Sunday, December 21, 2003

Nursery Directions

The Laguna Coast Wilderness Park entrance and parking lot are located on Laguna Canyon Road, just west of the El Toro intersection, in Laguna Beach, CA. You can Google map the address or the GPS coordinates for directions from your starting point.

Laguna Coast Wilderness Park
20376 Laguna Canyon Road
Laguna Beach, CA 92651 949.923.2235

GPS: +33°34'46.18", -117°45'47.70"

This location is the “Willow Canyon” staging area. There is a parking fee. From the parking lot, walk in towards the canyon, either by the road or the path. The Nursery is located about 30 feet east of the Ranger trailer.

Master Gardener 2007


President's Award 2006



Monday, December 01, 2003

2007Dec01BumpingUpSlideShow

Slide show for 2007-Dec-01 Bumping Up #4. (Click any pic to enlarge)


2007Dec01BumpingUpSlideShow

Sunday, November 16, 2003

2008Nov16BumpUpSlideShow

Slide show for 2008-Nov-16 Bumping Up. (Click any pic to enlarge)




Friday, November 07, 2003

Nix Center, OC Register, Nov 3, 2006

Friday, November 3, 2006
Nature's new scene
Coastal foothills never before open to the public soon will be, along with a brand new nature center building.
By PAT BRENNAN
The Orange County Register


Wild country closed to the public for decades is about to be opened up, offering nature enthusiasts a new window into Orange County's coastal scrub and oak-covered foothills.

And in this case, it really will be a window – actually a few of them. They'll be a central feature of the new Nix Nature Center near the heart of Laguna Canyon.

Organizers call these windows “portals,” part of an exhibit that takes visitors on a breezy trip through science, art and history.

The public will get its first glimpse Saturday in a dedication ceremony, although the official opening date is still uncertain. One of the first things visitors are likely to notice about the place: an intense focus on the natural landscape.

“It's about the land and not about the people,” said Mary Fegraus, executive director of the Laguna Canyon Foundation and a driving force behind the new center. “People get to talk all the time. This is a chance to let the land talk.”

The Nix Center, named after a Laguna Woods couple who provided $500,000 to build it, will be the jumping-off point for access to new trails in the northern portion of Laguna Coast Wilderness Park, never before open to the public. Hikers and bikers will be able to explore more of the foothill country between the San Joaquin (73) Toll Road and the San Diego (I-405) Freeway.

They'll also be able to explore the land around Orange County's only natural lakes. The newly realigned Laguna Canyon Road shifts traffic out of the old, two-lane roadway in the canyon bottom, moving it west. There are now two lanes in each direction with a buffer between, and underpasses that will allow public access to the lakes for the first time.

This week, construction workers were still sawing and hammering, artists were touching up murals, and landscapers were preparing to plant native bunch grasses. (Ed note: These grasses were grown, bumped up and planted by the Nursery volunteers.)

Not everything will be completed in time for Saturday's event, Fegraus said. But visitors should get a taste of the carefully prepared exhibit and the land around the new center. They'll be encouraged to hike and explore, she said.

The portal theme is one of the most striking aspects of the center; organizers say the unusual approach is a bit of a risk, but one they hope will grab visitors' attention.

The idea is to look through conceptual “portals” that represent a variety of viewpoints about the land that surrounds the center. The real, physical portals, an array of broad windows and an outdoor metal frame, are meant to focus visitors' attention on specific landscape features.

The canyon country's history – natural and human – has filled volumes, and Jennifer Rigby, director of the Acorn Group, who wrote the text for the exhibit as well as helping design it, said she knew from the start that she would be unable to cover it all in the center's 2,000-foot-square space.

Then she thought of the portals. By looking at the surrounding landscape from a scientist's point of view, then an artist's, then a historian's, visitors could get a kind of high-altitude snapshot of the many ways of seeing Orange County's rugged, natural country.

The three streams of viewpoint braid their way through the exhibit space. Visitors pass artificial rocks embedded with casts of fossils, a sweeping landscape mural, and a flat-topped boulder with a pestle, where visitors can try their hands at grinding corn.

Short films projected on screens and a room of plein-air paintings will complete the presentation. A deck outside is meant for artists who wish to paint the landscape.

Scientists and members of local American Indian tribes served as advisors for the exhibit. So it provides a taste of geological history as well as tribal lore – how animals on the land, for example, correspond to symbols and characters from ancient stories.

