The Nursery at Willow

Last Day Farewell

2010-11-27T06:18:00.000-08:00

Beth, David, Bob, Drew, Noelia, John, and Sarah came out on my last day as Nursery Manager. They were nice enough to put together a little party with drink and food (we should have done this more often!). Park staff also dropped by to say farewell: Laura, Rick and Molly.
Drew has stepped forward and will be continue to head up the Nursery. I wish him well; he brings a lot of energy and experience.
At this point, this blog is now “closed”, and will stay as a history of all the great help I’ve had along the way. (Click any pic to enlarge)

All Around Work Day

2010-10-23T17:00:00.000-07:00

Beth, David, Bob, Drew, Bob and Sarah. Beth and David took care of moving around plants within Nursery so as to move all plants out from under polyfilm roof for this weather. Then they did cut backs on Toyon in median to encourage new growth that we might use for vegetative propagation in Jan/Feb.
Drew and Sarah put together tree/shrub cuttings for walnut (across the street), sycamore, mule fat and false indigo (hiked up Laurel). The weather is cool and wet, perfect for growing these plants.
David helped me straighten out the supply area. Thankless but needed. David then planted with Bob another 15 trees to provide screening along potty trail for new structure (if we actually do this). (Click any pic to enlarge)

"Non work day"

2010-10-16T17:02:00.000-07:00

Beth, Noelia and David came by to work today on non-work day. Beth and Noelia trimmed the 4" pot stock inside and outside the nursery... about 1,000 pots. Also they trimmed the purple needlegrass. David took care of outside irrigation. We really have issue with lines being chewed up.
Pictured is Juncus Acutus, seed from along the Lorel trail. This plant gets to be about 1 meter high and wide (at least in the park). The plant does not droop, and retails itself erect, however without spines that hurt. Very showy.
Weather has been nice. We had about 1 inch of rain a few days ago (Ha! You La Nina folks!). (Click any pic to enlarge)

Bumping Up #6

2010-09-25T11:13:00.000-07:00

Beth, David, Bob, Drew, John and Noelia came out to help today. Drew brought in 2 walnut trees he started from seed at home, pictured, which were collected Crystal Cove State Park (with permission). Very nice. Beth and Noelia trimmed current plants, repaired pots and then spared all potted plants with neem-oil based spray for fungal gnats and fungus.
David repaired our outside irrigation lines that had been gnawed on, the ¼” pipe that had not been covered. The running premise it is the rabbits, but we don’t know this for sure.
Bob and Drew bumped up the white monkey flower and the prostrate buckwheat into 1 gallon pots. They also cleaned up the area, as when Betty came by for a visit she nearly fell over “junk” twice.
The Argentine ants are out in force now that the weather has warmed up. The cool summer has even delayed the ant behavior to late summer, rather than early summer. We are using low-tech, environment friendly technique to encourage them to move from Nursery: we’re watering where they are nesting. You can see them moving their larva to higher ground and away from Nursery.
The weather was hot and dry, as it has been for the week and is forecast for the most of next week. Drew said he’d seen the hot weather coming in Fall, and Ranger Barbara has called off restoration with seed because of forecasted low rainfall (La Niňa). (Click any pic to enlarge)

Bumping Up #5

2010-08-28T14:26:00.000-07:00

Beth, David, Sarah, John and Noelia came out to help today (yes, …. again!). We spent they day undoing all the preparations for hot summer weather (when is summer anyway?!) and the effects of the cool weather. Beth, Sarah and Noelia trimmed the potted plants, while John did the tree/shrubs. Fungal gnats are a real problem as irrigation was set for hotter weather and we had put up shade-cloth siding , which cut the air flow. So we sprayed them with neem oil for gnats, larvae and fungus. We then took those plants that failed, and saved potting soil mix to re-use; and finally separated pots to provide better aeration.
I lowered the times on misting table and potting irrigation table by about half. The weather forecast looks to warm up this coming weekend, but not that much. What we need to be careful for is hot dry winds The weather today was 64F when we started and partially overcast… perfect gardening weather.
David continued putting out plants and maintaining our outside irrigation. It really looks nice. Extending this area will be our next project.
The vegetative propagation went very well this year. Some important lessons learned were: 1) collect plant material same day, 2) do flats by single species, 3) bump up when that flat is ready. So our next set will be in the Feb 2011 time frame. We’ll break plant days into 2 sections: collection and flat preparation. (Click any pic to enlarge)

