My Scout Project: Planting a Native Hedgerow at LEAF

My name is Aditi Sreeram, and I am an Ambassador Girl Scout from Fremont troop 31163. I am trying to earn my Gold Award, which is the highest honor a Girl Scout can earn and requires scouts to identify a community issue and take lasting action to address it. For my Gold Award, I knew I wanted to tackle an environmental issue, so I reached out to Local Ecology and Agriculture Fremont (LEAF) to see what projects were available. With a general idea of creating a garden in mind, I connected with their team to explore the possibilities. LEAF’s Executive Director, Elaine Owyang, graciously connected me with Phil Stob, a native plant specialist who was starting a hedgerow at LEAF's Urban Farm in Fremont. A hedgerow is a boundary consisting of multiple layers of various plants. LEAF's hedgerow design featured a habitat of California native shrubs and plants for wildlife, including birds and a variety of pollinator insects such as bees and butterflies. It would also serve as a screen in front of the perimeter fence.

Habitat loss, pollution, and the replacement of native plants with non-native species have led to a serious decline in biodiversity across California. Without healthy ecosystems, CO₂ levels rise and pollinators like bees and butterflies struggle to survive, threatening both our environment and food supply. California's recurring droughts and wildfires only make this worse, putting native plants and wildlife at even greater risk. By planting native species, we create a reliable habitat where pollinators can thrive and ecosystems can begin to recover.

Mr. Stob had already started growing some of the plants needed for the new hedgerow. With his guidance, I chose a few other plants to grow myself in monthly batches. We mixed together a nutrient-rich and diverse soil mix which could support the plant growth. We also created the hedgerow part of the garden to form a boundary along the farm’s perimeter and to separate the pollinator way station from the other planting areas. We created the hedgerow by adding piles of excess branches and shrubs. This pile of “scraps” pieces of different plants grows into an ecosystem which can support other native life.

Then, I created a planting plan which grouped the sections of types and sizes of plants so the hedgerow could be organized properly. Once I grew the first batch of plants, I started my first planting session where we labeled and planted all the saplings throughout the garden patch. Month by month, I continued weeding and replanting new batches of plants to grow the hedgerow. 

Projects like this help make spaces like LEAF and other community gardens more sustainable. They also serve as educational tools, teaching visitors the importance of native species and showing how they can incorporate native plants into their own gardens.

This experience taught me the importance of taking initiative and working with others to solve real-world problems. I gained a deeper understanding of environmental issues and learned other skills and knowledge. I also learned how to lead during my planting sessions and how to delegate tasks to others. The key takeaway is that I experienced working hard when doing something that I’m passionate about.