This spring, PlantRight is conducting its 6th Annual Spring Nursery Survey! UC Master Gardener volunteers can help PlantRight track the availability of invasive plants by simply visiting local nurseries. Check with your local county program coordinator to find out if your program offers volunteer hours for participation.

Participation in the 2015 Spring Nursery Survey is easy, educational, and fun! Volunteers will:

1. View an online training
2. Download required survey materials (e.g. survey form & plant ID key)
3. Sign up to survey a randomly selected store in their county
4. Visit the store and record information about any invasive plants being sold
5. Submit information to PlantRight

The survey process takes approximately 2.5 hours to complete and can be done with other volunteers - if approved by your county these hours can count towards certification volunteer hour requirements. Returning volunteers may view the full training or a shorter refresher video.

PlantRight will host two training webinars to reflect different survey periods for Southern California (San Luis Obispo, Kern San Bernardino Counties and south) and Northern California: 

Southern California Webinar:
Monday, February 23rd, from 7:30 – 8:30 p.m.

Northern California Webinar:
Wednesday, April 15th, from 7:30 – 8:30 p.m.

Sign up at: www.plantright.org/survey-registration

 

“2014 saw many common invasive plants decline in availability, yet some are more popular than ever. Help us prevent the next big invasive by making the 2015 survey our most successful yet!” –Chris Crawford, PlantRight Survey Manager

2014 Survey Highlights

Thanks to the dedication of more than 120 UC Master Gardener volunteers last spring, PlantRight's 2014 survey was a huge success. Drawing from data collected at 226 stores in 35 counties across the state, PlantRight saw a decline in the availability of invasive plants from their original list, from around 30% in past years to 19% of stores surveyed.

Driving this positive change was a large decrease in periwinkle (Vinca major), dropping from 17% in past years to 9% of surveyed stores. However, the number of stores selling the most recently added invasive plants on PlantRight's list (updated in early 2014) increased. Notably, the drought-tolerant emerging invasive Mexican feathergrass (Nassella tenuissima) increased in prevalence from 27% in 2013 to 38% in 2014.

A comprehensive report and simplified fact sheet detailing the results can be found on the Spring Retail Nursery Survey – 2014 Fact Sheet. These results act as PlantRight's guiding light, shaping its strategy and helping it move forward collaboratively with the nursery industry.

2015 New Plant List

After a year-long review, PlantRight is very excited to share its brand new 2015 list of Suggested Alternatives for Invasive Garden Plants. This list identifies the top ten priority invasive plants for sale in California and provides recommendations on beautiful alternatives. Without the help of the UC Master Gardeners and the data collected from the annual spring survey, the new and improved list would not have been possible.

We are proud of what we've accomplished together with the UC Master Gardener Program, and look forward to working together again in 2015!

-- For questions, contact Chris Crawford, PlantRight Survey Manager, at ccrawford@suscon.org or (415) 977-0380, ext. 331.