Bumping Up #4

2010-08-08T18:47:00.000-07:00

Beth, David, Sarah, John and Noelia came out to help today. Noelia cared for the outside plants: trimming grass down and trimming and spraying rose. Beth cared for the plants inside the Nursery: trimming and spraying. The cool weather this summer seems to bring on fungal gnats and powdery mildew.
Sarah and John bumped up Juncus and Dudleya. John was official potting soil mixer. The new large cart, pictured, can hold a full bag of TOLN potting soil for mixing and easily moved up to potting area: total weight about 160 lbs.
I moved the irrigation for the outside Nursery plants to their own valve. David connected up the outside irrigation lines, and we can drain and test this week, after the valve changes sit for 24 hours for the glue to dry.
All in all it was a pretty morning. We have gone weeks without deer mice getting into our storage chests, which saves on damaged goods and general health. (Click any pic to enlarge)

Bumping Up #3

2010-07-24T15:53:00.000-07:00

Beth, David, Drew, John, Noelia and Bob all came out and helped today. We finished bumping up of all of the herbaceous plant cuttings into 4” pots. There are still two flats of woodier cuttings, that will take longer. Today our total is around 700. Outside we have another 400. And over 100 tree/shrubs in 5 gallon containers.
Beth organized the folks to bump up the remaining monkey flower and bush sunflower. Then they bumped up lemonade berry to 5 gallon pots. And lastly they bumped up a few walnut and a sycamore tree to 5 gallon also.
Noelia worked on the temporary storage area irrigation by adding more sprinklers. David put together the framework irrigation to the outside plantings. Drew put up the shade cloth panel on the back side to cut the summer heat.
All in all it was a pretty day. (Click any pic to enlarge)

Bumping Up #2

2010-07-11T15:01:00.000-07:00

Beth, Sarah, Drew, Bob and David all helped today. Beth coordinated the bumping up of the cuttings with Bob and Sarah. Many of our flats we had a 100% success rate, and others much less.
David, still not over this bug, worked more on the outside plants, which look great. We’ve noodle out a plan, and OKed today by Ranger Barbara, to clear are around Nursery, have a Juvy crew put out mulch, then lay irrigation out, and plant. We’ll have a path through area to make working there easier.
Drew and I worked again on getting the mix right for a bag of TOLN potting soil (which is actually about 21 liquid gallons): 6 gallons water, 1/3 bag of 1oz mycorrhizae mix, and 1.5 cups Osmocote fertilizer. The new mixing wheel-barrel works really well.
Drew and I also expanded the pathway from 32” to a little over 40” to accommodate the new wheel-barrel. This is a more appropriate size for many Nursery carts.
It was a pleasantly overcast day. (Click any pic to enlarge)

Bumping Up #1

2010-07-03T19:57:00.000-07:00

Beth, Sarah, Drew, Bob and for a while David all helped out today. Beth organized and worked with Sarah and Drew to bump up our first batch of cuttings we started in 4 months ago. Our original flats from training, with mixed species, were nothing to compare with our later flats in overall quality of cutting… we’re learning. Key was to get the various training flats with mixed species back into same-plant flats.
Bob helped me use the new wheeled cart which allows us to mix a full 30 gallon bag of TOLN potting soil and then wheel it over to the potting work area… cutting down people traffic. Also the cart allows us to mix 3 times the amount as before. Key is to get the right mix of water and potting soil… about 8 gallons.
Bob also helped me repair the temporary plant fenced area, which Beth reported full of rabbits last week. Find out a critter had chewed a hole on the back side of the plastic fence. The fence is now metal. A good thing we only tested with 1 flat (18 plants). Last week Noelia put together and installed a drip line irrigation for this area… very nice.
David was sick, but still was able to come by and tend to the plants on the outside of the Nursery. We’ll be putting irrigation lines on these plants. All the materials arrived in the past few days. (Click any pic to enlarge)