The exhibit is light on a few things, such as details of archaeological findings in the area, or an in-depth treatment of more recent history – some controversial development decisions, for example.

Rigby said she steered away from several matters of controversy, but not for fear of giving offense. Instead, she said she wanted to stay true to the center's purpose: whetting visitors' appetite for a trip outside, not bogging them down with lengthy lectures.

“It's causing visitors to start asking some of their own questions,” Rigby said during a visit to the center last week.

The exhibit includes a detailed landscape mural by Katy Betz, a graduate of the Laguna College of Art and Design; just outside, a half-mile loop trail will allow even casual visitors to experience the real thing.

The seed money from James and Rosemary Nix, who visited the canyon frequently over 25 years, helped gain more funding from state park bonds and the Laguna Canyon Foundation to cover

Originally, the center was supposed to be built on top of a nearby hill. But when Nix, a park ranger and members of the Laguna Canyon Foundation came to check out the site in 2003, they were drawn instead to a hollow surrounded by spectacular views.

“We said, ‘This is the location,' ” said James Nix, 88, who came with his wife last week to see workers putting on the final touches. “The ranger called us all down and said, ‘This is the spot.' ”

CONTACT US: environment editor Pat Brennan at 714-796-7865 or pbrennan@ocregister.com.
Original article @: click here.

Monday, November 03, 2003

2007Nov03FirstBumpingUpSlideShow

Slide show for 2007-Nov-07 Bumping Up. (Click any pic to enlarge)





Saturday, November 01, 2003

2006Nov16NixGrassSlideShow

Slide show for 2006-Nov-16 Nix Planting Grass. (Click any pic to enlarge)




Wednesday, October 22, 2003

Nursery Schedule 2006/7, Oct-Jan

Laguna Coast Wilderness Park Nursery Schedule 2006/7*
All dates are tentative unless people sign up 2 full day's in advance. You are welcome to just "drop in", but the collection may be cancelled without notice due to no volunteers.

October
- 28, Sat 9am-12pm (Canceled)

November
- 5, Sun 9am-12pm Watering and optional seed collection
- 12, Sun 9am-12pm Watering and optional seed collection
- 18/19 Off, no scheduled work
- 24/26 Fri/Sun, 9am-12pm Bumping Up

December
- Dec 10 Sun, 9am-12pm Bumping Up

- Dec 17 Sun, 9am-12pm Bumping Up
- Dec 30 Sat, 9am-12pm Bumping Up

January
- TBA


The schedule will continue to be weekly until weather cools off.

Sunday, October 19, 2003

2005Oct19NewRoofSlideShow

Slide show for 19-Oct-2005 The Nursery gets a new roof. (Click any pic to enlarge)






Sunday, October 05, 2003

2008Oct05SeedFlatSlideShow

Slide show for 2008-Oct-05 Seed Flat. (Click any pic to enlarge)

















Saturday, September 27, 2003

2008Sept27WorkDay1SlideShow

Click here to go back to Nursery Work Day, 2008/9-#1. (Click any pic to enlarge)



Saturday, September 20, 2003

Rose Bed 2008

Rose bed along Laguna Canyon Highway and El Toro.



Saturday, August 30, 2003

WOW! Without Weed Supreme


WOW! Without Weed Supreme
Pre-Emergent Weed COntrol and Lawn Fertilizer 8-2-4
broadcast spreader 2x40lb
Fall and spring, before a rain or water after application
10-20lbs/1,000 square feet (1lb = 3cups)
www.GardensAlive.com
http://www.gardensalive.com/product.asp?pn=2836&ss=2837
each bag = 2,000 square feet; area around Nursery about 1,000 sf

Tuesday, August 12, 2003

Nursery Schedule 2006, Aug-Oct

Laguna Coast Wilderness Park Nursery Schedule 2006*
*All dates are tentative unless people sign up 2 full day's in advance. You are welcome to just "drop in", but the collection may be cancelled without notice due to no volunteers.

