GARDENING : Botanical Wonderland Taking Root

Manhattan Beach residents are coming together to create a modern-day Garden of Eden.

Members of the South Bay Bromeliade Assn., with help from Chevron, the Rotary Club, Volunteers and Organizations Improving the Community’s Environment (VOICE) and local volunteers, have spent three years transforming a trashy piece of land into a botanical garden.

The garden, which is on half an acre at the west end of Polliwog Park on Manhattan Beach Boulevard, will include Mediterranean plants, bromeliads (members of the pineapple family of plants indigenous to rain forests and commonly found on trees), seasonal flowers and a small waterfall.

It will also have a dry riverbed, a 30-seat amphitheater, a children’s garden and an area of plants and flowers that will attract butterflies.

“We’re trying to aim it at all age groups and we’re trying to cover everybody, even though it’s only half an acre,” said J. J. Falk, an association member.

The land is owned by the South Bay Unified School District and was formerly leased to the city. For a number of years, the city stored vehicles there, but more recently it served as a home for transients and a gathering site for teen-age parties.

Wanting to use the land more creatively, residents began plans for the garden.

“We want to demonstrate how California native plants can be used in the landscaping,” Falk said.

Gretchen Renshaw, one of four landscape architects who designed the garden, believes that it will serve as a model for residents who want to begin their own gardens.

Renshaw said the butterfly garden and a section for children, which will include a variety of interesting textures and smells, will make it a popular attraction for students and teachers.

Volunteers working weekends have done most of the work, although Chevron workers helped remove concrete paths. Architects believe that planting will be completed by fall but say funds are needed.

To help with fund-raising efforts, the Manhattan Beach Rotary Club and VOICE are holding the second annual South Bay Garden Tour, a self-guided tour of private gardens in Manhattan, Redondo and Hermosa beaches. Last year’s tour raised $1,400.

The tour will be Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The cost is $10 per person.

For tickets or information on helping with the botanical garden, call Renshaw at (310) 545-7338.