Clean Up Day #3

2010-06-26T19:07:00.001-07:00

David, Beth, Noelia, John, Sarah, Drew and new-comer Bob (none pictured) all came to help out today. Noelia put the finishing touches on the irrigation for the “temporary” storage of plant flats, which she put together last week. This turned out very well and taps into one of our existing lines. We’re using micro-sprinklers in a test mode. Drew leveled “temporary” storage area and put in first stakes. Bob, John and Noelia wrapped up the staking the fencing. Bob moved 20 plus bags of TOLN potting soil, each weighing 75 pounds, over to the new storage area. He then cut and bent fencing stakes… a hard working guy.
Beth and Sarah fixed the tree/shrub structure fixings and put up south facing side for upcoming warm weather. In the same spirit they hung shade cloth siding on main structure. They then arm-wrestled the irrigation timer and checked all the micro-sprinklers in tree/shrub area. We then negotiated a plan for the upcoming plant bumping up.
John assembled the new tree pot cart and the new wheel-barrel for mixing potting soil. Neither fit on path to main structure, so this will need to be widened.
David tended to the ever-growing plants newly planted around the Nursery. We reviewed the irrigation setup for the outside watering too.

Clean Up Day #2

2010-06-13T14:21:00.000-07:00

David, Beth, Noelia, John and new-comer Bob are pictured in new storage area. Noelia and Beth both got all the assorted pots into containers, which keeps them critter free, cleaner and easier to manage. John and David worked on clearing the 10x10yard area for planting and irrigation. Robert and Bob cleared new storage area and laid cloth.
We reviewed the number of new Nursery initiatives: new storage area, 10x10 yard area/year to irrigate/restore, an dpotting bench and hopper. We reviewed how we’d bump up new cuttings to size of pot and how to get this into a 1 gallon pot. (Click any pic to enlarge)

Clean Up Day #1

2010-05-30T06:25:00.000-07:00

David and Beth helped do major clean up at Nursery today. Beth cleared back the foliage around the Nursery perimeter so that we can get around on all sides and we now have a full work area. David fixed the little red wagons, weeded and took care of new plantings around Nursery. I cleared area for supplies and weeded also. We were all exhausted at the end.
We seem to have made some real progress with the deer-mice, as we have not had any in the chests for 3 weeks now. David brought in the final prevention: a sign he and granddaughter made. We concur that Betty’s suggestion of steel-wool in the open spaces did the trick.
By the way… David is helping me with another automated irrigation scheme to water the plants we have started outside the Nursery and an overflow area (to be determined). (Click any pic to enlarge)

An update, lookin' good

2010-05-16T15:14:00.000-07:00

We already have 460 restoration plants: purple needle grass (280), Juncus acutus (144), and rose (36). These are almost ready to go.
Our vegetative plants are doing very well. See following pictures of samples that are about 2 ½ months old. So far the results look very positive. See root growth in pictures of black sage and buckwheat.
We’re testing walnut, Juglans californica, and sycamore. The walnut came from Crystal Cover (but I think we have some outside of Willow gate). The tree planting by Willow gate will need another mulch put down… unsure if we’ll do it or park staff.
If you haven’t seen planting at Willow Ranger trailer, take note. Very pretty white monkey flower and mustang mint in picture.
Before our “official” plant day, in early July, we’ll have a few clean up and get ready work days. In June we’ll be open for new volunteers to start, no reason to leave them out of pot scrubbing, cabinet cleaning, weeding and other duties as required!
Deer mice continue to be a problem with our cabinets. They chew up everything and pee-poop-birth on everything; damaging supplies and making all unsanitary. We’re working on keeping them out, and going to try repellants too.
(Click any pic to enlarge)

End of 2009/10 Plant Year

2010-04-04T15:48:00.000-07:00

Beth, Nanci, Sarah and David helped wrap up the end of the 2009/2010 plant year. All seed flats were bumped up and all tree/shrubs pots were bumped up to 5 gallon pots. The tree inventory is back up to about 60%.
Beth brought in her flat used for her training at TPF, and finished potting them up. These were about 5.5 months, and many of the plants woodier than ours. These plants give us a good idea of what we should expect. Also I’m running tests on sycamore, walnut and willow cuttings.
The weather was slightly overcast with a cool breeze; rain is forecast for tomorrow. Deer mice continue to get into the Nursery containers over the past 3 weeks. We’re taking Beth’s suggestion of plugging the lock hole and the hinges. Stay tuned as whatever drives them to do this is strong. (Click any pic to enlarge)

