Kudos to Macy’s for Plants and Volunteers at the Point Loma Native Plant Garden

By Geoff Page

On Thursday, September 16, Macy’s, Inc. generously donated lots of plants and volunteers to plant them at one of the hidden jewels of the Peninsula: the Point Loma Native Plant Garden. This significant effort by Macy’s deserves kudos from the community.

For those unfamiliar with the Native Plant Garden, it has a gate at Mendocino Blvd. and Greene Street. There is another gate behind the apartment building on the west side of the property. It is just east of the eucalyptus grove on the north side of the apartment building. The Reserve is bordered on the east by Nimitz Blvd.

Macy’s provided 85 plants along with 11 volunteers and store managers from various stores around the county to plant them in the hot morning sun. They came from all over including as far south as Chula Vista and parts of north county.

The effort was directed by the San Diego River Foundation represented by Sarah Hutmacher, Chief Associate Director, and longtime Reserve volunteer, Al Field.

Al has taken personal care of the Garden for several years. I personally walk the park almost every day with my dogs and can say that it has blossomed under Al’s care. Al plants, waters, and trims, maintains the pathways, keeps the place clean, and has been successful in encouraging a population of campers to find other accommodations.

It has become apparent to this writer that there is not a large budget available to the Garden, which makes Macy’s contribution even more welcome.

Macy’s worked in conjunction with an organization called One Tree Planted. Hutmacher explained that One Tree Planted works as a sort of go-between, matching companies with a desire to contribute with places that could benefit from their largesse.

Here is what One Tree Planted says about its mission:

“As an environmental charity, we are dedicated to making it easier for individuals and businesses to give back to the environment, create a healthier climate, protect biodiversity, and help reforestation efforts around the world. All by planting trees!

Started in 2014, we have more than doubled the number of trees planted year over year, and work with awesome reforestations partners across 43 countries who help us get trees in the ground. These projects restore forests after fires and floods, create jobs, build communities, and protect habitat for wildlife.

In 2020, we more than doubled the impact that we had in 2019 – we planted 10 million trees!”

And, here is what Macy’s had to say:

“Macy’s is committed to giving back, sharing joy and being there for the community in times of need. Given the extremity of last year’s fires and those that continue to devastate Northern California, we’re honored to be partnering with One Tree Planted to make a meaningful difference in the California community by donating 50,000 trees in honor of the Oake collection launching exclusively at Macy’s this September.

As part of our partnership, we also held two volunteerism events with One Tree Planted to help replenish forest cover lost in San Francisco and San Diego during the devastating 2020 wildfires.”

Also contributing volunteer time was the Schmidt Design Group, a landscape architecture firm located on Rosecrans Street, represented by landscape designer Brianna Perkins.

The task of watering the new Native Plant Garden recruits will fall to Al Field, who said he will need to water the new plants for two hours weekly for one year for them to be successful.

Considering all the negative news in the world today, it is gratifying to write about something positive.  The community owes Macy’s, Schmidt, Al Field, and the 11 volunteers who came from other places a big thank you.