The Coast News Group
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WEEDING THE LAGOON

DEL MAR — Members of the Del Mar–Solana Beach Rotary Club again spent Nov. 7 working in the Los Peñasquitos Lagoon Natural Preserve to advance its habitat restoration program.
This program includes removal of non-indigenous plants, planting of desired indigenous plants, irrigation until the new plants have taken hold, and removal of unwanted materials and trash. The program is managed by the California State Parks system and the Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve.
The Rotary Club has adopted an approximately 100-foot-long block of the Los Peñasquitos Lagoon Natural Preserve along Carmel Valley Road near the Via Aprilia intersection. On previous work days, members removed pickle weed (Carpobrotus edulis) in large quantities along with other non-native plants, planting seedlings of local shrubs in their place.
On Nov. 7, they removed hundreds of potting pots placed to mark and protect seedlings planted months ago. In addition, they searched for and removed many unwanted plants such as black mustard, dandelion, reemerging pickle weed and others.
Additional blocks along the Los Peñasquitos Lagoon are available for adoption. Any volunteers are invited to join the Rotarians and help out whenever possible on the first Saturday of each month. For more information, contact Darren Smith, environmental scientist for California State Parks, at (619) 952-3895.