Plant Propagation: Vegetative #4

2010-03-27T14:24:00.000-07:00

Beth, Noelia and Kristen helped prepare 5 cutting flats: BRI CAL, RHU LAU, MIM LON, ERI FAS and ENC CAL. That’s a total of 320 more cuttings, bringing our total to 1,204… we’ll see what that turns into actual plants. As important, most of the Nursery volunteers have gotten 1-3 training sessions with vegetative propagation, and this last group showed they are getting the knack.
The day was warm, and rain is expected next week for 2 days. The water to the Nursery had been turned off, and Ranger Steve made sure it was working again.
(Click any pic to enlarge)

Vegetative Propagation Steps

2010-03-26T15:44:00.000-07:00

These are the steps we've used for vegetative plant propagation. Most of these were adapted from trainging at Theodore Payne Foundation Nursery. (Click any pic to enlarge)

Plant Propagation: Vegetative #3

2010-03-14T16:37:00.000-07:00

John, David, Nanci, Beth, Noelia came out one more time to work on vegetative propagation: buckwheat, toyon, sagebrush. The group is getting the routine down: cutting, prep and seating, which will help much as we include this technique more and more. Beth brought her flat from TPN training, which has been a big help in show-and-tell. We’re working making things go smoothly with setup: using wraps, not rubber bands and switching to spray bottle for rooting hormone (we can re-use it then).
We bumped up much of existing plants: elderberry to 5 gallon, rose, juncus, monkey flower. Also the usual mundane of a Nursery: weeding, cleaning, caring for potted plants. (Click any pic to enlarge)

Plant Propagation: Vegetative #2

2010-03-07T16:29:00.000-08:00

Sarah, John, Beth, Drew came out for more at vegetative propagation: buckwheat, monkey flower, brickle brush, and black sage.
The usual mundane of a Nursery: weeding, cleaning, caring for potted plants. (Click any pic to enlarge)

Plant Propagation: Vegetative #1

2010-02-14T16:10:00.000-08:00

Sarah, John, David, Beth, Kristen, Noelia, Nanci all came out after our 1st day was cancelled due to rain. This was our first go at vegetative propagation: rose, buckwheat, bush sunflower and black sage.
Our medium is 80% perlite, 20% coconut coir. DipNGrow rooting hormone, auxin. Disinfectant cuttings with diluted hydrogen peroxide. 8x8 cuttings/flat.
Overcast day. The rain collection barrels have been full for over a month: 400 gallons. It is also tick season… did not check while getting cuttings, and got one on my leg. (Click any pic to enlarge)

2009-10 Work Day #17: Last official day for plant year

2009-11-22T17:53:00.001-08:00

Drew, John, Kristen, Noelia and Sarah came out to go seed collecting along Laurel trail. We had hoped to get scrub oak, but we were about a month late. However we did collect Brikel bush and golden bush. Anyway it was a nice day to be out.
This is the end of the plant season which started in July this year. 1/2 the plants were put in the ground yesterday with Keep It Wild work day around the Nix Center.
The weather has been cooling off even more with moist AM's. PM's still get into the mid-70's. So where's that rain? (Click any pic to enlarge)

2009-10 Work Day #16: Bumping, new shade structure, and rain collection

2009-11-15T14:05:00.000-08:00

David, Beth, Steve, John, Sarah, Noelia and Drew helped today on a very productive work day. Drew and David finished getting the new shade structure up and assembled: a 200 square feet of additional work space. John, Sarah, Noelia and Beth bumped up the remaining plants. David and Drew got the rain collection gutter square and finished the feeder to the cisterns.
The weather appears to be cooling off, and we're getting AM moisture. However today was a nice 72F. (Click any pic to enlarge)

2009-10 Work Day #15: Raising new shade structure

2009-11-09T19:03:00.000-08:00

David, Beth, Steve (yes, he’s back) and Kristen joined in to help assemble the shade structure for our new work area. I bought the 10’ model to clear the door, which is much heavier than the smaller gauge pipe model.
The weather has been up and down, and no rain. Foggy mornings. I turned the irrigation back on and we’ll monitor a bit closer as we’re back to weekly work days. Beth took the propagation class at Theodore Payne Nursery yesterday… this will help us a lot when we start vegetative propagation.

