes, trees. Reduce your risk and be prepared.
Google wildfirezone for tips.
Google the garden fire resistive plants Cuyamaca College. More Cuyamaca info below.
Rancho Santa Fe Fire Protection District website has plant info. http://www.rsf-fire.org/
"Acceptable plants are listed in the approved fuel modification plant list, Wildland-Urban Interface Development Standards.
Additional plants may be added to the landscape Plant Material Palette with approval from the Rancho Santa Fe Fire Protection District and the County of San Diego."
* Desirable Tree List (pdf)
* Desirable Plant List (pdf)
* Palm Trees (pdf)
* Undesirable Plants and Weeds
And, SD County-DPLU has a plant list on their website
http://www.co.san-diego.ca.us/dplu/fire_resistant.html
"Fire, Defensible Space, and You..."
* Acceptable Plants for Defensible Space in Fire Prone Areas
* Undesirable Plants List
* Invasive Plant List
Cuyamaca College Plant Lists
* Nifty 50 plant list – non-illustrated (PDF). This list is a subset of the larger California-Friendly® plant list, for those who would like fewer options.
* Nifty 50 plant list – illustrated (PDF, 3.46 MB).
* California-Friendly® plant list – listed alphabetically by common name (PDF). For those who would like to use a smaller list, see our Nifty 50 plant list, which is a subset of this larger list.
* California-Friendly® plant list – listed alphabetically by botanical name (PDF).
* California-Friendly® Garden Guide at BeWaterWise.com.
* Fire Resistive Plant list
Reduce your fire risk. Plan Ahead.
Duane wrote on Aug 4, 2008 2:03 PM:Don't forget those other invasive species: The orange tree, the lemon tree, the lime tree, the apple tree, the peach tree, and the avocado tree. The list goes on.
Really wrote on Aug 4, 2008 3:10 PM:Lemon trees are invasive? Really? How long does it take to start sprouting more? Because I've had one in the ground for nearly two decades and it hasn't taken over the yard yet.
Nemo wrote on Aug 4, 2008 6:23 PM:Please. Let's not call these invasive plant but the proper term should be migrant plants. They too deserve all the rights and privileges given to natural born plants in the area. Please.
Stop the Clock wrote on Aug 6, 2008 10:04 AM:If there is one thing that is certain, it's that things change. Change is a very popular word right now. The mix of plants and animals in a particlar area is constantly undergoing changes and different populations of plants and animals move about and compete for resources. It seems that many people want to stop this process when it comes to the environment. Now can we be smarter about what we do? Sure. But you can't just look at a lake, or field, or forest today, and then expect to come back in a couple dozen years and expect it to be the same. That's a human consideration, and one nature doesn't really even know exists. How long does a plant need to be here before it's considered "native"? Careful, the slippery slope of eliminating invasive species just might send the most invasive species of all, us, right back to where we all originally came from.
concerned homeowner wrote on Aug 6, 2008 6:15 PM:You would be amazed at what is on the Encinitas list of Invasive plants (weeds)- Canary Island Palm (the one at Moonlight Beach!), Jade plant, Oleander, Gazania daisy and Pride of Madeira to name just a few of the 86 plants.
Any new construction or redeveloped site, commercial or residenmtial, would prohibit these plants. Pulling a permit to remodel your home or but up a fence would be considered a redeveloped site. That means they would have to be removed! Also, if you plan to sell your home, better plan to disclose all the prohibited invasive plants that are currently in your garden and landscape!
They seem to have gone way overboard on this one.
Not necessarily the same wrote on Aug 7, 2008 8:10 AM:"Non-native" doesn't always equal "invasive." Plants can be non-native and non-invasive.
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