By MADDY VITALE
Environmentally conscious students and adults in Ocean City will work together Saturday to help fortify the precious dunes that act as nature’s barrier against coastal storms.
Members of the city’s Environmental Commission and the high school Environmental Club will team up to plant beach plum plants in the dunes near 57th Street beginning at 11 a.m. All volunteers will wear face masks and observe social distancing guidelines.
It is an event that is not only needed, environmentalists say, but one that they are eager to finally get to do after a year of COVID-19 cancellations.
“We have been trying to do this for a couple of years. Last year we had it set up and it got canceled. Needless to say, everyone is anxious to be able to get outside and do this,” Environmental Commission Chairman Rick Bernardini said Thursday.
He continued, "We were anxious for the kids to get to do a project and this is an opportunity for the kids to get out and do something together.”
Bernardini added that the area of 57th Street has mature dunes there. The plantings will help fortify the dunes.
“It is an area where I think the plantings will help the beach a lot,” he noted. “There is an access road there. Our plan is to secure the edges of the dune.”
The beach plums are hearty and have long roots.
Beach plums are native to the area and their roots spread to help stabilize and strengthen dune systems.
Alma George, owner of Jalma Farms in Ocean View, is not only donating 75 to 100 beach plums for the plantings, but will also be on hand to offer guidance on how to plant them and all of the benefits of strengthening the dunes.
Bernardini thanked George for her donation of beach plums and for help.
“Alma has been very helpful. It cost us nothing to do this, but some labor,” he said. “The city’s Public Works Department is providing us with top soil.”
George explained how the beach plums are particularly hearty, despite their beauty capped by white flowers.
“Their roots go down to find water and spread out under the sand. Once they get big enough, they act as a wind break almost like a snow fence,” she said.
She pointed out that the beach plums have to be planted in deep holes about 10 feet apart.
The beaches are just part of the entire picture of nature and its significance, George said.
“Part of my business is to plant beach plums on the beaches, but it is also to farm a commercially viable product," she said. "I have lived on a property that is 300 years old. I live in a piece of nature. If we don’t protect our beaches and help them, we won’t have them anymore.”
Beach plums are native to the area and help fortify the dunes.
