Nature-made: Garden for the Birds - Mission Greenbelt

Like Ivy Narrow Bird Preserve and CHIA, I participated in the making of the greenbelt garden at the Sangati Center in the Mission neighborhood of San Francisco. The garden is called Garden for the Birds. The Sangati Center greenbelt garden is located at 22nd and Mission. There's a second greenbelt garden at the Mission Playground Pool at 19th and Linda.

A friend and I volunteered on the second work day of three: to break up the existing clay soil, remove debris, and mix in new soil. The days and the Mission Greenbelt Garden project were organized by Amber Hasselbring of art-eco.org.



What's the mission of Mission Greenbelt Gardens? To provide habitat for local wildlife. Additional goals include "enliven public space" and to capture rainfall and stormwater runoff.



Since I only volunteered one day and not on the day of planting, I have not seen the planted garden. However, I was able to photograph some of the plants scheduled to be planted. Amber Hasselbring told me that the palette would include coffeeberry (Rhamnus californica), sticky monkey flower, two grasses (deer grass, Muhlenbergia rigens and purple needlegrass, Nassella pulchra [the California's state grass], ceanothus, hummingbird sage (Salvia spathacea), grape, and wildflowers from seed.

Read more about Mission Greenbelt Gardens at art-eco.org. Find other neighborhood nature-making profiles at the local ecology website.