August 2006
- 19, Sat 8am-12pm Seed collecting

September 2006
- 02, sat 8am-12pm Seed collecting
- 16, Sat 8am-12pm Seed collecting
- 30, Sat 8am-12pm Nursery: acorns

October 2006
We'll be on vacation and will need help watering
- 22, Sun 8am-12pm Nursery: Seed flats
- 28, Sat 8am-12pm (Canceled)
The schedule will continue to be weekly until January, 2007

Friday, August 01, 2003

Nursery Schedule 2007/8

Laguna Coast Wilderness Park Nursery Schedule 2007/8*

September
- 22, Sat 8am-12pm "Drop In" introduction for new volunteers
- 30, Sun 8am-12pm Get ready: clean up, clean seeds, ....

October
- 07, Sun 8am-12pm Seed flats

- 13/14 no work day (designated person to water)
- 20, Sat 8am-12pm Seed flats (remainder of seed)
- 27/28 no work day (designated person to water)

November

- 03, Sat 8am-12pm "Bumping Up" 4w (also Nix Center event at 11am)
- 10, Sat 8am-12pm "Bumping Up" 5w
- 17/18 no work day (designated person to water) 6w **
- 25, Sun 8am-11am "Bumping Up" 7w (Thanksgiving weekend)


December
- 1, Sat 8am-12pm "Bumping Up" 8w
- 8, Sat 8am-12pm "Bumping Up" 9w Canceled due to lack of plants
- 22, Sat 8am-12pm "Bumping Up" 10w Canceled due to frost

- 29, Sat 9:30am-1pm "Bumping Up" 11w

January 2008
- 5, Sat 8am-12pm "Bumping Up" makeup 12w Canceled due to lack of work
- 12-3, no work day 13w
- 19, Sat 10am-1pm "Bumping Up" makeup 14w
- 26-7, no work day (there's a hike that day!) 15w


February 2008
- 2 Sat 10am-1pm Most likely cancel..... 16w
- 10 Sun TBA Helping with Restoration Planting


March 2008
- 02 Sun TBA Helping with Restoration Planting
* Best to let me know in advance if you are volunteering for a date. You are welcome to just "drop in", but the work day may be cancelled without notice due to no volunteers or other circumstances.

Saturday, July 12, 2003

Seed Collecting List 2008/9

Seed Collecting List 2008/9
Laguna Coast Wilderness Park Nursery

Common Name Botanical Name
Peninsular Onion Allium peninsulare
Golden Stars Blomeria crocea
Blue Dicks Dichelostemma pulchellum
Mariposa Lilly Calochortus ??
Mustang mint Moradella lanceolata
Canyon Pea Lathyrus laetiflorus

Lemonade berry Rhus integrifolia
Toyon Heteromeles arbutifolia
Golden Yarrow Eriophyllum confertiflorum
Mountain Mahogany Cercocarpus betuloides
Sunflower bush Encilia californica
Bladderpod Isomeris arborea
Mugwort ?
Big pod Ceanothus Ceanothus megacarpus

Thursday, June 12, 2003

OC Register May 31, 2007


Publication:Orange County Register; Aliso Viejo News; Date:May 31, 2007; Section:News; Page Number:2
PROFILE
Sowing seeds of service
Robert Lawson received White House recognition for his work with Laguna Canyon Foundation.
By CHRISTA WOODALL CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Robert Lawson makes his green thumb count. Lawson has dedicated more than 4,000 hours – or two years – to volunteer service for the Laguna Canyon Foundation, Laguna Greenbelt, Inc. and Laguna Coast Wilderness Park. With his wife, Nanci, Lawson established a nursery in Willow Canyon to grow native seedlings for planting in Laguna Coast Wilderness Park. He was recognized for his service with the President’s Volunteer Service Award in a surprise ceremony March 28.

Q: What was it like to receive the Volunteer Service Award?
A: I was flattered that Ranger Barbara (Norton) submitted my name. Barbara, and the whole park staff, have been supportive and fun to work with. Laguna Greenbelt has also been a key supporter and allowed the nursery to be an integral part of its volunteer program.

Q: How do you balance volunteering with career and family?
A: The family side is easier as my wife, Nanci, is the first nursery volunteer and still volunteers. I work at Soka University, and we have had biology and ecology classes come work and learn at the nursery.

Q: How did you start the nursery at Willow Canyon?
A: I had mentioned the idea of a nursery with Ranger Barbara and she said, “You should start a nursery here.” I had met various Laguna Greenbelt members, notably Mary Fegrus and Elizabeth Brown, through volunteer work with The Nature Conservancy, and knew Laguna Greenbelt was an effective and friendly group to work with. Mary introduced me to Scott Thomas from Laguna Greenbelt, and we worked with the Rangers for a viable location and plan. This all took about a year, back in 2002. The following year, Laguna Greenbelt accepted the nursery as part of its volunteer program.

