Land Stewardship
The Taft Nature Preserve encompasses more than 200 acres of Native California Open Space boarded on 3 sides by the Los Padres National Forest. The Taft Gardens & Nature Preserve is dedicated to the continued stewardship of this precious land and related educational programming. The Taft Nature Preserve is protected with a Conservation Easement with the Wildlife Land Trust which provides connectivity and safe passage for wildlife who live among the surrounding protected lands.
The Pollinator Garden
The mission of the Pollinator Garden is to protect native pollinators through habitat restoration, research, and education. We hope to preserve the area’s pollinators and create programs that educate our community on the importance of pollinators. The Pollinator Garden is located on the edge of our open space and will feature plants that are critical and desired by native pollinators. The garden will have four sections: A native chaparral section, a native seasonal meadow, a non-native section, and a mixed native/non-native shade garden with a rest area. Additionally, the Pollinator Garden surrounds our newly completed labyrinth. Combined, these two spaces will invite visitors to explore their relationship with nature on a deeper level.
White Sage Restoration
In collaboration with Elena Rios, Chumash Fire Department - Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians and Certified Nature & Forest Therapy/Nature Connection Guide, Taft Gardens is populating the open space of the Taft Nature Preserve with White Sage, Salvia apiana, in response to the White Sage poaching crisis. The only place White Sage is found growing wild in the whole world is from the coastal sage scrub habitat of Santa Barbara County, California to Northern Baja. Plant populations are dwindling due to poaching out of the wild to meet the demand of the global smudging craze. Taft Gardens is committed to helping spread the word about the poaching of White Sage and continues to seasonally expand it’s White Sage restoration in the Nature Preserve.
Oak Woodland Restoration
Quercus agrifolia, the Coastal Live Oak, is a keystone species of our Mediterranean climate ecosystem providing food and habitat for countless native species. Taft Gardens is certified with USDA as a native plant crop operation with ongoing efforts to propagate and re-establish the next generation of Coastal Live Oaks. Taft Gardens also participates in the annual OAKtober series of events hosting oak-inspired educational and nature connection events in the month of October.
