PlantRight Partners with The Home Depot to Protect California Landscapes, Wildlife
The Home Depot is partnering with PlantRight to voluntarily phase out invasive plants at their 200+ California stores.
Who among us hasn’t heeded the promise of home improvement on offer at our local nurseries, large and small? When it comes to outdoor living, we rely on the vast array of plants and horticultural expertise provided by these diverse garden centers. We look to their staff to help select just the right plants – to brighten our yards, play nicely with their botanical neighbors, and tolerate California’s ongoing drought.
It’s a lot to consider – and Sustainable Conservation’s PlantRight campaign is here to help. Our partnership with growers and nurseries to voluntarily phase out invasive plants in our state’s $11 billion horticultural industry received a tremendous boost in 2014: The Home Depot’s 200+ California stores signed on to phase out all plants PlantRight has identified as locally invasive. The exciting alliance represents the first time that a global retailer has made such a commitment to combat invasive plants.
Fewer invasive plants mean native plants and wildlife can flourish, our wildfire risk is reduced, and California taxpayers avoid the costly burden of removing invasive plants from our wildlands. Given that approximately 70% of U.S. plant sales are made at so-called big box stores and home improvement centers, The Home Depot’s partnership with PlantRight will help transform the industry to lead the solution for California’s invasive plant problem.
The next time you’re in The Home Depot, look out for sales associates sporting PlantRight buttons on their signature orange aprons and rest assured your plant choices are in good hands – for the good of our Golden State.
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Planting Right
If you’re looking for a drought-tolerant ornamental grass to perk up your garden, say NO to Mexican feathergrass (Nassella/Stipa tenuissima) and YES to pink muhly (Muhlenbergia capillaris). With its cloud of tiny, cotton candy-hued flowers, pink muhly wows visually while sharing water and sunlight with neighboring plants and animals. It also meets low water use rebate criteria for most water-wise conversion programs in the state.
PlantRight in the News
News of PlantRight's trailblazing partnerships with horticultural industry leaders received media coverage across California, including articles in the Los Angeles Times and the Sacramento Bee. Our invasive plant screening tool received a peer-reviewed stamp of approval by PLOS ONE, the world’s largest scientific journal – opening the door for industry-wide adoption of our method to assess plants for invasive characteristics before introducing them to market.
Jan Merryweather
Senior Project Manager
On and off the job, Jan promotes non-invasive plants for California – both from her PlantRight post, and through her beloved backyard garden in Palo Alto. Whether she’s building trust with industry partners or organizing office ping-pong tournaments, Jan deploys maximum good humor to connect people to effect lasting environmental change.
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