COMMUNITY COMMENTARY:

Are you thinking about giving your garden a makeover for 2008?

Now is the right time to take advantage of the winter rains to establish new plantings that will thrive when spring arrives. If you want ideas for a native garden that will attract birds and butterflies, visit the Boand Butterfly Habitat at the Peter and Mary Muth Interpretive Center on the north side of Upper Newport Bay off Irvine Avenue (newportbay.org/muthover.htm).

A native landscape can be very colorful and help you reduce use of water, pesticide and fertilizer. To be eco-friendly, compost to generate fertilizer.

Even if you do not have ambitious plans, you can still contribute to the environment’s health removing invasive plants such as pampas grass and ice plant, which displace native plants and provide little food or shelter for insects, birds and mammals. Pampas grass looks pretty but can soon take over a garden; its wind-borne seeds travel far and take up root easily. It is a major bay problem, and much restoration work is performed to remove pampas grass.

In heavy rain, ice plant’s heavy weight and shallow creeping roots can make hillsides vulnerable to further erosion or major landslides.

Regardless of how your garden is sloped, make sure any plant removed is replaced quickly. Otherwise, the loose soil is likely to be washed away by the rain and carried into Newport Bay, other coastal wetland areas or the marine life refuges along the coast, adding to the sediment load. Pay attention to your irrigation system, too. Sprinkling in a winter storm increases storm-water flow and erosion.

If you are interested in buying native plants, visit the Tree of Life Nursery on Ortega Highway in San Juan Capistrano. This is where many of the seeds and plants used for restoration at Upper Newport Bay come from. The nursery’s website (treeoflifenursery.com) is full of information, including choices of plants for different coastal and inland environments, and different needs, including drought, pest and fire resistance.

ROGER MALLETT is with Newport Bay Naturalists and Friends.