By: Phyllis Giffard
Sandra Walkin celebrates her gold-level certification in Lake Charles.
When Sandra purchased 11 acres in 1991, it was basically a field. Since then, she has planted over 5,000 trees aiming for extreme diversity. Hurricane Laura took out over 1,000 trees, but the diversity that remains is still amazing. Before the storm, she was working on developing a rich understory, but that effort has been largely reset. The property now feels more like very tree-diverse parkland, but you can see flags on forbs and shrubs that Sandra is marking as they come back. She mows at a height of 6", and it shows. At ground level there is a good variety of wildflowers, grasses, and rushes.
Sandra has traditional flower beds with a mix of plants from various parts of the globe. Her natives in these plantings include coneflowers, palmettos, and rushes. There is also a meandering pond featuring LA irises, button willows, cypress, and other native water-loving plants.
Over the years, school groups, university classes, photographers, and many others have visited the property to experience what it has to offer. Sandra said dendrology classes used to come out because of the extreme diversity in a relatively small area that made it a great teaching laboratory.
Like many of us in SWLA, she is looking to the future to improve upon all that was lost. She is planning to convert an area to a wildflower meadow, and we have been working with ANPP as she plans what steps to take.
From the May 2022 ANPP Newsletter
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