The snake visitor to the tree house appears to be a striped racer. Cute little guy. (Click any pic to enlarge)

2009-10 Work Day #14: Bumping Up

2009-10-31T18:58:00.000-07:00

Drew headed up the work day with Noelia, Beth and Sarah. They focused on getting purple needle grass bumped up. Also they removed siding on both structures to let in more light and allow better circulation. (Click any pic to enlarge)

Nursery Irrigation Covers

2009-10-29T18:40:00.000-07:00

The county built covers for the irrigation valves and main line. Very robust to protect against the elements and prevent accidental breakage. There’s top access, the whole assembly can be move up. Thanks! (click any pic to enlarge)

2009-10 Work Day #13: Bumping Up & WOW

2009-10-17T03:50:00.000-07:00

Drew, John and Noelia helped bump up and repair pots. Turned off irrigation to allow pots and especially seed flats to dry out. Also removed caging from most to allow better air circulation. PUt out 1st treatment of pre-emergent WOW on 1,000 square foot test area. (Click any pic to enlarge)
Goings on: weather has cooled down, and it rained about 1" this past week.

2009-10 Work Day #12: Bumping Up & Moving

2009-10-03T16:21:00.001-07:00

John led the potting group with Beth, Noelia and Sarah. Critters are eating golden bush, ISO MEN, and nibbled off all the lemonadeberry, RHU INT. We're caging many of these along with seed flats.
Kellan and David helped me level, add gravel and lay bricks to get nearly finish the rain cicterm move.
Weather: cooling off, prior two weeks had been 90F+ degrees. We cut the watering on main nursery and on the ceanothus, CEA MEG, in the Tree House. (Click any pic to enlarge)

2009-10 Work Day #11: Bumping Up

2009-09-19T12:30:00.000-07:00

Time flys when plants are growing... Beth, Drew, Krysten and Sarah working on bumping up our first plants into 1-year-pots: golden bush, mugwort and mustang mint. John and I worked on the plants in the Tree House. (Click any pic to enlarge)

2009-10 Work Day #10: Bumping Up and Moving the RB's

2009-09-05T07:06:00.000-07:00

Beth, John and Trish bumped up the remaining tree/shrubs into 5 gallon pots. David, Drew and I began moving the rain barrels, so that we can start organizing the area by the door into a new work area. Since the irrigation has "fixed" the benching, we can't simply move things around now. It was a VERY hot day. (Click any pic to enlarge)

2009-10 Work Day #9: Seed Collecting

2009-08-29T02:05:00.000-07:00

We went seed collecting at Nix, to Dilly then Barbara’s lake, including David, Kristen, Drew, Noelia, Kellan, Nicoli and Gigi (picture taker). It was only in 90’s, and a great day for heat stroke. Collected black sage, yerba mensa, verbena and more. The seed flats continue to be dug up and seed eaten by ??, so I did a cut out on caging David built, and put back over seed flats. Germination looks good on most flats. Argentine ants are setting up home this year, so we’ll have to work on that. (Click any pic to enlarge)

2009-10 Work Day #8: Seed Collecting

2009-08-22T06:45:00.000-07:00

We went seed collecting along Willow Road and Laurel trail, including David, Kristen, Drew, John, and Trish. Many of the seed flats from last week have already sprouted! (Click any pic to enlarge)

2009-10 Work Day #7: Seed Flats

2009-08-15T12:37:00.000-07:00

Preparation of seed flats for 2009-10 year. Sarah, Beth, Kellan, Drew, John, Noelia and guest appearance by Trish. (Click any pic to enlarge)

Plant List 2009-10

2009-08-13T18:55:00.001-07:00

2009-10 Work Day #6

2009-08-08T15:56:00.000-07:00

John, Beth, Kellan, Kristen and Noelia came out today. We reviewed IPM practices for the tree/shrubs, and Noelia and Kellan thinned foliage, especially on elderberry, took care of aphids and small outbreak of what appears to be white-fly. John and Kristen started on seed cleaning, and then were joined by Noelia and Kellan. All the available seed collected within this past year were cleaned, bagged and labeled. The bags will get an overnight stay in my freezer to take care of any critters. The 3 hour work day went by fast. Click any pic to enlarge.

