Native Plants Flourishing at HANC Recycling Center

The Haight Ashbury Neighborhood Council Recycling Center (HANC), located at Frederick Street and Arguello Boulevard on the southern boundary of Golden Gate Park, has completed an extensive expansion of its native plant garden.

The garden now beautifies the recycling center's entire perimeter. The center is also propagating and nurturing tens of thousands of native plants, which are now available to the public.

The recycling center has been at the forefront of numerous environmental activities. HANC was formed in 1959 when Sue Bierman, Dianne Feinstein and numerous residents saved the east side of Mt. Sutro from a planned apartment complex. HANC and other groups successfully stopped the approved Panhandle Freeway in 1967. When there was nowhere to recycle, HANC started the recycling center in 1976.

Today, there is a big demand for local, site-specific native plants and HANC is growing them. Most of the plants in the garden and those being propagated are indigenous to San Francisco.

Native plants are the foundation of the EarthÕs ecosystems and supply food and habitat for all the native wildlife. Since native plants have been here for thousands of years, they are highly adapted to local environmental conditions and extremely drought tolerant, making them the highest form of sustainable landscaping.

The Golden Gate Park Master Plan promotes the use of "sustainable and drought tolerant landscaping" and the creation of "wildlife habitat." Native plant gardens are ideal for the implementation of those goals.

Some of the natives being raised at the recycling center include: San Francisco Wallflower (Lake Merced), San Francisco Gum Plant (Twin Peaks), Golden Rod (Golden Gate Heights), Beach Sagewort (Hawk Hill), California Aster (Mt. Davidson and Twin Peaks), Nutka Reed Grass (Mt. Davidson), Crimson Columbine (Glen Canyon), Bee Plant (Laguna Honda Canyon), Yerba Buena (Twin Peaks), Blue-eyed Grass, Giant Buckwheat, Coast Buckwheat, Yarrow, Coyote Bush, Bush Monkey Flower and more.

HANC is supplying some of the plants for habitat restoration at Tank Hill, Twin Peaks and Brooks Park, as well as the Pioneer Park Project and Green Schoolyards.

The recycling center is open every day, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tours for school groups can be arranged. For more information, call Greg Gaar at (415) 752-5983.