For several years, GCSB has made small but impactful grants to the small but impactful Santa Ynez Valley Botanic Garden, popular with families and all visitors. GCSB member Puck Erickson Lohnas is a driving force behind the success of SYVBG, and she makes certain that Garden Club members can work together on site in that magical setting.

In 2022, the Garden Club of Santa Barbara made a grant to the Garden’s Wilderness Trail, a visionary “back-to-nature” experience for children. While on a smaller scale, the Wilderness Trail is not unlike SBBG’s Backcountry, guided by the same goal of connecting children with nature. Fun fact: the increased vegetation that GCSB’s funds provided has been so successful that Garden crews and volunteers must be mindful of quail families’ breeding cycles so as not to disrupt them with construction or maintenance of chaparral plantings.

This year’s grant provided Infrastructure support for the Pollinator Garden where there is an ongoing battle with gophers coming from adjacent property and for Wilderness Trail plantings.

The Garden Club has joined in this volunteer effort with yearly trips to the Garden in the spring, planting new plants in our Pollinator Garden and doing critical maintenance in other areas of the garden.  The SYVBG has enjoyed collaborating with the Garden Club in a truly 'hands on' effort to grow a garden filled with the native plants of the region and the spirit of the community.