2009-10 Work Day #5

2009-08-01T13:02:00.001-07:00

John, Drew, Kellan and Noelia (1st timer). Ranger Barbara stopped by to chat after coming back from vacation. Noelia worked on ridding tree's of aphids and white-fly. John cleaned flats for seed flats and water outside plants. Kellan and Drew put up new shade-cloth sidings and assembled the new containers (we now have 5). I replaced the sprinkler heads over the potted-plants, and they appear to really do the job (about 5x gpm increase). We all arranged pots and put into old containers. I must add that Bette did bring treats by, as she does most work days... very thoughtful. All in all a very productive day. (Click any pic to enlarge)

2009-10 Work Day #4

2009-07-26T13:20:00.001-07:00

David, Sarah, Kristen (1st timer), Kellan and David. Wow! We got the Tree House squared away which officially completes the irrigation project. This included organizing the pots, putting a sprinkler in each one and testing everything worked. David took care of the outside plants, and the rest assembled the new storage containers that you can sit on (pictured)... which are REALLY nice and spacious. (Click any pic to enlarge)

2009-10 Work Day #3

2009-07-19T13:43:00.001-07:00

Anne, David and Drew helped put together the micro sprinkler "hubs" for the Tree House. These are centered on a 6 port manifold, 6' of tubing and an adjustable micro-sprinkler. We then put more plants into the ground around the Nursery. (Click any pic to enlarge)

Irrigation finished in main structure

2009-07-18T18:33:00.000-07:00

The Nursery main structure now has irrigation: misting and sprinkler. Click here for slideshow. David and Francisco both helped. (Click any pic to enlarge)

2009-10: Work Day 2

2009-07-12T18:22:00.000-07:00

Sarah points to her suggestion to free birds that get into Nursery. This has been ongoing problem at Nursery, especially with sparrows: they get in, but can't get out. We fixed tie-wraps on main structure. David helped put more surplus potted plants around Nursery. We then continued working on irrigation system.

2009-10: Work Day 1

2009-07-05T14:37:00.001-07:00

Sarah, David, John and Kellan were out today. John and I moved flats and pots out of the main structure to allow changing bencing and work on irrigation this week. All helped prep the 12 plants we're cold stratifying, some require it and the others it performs the same task as being in a flat. We'll be able to start the flats after the misting sytstem is in place... hopefully by the end of the week. (Click any pic to enlarge).

Meeting with OC Parks

2009-07-01T18:44:00.000-07:00

Laura, Karl, Barbara, me, Jackie, Jennifer. We met to discuss ways OC Parks can help LCWP-Nursery and how our volunteer efforts can help get nurseries going in other OC parks. (Click any pic to enlarge)

Rabbit Fence

2009-06-07T19:20:00.000-07:00

I added a fence to Tree structure to keep smaller animals out, notabley rabbits. We've been trying verious things to keep them out , but to no avail. They have been digging, cutting and bedding on the plants.

It's rattlesnake time again, and one was spotten on the path betweeen structures by Rick last week and today. Click here for snake relocation from trailer stairs.

Seed Collecting

2009-04-28T18:28:00.000-07:00

Jason and I went collecting today at the south part of the park looking for plants in the maritime chaparral. We found 2 of the 3 I was looking for: red berry and bush rue. Lemonade berry was a brilliant orange, so we couldn’t pass that up. On the way back to Willow, Mr Rattlesnake, Southern Pacfic, was laying across Bommer. See video of snake: click here. (Click any pic to enlarge)

Seed Collecting

2009-04-26T16:44:00.000-07:00

I went seed collecting today with Jason. We collected 1-2 years worth of purple needle grass, N. pulchra, at Big Bend and near entrance. We also scored Juncus Textiles, pictured; and Juncus acutus, which was a real find as the only other source was at the end of Emerald Canyon. This looks to be a good seed collecting year: variety and quantity. LOTS of ticks and poison ivy.

Work Day #12/13: bumping up

2009-04-19T20:06:00.000-07:00

Drew and Kellan potted 40 plants on April 5. Weeded… this get out of hand under the benching… only to have Ceanothus eaten by slugs/snails. That problem is now resolved.
Beth bumped up Dudleya into 20 give-away pots. John and Drew bumped up 70 tree-shrubs into 5 gallon pots, with 9-month slow release fertilizer and mycorrhizae inoculated. David and I fixed the plumbing bib to accommodate a 2nd line for the irrigation system.
To make it all fun, it was very hot day. 101F in the Nursery shade structure. Bette, as she does many times, supplied tasty pastries.

Work Day, 2009#11 Final!!

