Designing and Creating a Drought  Resistant Garden by Neil Desai, Troop 449

The goal of the project was to create a drought resistant garden at Tule Ponds in Tyson Lagoon Fremont, CA. The project required extensive planning, labor, and communication skills. The area in which the garden was created is approximately 40’ x 60’ or 2400 square feet. It was a steep hilly area covered with weeds and dry plants. 

My project will benefit Alameda County Water District, Tule Ponds and Math/Science Nucleus as this drought resistant garden will make visitors aware that some plants require less water and are better for our ecosystem. Also this hill route starts field trips taken by various students on educational tours operated by Math/Science Nucleus and it will become a safe environment for them. This is at the entrance to Tule Ponds and will beautify the entrance with plants native to Fremont. It will help preserve the area for educational and environmental experiences.

Here are the pictures of the area before the project started. Lots of dead weeds.

Here are the pictures during the project:

Cleaning weeds	Spreading wood chips

Preparing the soil and digging holes	Even my little brother helped planting

Watering plants	Finishing touches

Statistics of the project:

Start Date: October 19, 2003
Finish Date: March 6, 2004

Numbers of Plants planted: 119
Variety of Plants used: 20
Total Labor hours put in the project: 205 (Not including mine)

Total Expenses: $ 386.77

Thank you notes:

I would like to thank the following persons from the bottom of my heart:

Dr. Joyce Blueford - (Math/Science Nucleus), Sandy Ferreira (City of Fremont), Dan Rivera, Amy Kirn-Leist, Frank Jahn, and Paul Piraino – (Alameda County Water District), Antonio Scherzer (Anytime Tree Specialist), Sam (A to Z Tree Services), Larry Seymour, Ron Barrett, Kirk Folger, Bob Reynolds, Gordon Mak, Michael Barrett, Ilya Denengirsh, Ryan Reynolds, David Hass, and Greg O’neil(Troop 449), Kiran and Bhakti Desai (Parents), Anuj Desai (Brother), Mahesh Naik, Ronak Naik, Rohan Naik, Heta Desai, Sudeep Desai, Gary Tao, Timothy Ma (Family and Friends)