With its expanding corridor of biodiversity, San Jose’s Kirk Park has become a local destination for viewing beautiful native plants, birds, lizards, bees, and butterflies, including the struggling monarch butterfly.

Kirk Park is a small neighborhood park on the grounds of a former elementary school. The bulk of the park is comprised of turf grass areas used for recreational activities. Inspired by Douglas Tallamy’s book Nature’s Best Hope, a group of community volunteers set out to convert the park’s weedy perimeter into an oasis of biodiversity.

The garden began in 2022 in a sunny area along the well-used perimeter walkway at the northern edge of the park. Community volunteers removed weeds in the summer, then planted native pollinator plants in the fall. By spring, blooms appeared, attracting numerous pollinators and park visitors to the garden. Buoyed by this initial success, the volunteers expanded the garden in 2023. Now, native pollinator plants occupy most of the northern and some of the western edge of the park.

The garden is designed, planted and maintained by community volunteers under the auspices of San Jose’s Adopt-A-Park program and with generous support from CNPS-SCV, Happy Hollow Foundation, the Xerces Society, BeautifySJ and community donations.

The plants in the garden were chosen to provide a continuous source of nectar for the native pollinators, so there is nearly always something blooming. With over 120 species of native plants, all labeled, the garden is a great place to experience the beauty and diversity of California’s native plants. Please visit often and see what’s in bloom!

Community Work Days at the Garden

Volunteers meet at the garden on Saturdays from 9 AM to 11 AM, weather permitting, for weeding, watering and other maintenance activities. Occasionally there will be other tasks such as mulching and planting. Community volunteers, including families with children over 6, are always welcome! First-time volunteers will need to fill out a form from the City of San Jose. If you would like to become a part of the Kirk Park Native Plant Pollinator Garden’s community of volunteers, please sign up on our Meetup page.