2009-03-15T14:47:00.001-07:00

Today was our final Nursery work day for the 2008-9 plant year. John helped Drew and Kellan pot up the big-pod Ceanothus into 5 gallon pots (hah! we ran out of soil..). Beth and Anne weeded and got pots and trays organized for next year. Nanci worked with Robert Hamersley and wife Tina weed and clean up. Also Robert fixed the little red wagon. David also weeded. So we got the place in great shape for our next plant year, which starts in July this year.
Good news is we now have city water in both structures. Thank you Ranger Barbara and plumber Bert

Work Day, 2009#10 Bumping Up

2009-03-01T18:31:00.000-08:00

Stephanie, Beth, Drew and John. Finished regular seed flats. This will make total plants at about 1,800 (see inventory list).

Plant Inventory 2008/9

2009-02-16T10:02:00.001-08:00

Notes
- List is sorted by “Plant/Tree”, botanical name
- All plants are in TOLN potting soil, 9 month slow release fertilizer and mycorrhizae inoculated.
- What’s ready now: bladder pod, milk weed, CA fuchsia, Mustang mint
- The remaining plants will take at least 1 month to be ready to plant
- The tree’s will be over-summered in 5 gallon pots
- Estimate of additional plants: rose (90 more), mountain mahogany (40 more), elderberry (20 more), white sage (30 more).

Work Day, 2009#10 Bumping Up

2009-02-15T08:30:00.000-08:00

Nanci, Linda, John, Sarah, David and try-it-out volunteer from Soka University: Megan Tan. Bumped up remainder of plants: CA rose, Monkey Flower, purple needle grass, bedding plant, elderberry, mountain mahogany, and white sage.
There is enough work for 1 more work day to bump up tree-shrubs. It will take at least another month until we can bump up the tree-shrubs to 5 gallon pots…. size of plant and/or time of year that critters don’t eat the tops of them.
We’re starting to see fungal (fungus) gnats on the seed flats. These guys promote “damping off”. Search finds that common source is over-watering.. also if you are using peat-based media, consider switching to one that only contains perlite and vermiculite. Good air circulation is also a deterrent.
The automated irrigation project is making good headway. Ranger Laura worked with Eagle scout group, which donated $600 to the Nursery for the automated irrigation system. Ranger Barbara has gotten the County work started to lay bibs to both structures.
Beth is going to do various testing on the prickly pear cactus seeds. This will save us trial-and-error. However I have not given up on flat we have.

Weather: raining during week and another storm coming. 160 gallons of rain water.

Work Day, 2009#9 Bumping Up

2009-02-02T18:26:00.000-08:00

The volunteers included David, Linda, John, Nanci and newbie Stephanie (Soka student). We bumped up bush sunflower, elderberry, monkey flower and purple needle grass.
The Park had taken our 430 purple needle grass and planted them for re-vegetation around the Nix Center. In 1 or 2 work days we should be able to move our trees up to the 5 gallon containers. See slide show. (Click any pic to enlarge)

Work Day, 2008#8

2009-01-04T07:28:00.000-08:00

David, Beth, Anne, and Linda helped on today's work day. We bumped up purple needle grass, CA fuchsia and mustang mint. The oaks are growing, slowly. We've had a period of near-freezing temperatures.
The 2” of rain produced about 60 gallons of rain water -30gal/1”. This is less than average of 50 gallons/1” of rain. Interesting enough we used 18 gallons this work day – most of this was for cleaning.
A big help has been David and Beth coming by and checking on plants and watering. Without an automated irrigation system, maybe this June, this is the support we need.

Work Day, 2008#7

2008-12-14T06:52:00.000-08:00

David brought his 3rd bench cover today, which we promptly put onto the seed flats, as many had again been eaten by “critters”. Those plants that were inside one of David’s cover’s, were AOK. So this is a story with a happy ending.

David, Beth and Steve went seed collecting up Laurel trail: prickly pear fruit, Toyon, Lancet-leaf Dudleya, Mugwort and some Deer grass. We ran into LCF work detail with Ranger Jackie doing trail repair (looked like hard work).

Beth and David have been helping water and check on plants during the week. A big help, and much needed.

Bumping Up, 2008#6

2008-11-30T17:49:00.001-08:00

Most of the tree/shrubs were damaged by “critters”: Big pod Ceanothus, Toyon, Mountain Mahogany, and Holyleaf redberry. Also we lost many seed flats to early hot/windy weather. Sarah repaired Ceanothus, and re-seeded Holyleaf redberry. John reseeded Prickly pear cactus, rose and Bush sunflower. David reseeded Mountain Mahogany. Beth did repotting for existing potted plants. Bill worked with Linda on oaks. There was about 30 gallons of rain water from under 2 inches of rain from last week.