Q: What sparked your lifelong love of plants?
A: I’ve enjoyed hiking all of my life, and that exposes you to the environment, especially plants.

Q: What is your favorite flower or plant?
A: Of my many favorites, I certainly enjoy Monkey Flower and Datura.

Robert Lawson Age: 54 Reside: Aliso Viejo Family: Wife, Nanci, and four adult children Education: Bachelors in business, Cal State Fullerton Profession: Database administrator for Soka University
CONTACT THE WRITER: cwoodall@ocregister.com or 949-454-739 1
Original article @: Click Here.

Saturday, June 07, 2003

Rattlesnake relocation

Juvenile rattlesnake under Ranger trailer stairs relocated to a safer location. 7' long pvc pipe with jute twine snake snare (click pic to enlarge).

Sunday, June 01, 2003

About Volunteering

Hello Prospective Volunteer,
Thank you for your interest in the Laguna Coast Wilderness Park Nursery. We provide seeds and plants for restoration projects within the park. We have a core volunteer group, yet we are continually looking for more volunteers. Come join us on one of our work days to discover how enjoyable it is to volunteer in the Nursery.
Nursery activities include seed collection, nursery management, plant propagation and restoration planting. If you have no experience, we're more than willing to work with you, if you can volunteer regularly. Nursery work days almost always include working with people who have years of helpful experience. You should be in reasonably good health, as much of the work is physical.
You should consider a commitment of at least 1 Nursery work day per month during the plant year: Oct-Feb. Some volunteers prefer to focus on one Nursery activity, like seed collecting- hiking with a bag; others do all of them. As you contribute to restoring the parks habitat, you’ll learn more about California native plants.
We are a Laguna Canyon Foundation sponsored project. Laguna Canyon Foundation is the primary volunteer organization at LCWP that coordinates and promotes the Nursery, Restoration work, Docent hikes and Wilderness Access Volunteers greeters. See their website at
http://www.lagunacanyon.org/. Volunteers are encouraged to support Laguna Canyon Foundation through membership. As an active Nursery volunteer you receive a park t-shirt, plant guide, Franko map, parking pass and access to park when closed to public, when approved.
I look forward to seeing you at the Nursery. You become an active member after coming to more than 3 work days, completing the LCF orientation and getting the County required ID.
Sincerely, Robert

Robert Lawson
Volunteer Nursery Manager
Laguna Coast Wilderness Park Nursery
view/map +33°34'46.18", -117°45'47.70"
Since 2003, a Laguna Canyon Foundation project
Nursery Link:
http://hijoley.blogspot.com e: NurseryAtWillow@gmail.com
Nursery Calendar

Nursery Schedule 2006, July-Aug

Laguna Coast Wilderness Park Nursery Schedule 2006*
*All dates are tentative unless people sign up 2 full day's in advance. You are welcome to just "drop in", but the collection may be cancelled without notice due to no volunteers.

July 2006
- 28 Friday 4-6/7pm Seed collection
- 14 Friday 4-6/7pm Seed collection

June 2006
- 30 Friday 4-6/7pm Seed collection
- 16 Friday 4-6/7pm Seed collection
- 02 Friday 4-6/7pm Seed collection

May 2006

- 19 Friday 4-6/7pm Seed collection
- 04 Thursday Restoration site survey

April 2006
- 27 Thursday Nix grass planting
- 22 Saturday Nix grass planting


* Planting for 2006 will begin after 1st rains or October 1st, whichever comes first.

Tuesday, April 22, 2003

Water Valve



The Nursery water lines can be turned off at larger valve near the porta-potty’s. If you have need to turn the water off, say for a leak, please let me and park ranger know also. There is one caution, when turning the large valve on/off you must do it slowly, due to the high pressure. This valve is easy to turn, and get’s turned off inadvertently at times. (Click any pic to enlarge)

Tuesday, February 18, 2003

2006Feb18WillowSlideShow

Slide show for 18-Feb-2006 LCWP Willow-stick planting. (Click any pic to enlarge)





Tuesday, February 11, 2003

2006Feb111stPlantingSlideShow

Slide show for 11-Feb-2006 LCWP 1st planting. (Click any pic to enlarge)