Why L.A. needs more micro forests (and how to plant your own)

If we’re trying to really fight climate change and mass extinctions, the whole natural world needs to be part of the conversation, especially in urban areas, says native plant horticulturist Katherine Pakradouni. That’s where her concept of micro forests comes in — plots of land as small as 10 by 10 feet devoted to dense, multilayer plantings of Indigenous shrubs and trees that serve as “kind of complete ecosystems and biodiversity magnets.” These micro forests are particularly important in urban areas — on school grounds, perhaps, or park perimeters or even part of someone’s yard — because insects, birds and other wildlife are rapidly running out of places to live, said Pakradouni, manager of the National Park Service nursery growing native plants for a wildlife crossing under construction that is meant to help animals safely cross the 101 Freeway in Agoura Hills. Micro forests are all about humans supporting other life and helping them navigate our built environment.” Learn more about micro forests When: Aug. 11 at 7 p.m. Where: Friendship Auditorium at 3201 Riverside Dr. in Griffith Park Cost: Free Pakradouni designed and built L.A.’s first micro forest at Griffith Park for the Los Angeles Parks Foundation with funding from the Hancock Park Garden Club. The circular micro forest in Griffith Park’s Bette Davis Picnic Area was completed in 2021, said Pakradouni, filling about 1,000 square feet with four layers of native plants, including coast live oaks, a keystone species for California because it supports a wide variety of insects and other wildlife; smaller trees such as elderberry and California laurel, shrubs like toyon, lemonade berry and California wildrose, and low-growing perennials like mugwort. eventbrite.com Aug. 13 & 18 Managing pests in your garden, a free walk-in class taught by the UC Cooperative Extension Master Gardeners of Orange County from 11 a.m. to noon at the Shipley Nature Center, 17851 Goldenwest St., in Huntington Beach on Aug. 13 and 5 to 7 p.m. at the Sunkist Branch Library, 901 S. Sunkist St. in Anaheim on Aug. 18.