Surfrider Long Beach and Surfrider Los Angeles have recently expanded two Ocean Friendly Gardens (OFG) projects that are ready to soak up the winter rains in SoCal. The chapters have also hosted stewardship events to tend to existing OFGs, keeping these spaces looking good and working well to protect clean water at the coast!
Southern California has hot, dry summers and cooler, wetter winters, making fall and winter the perfect time to plant native plants and spread wildflower seeds in our OFGs. Unlike places that freeze in the winter, springtime is actually not the most ideal planting season in our warmer coastal areas.
Planting in fall and winter gives new plants several months of milder weather to put down roots, soak up rain, and save up energy for their spring blooms. Many of these plants stop growing during the hottest months of the year, or even go dormant and brown.
Our chapters in Florida and Hawaii also tend plant in the fall and winter, after harsh, hot summers have passed. This works out perfectly if you want to spend all summer surfing or hanging out at the beach!
Kuruvungna Springs: Bioswale Planting
Building on the bioswale project started last year, volunteers planted 157 native plants in the upper portions of the bioswale to boost runoff filtration. The new plants will help soak up stormwater and pollution flowing from the adjacent parking lot, while the creek-shaped swale makes space for the water to slow down and sink in to the soil.
This bioswale filters runoff pollution before it reaches the historic freshwater spring, letting stormwater soak into the soil instead of the overflow drain that ultimately leads out to Santa Monica Bay.
Volunteers also weeded the other portions of the bioswale, spread mulch, and tested the flow of the planted swale with a hose. We wrapped up the day with a tamale lunch at the picnic tables, giving volunteers a chance to connect and enjoy the peaceful surroundings.
The new flagstone walking bridges that the Gabrieleno-Tongva Springs Foundation added over the swale are looking great and let water pass through easily. We are excited to see this new entryway in full bloom in the spring!
Beyond Baroque OFG: Site Care & Planting
The Ocean Friendly Garden at Beyond Baroque was planted by Surfrider LA volunteers back in 2013, and since then has been capturing and filtering the runoff from the historic Venice City Hall building.
Safe Place for Youth (SPY) has edible gardens, raised beds, and a mini-orchard flanking either side of the OFG, and maintains the space throughout the year with volunteers, staff, and their youth program members.
SPY lended their tools and gathering space to the event, and SPY staff member, Morgan, led us on a tour of their garden and how they use it to provide fresh, nutritious food to the youth experiencing homelessness they work with.
Surfrider chatted about how the OFG helps to protect clean water, what California native plants are in the garden, and how stewarding these neighborhood-scale projects keeps them thriving and functioning to protect clean water. We added some more native plants to spots that were looking bare, weeded, pruned, and spread lots and lots of California poppy seeds for a superbloom next spring.
Long Beach Marina: OFG Panel #4 Installation
Surfrider Long Beach volunteers continued their collaboration with the city's Marine Bureau and Water Conservation department, transforming another xx sq ft of underutilized lawn into Ocean Friendly Gardens. That brings the total OFG area installed along the Marina up to 10,000 sq ft in 2025!
Event leaders kicked off the day with a quick talk about how the parking lot we were standing in drains directly into the bay, and how that runoff can impact our local water quality. We also talked about the water use of conventional grass lawns, and how that water is very energy-intensive to transport and clean. By replacing the lawn with drought-tolerant, climate-adapted native plants and updating the sprinklers to be more efficient, we are conserving fresh water supplies while creating biodiverse green space, shade, and climate resilience.
Volunteers dug rainwater retention swales, planted 260 native plants and trees, and mulched the whole panel in only 2 hours! Many of our volunteers learned how to plant for the first time, met neighbors and connected with their community, and were stoked about the positive impact along the marina that we had made throughout the year.
Shoreline Village Rain Garden & Alamitos Bay Marina Panels: Site Care & Planting
The Long Beach Chapter installed a demonstration rain garden in March of 2024 to collect and filter runoff from a city building. This rain garden is located along a very popular bike path and walking path, and has strong winds coming off the water, resulting in lots of random trash ending up in the rain garden. Surfrider Long Beach volunteers pulled out several buckets of this ocean-bound trash that was caught in plants or in the rain garden basin.
In September, the chapter painted a mural on the city building that celebrates the connection between healthy native plant habitat upstream and thriving underwater ecosystems. Now that the community mural was completed, volunteers added California native plants to the planter against the freshly painted wall. Plants were also added to fill in the rest of the project site and the nearby roundabout OFG.
Volunteers also weeded, pruned, and planted at the 3 Alamitos Bay Marina Panels that we had installed throughout the year. Nurturing these projects as they grow is key to their long term success, and cultivates a sense of ownership for community members.
Thanks to our volunteers and community partners who helped create & steward these Ocean Friendly Gardens! Together we are making healthier, more resilient watersheds possible across LA County, protecting clean water for all.