Bumping Up, 2008#5

2008-11-16T15:28:00.001-08:00

David brought in two spiffy covers that we’ve already started using on the oak seedlings. In January, or when the oaks have 3-4 sets of true leaves, “something” gnaws the stem off at the base. This year we’re ready, and the design is light and easy to move around. For safe measure, the seed flats were covered too.
Nanci bumped up CA fuchsia and helped Bill bump up Coast Live and Scrub oak. John bumped up Big Pod Ceanothus. Steve helped prep potting soil and make labels. David made flats of Lemonade Berry and Elderberry that had been cold stratifying. The group finished with another set of Purple Needle grass. See slide show. (Click any pic to enlarge)

Bumping Up, 2008#4

2008-11-02T14:48:00.000-08:00

The weather waited to rain today until right before we started working… about 0.1”. David started bladder-pod and bumped up CA fuchsia. Beth continued, along with John, on oaks and bumped up coast live oak. Nanci and Steve bumped up purple needle-grass, and a flat of scrub oak. The seed flats for toyon, false indigo, ceanothus, and mountain mahogany have all started and appear to be viable. The group went through 150 gallons of potting soil!

2008: Plant List and Seed Flats

2008-10-31T10:50:00.001-07:00

Seed flats, 2008-9#3

2008-10-18T13:24:00.000-07:00

Nanci and Linda put together seed pots for narrow-leaf and Indian milkweed. David finished flat of Ceanothus. John did seed flat of Dudleya and Sycamore. Bill did seed flat of Laurel Sumac. Beth cleaned all the seeds in cold-stratification: oaks, elderberry and lemonade berry. The oaks are about 10% germinated, so we will be bumping them up next work day. (Click any pic to enlarge)

Seed flats, 2008-9#2

2008-10-05T15:25:00.000-07:00

Nanci, John, Steve and Beth all helped put together our first seed flats and get the cold-stratification batch started. Lots of prep work still needed to be done: clean seed flat containers, seed cleaning, prepare flats, label everything…. We were able to get all the key plants started today with great help! See slide show. (Click any pic to enlarge)

Nursery Work Day, 2008/9-#1

2008-09-27T07:48:00.000-07:00

Our first official work day for the plant year 2008/9 involved lots of cleaning: Nanci, Bill, Steve and John. Nanci made sure all was cleaned up in Nursery, and then moved to cleaning seed from the rose hips and cactus fruit. Bill started the day by watering Dudleya and tree inventory, which have been on a every two week cycle over the summer. John, Steve, and Bill then proceeded to clean seed that we have collected over the 12 months. Then Steve helped do the final bag and label of seed, which I took home to get a 24 hour freeze to de-critter.
Oh… for those there, the plant listing is: Narrow leaved bedstraw, Galium angustifolium .
In the slideshow, click here, you’ll see Nanci starting to fill blender, with blades taped, with rose hip to begin seed separation. The “rose water” had the added benefit of softening your hands! Then you’ll see cactus fruit in bucket that had also been separated, then seed skimmed off top. Bill is taking the husk off False Indigo seeds. (Click any pic to enlarge)

Seed Collecting 2008

2008-09-20T11:21:00.000-07:00

Collected rose, cactus fruit, acorns (coast live and scrub), wild rye grass, elderberry and Brickle brush with John today on Laurel loop trail. Very plentiful collection. Ranger Jacky is collecting more cactus fruit from the Nix area too. Click here for rose bed close up. (Click any pic to enlarge)

Seed Collecting

2008-09-11T11:15:00.000-07:00

Seed collecting today with John and Bill up Laurel Loop. We scouted acorns for Coast Live Oak and Scrub Oak which are abundant, but not quite ready: on tree, turning brown and come out of cap easily. However we did collect rose and false indigo. (Click any pic to enlarge)

Big Minds Meet

2008-07-16T20:01:00.000-07:00

Met with Karl today, new Executive Director for Laguna Canyon Foundation. Karl is all around good guy. Karl and I took Liz Brown's Docent class in 1999. With the LCF's support, we're able to continue on with projects and add to the Nursery, as witnessed by our new carts! After 7 years, we're finally using the wheel to move things around.

Nursery Work Day

2008-07-12T19:51:00.001-07:00

Anne, David and John came to work. David and John potted up the remaining larger plants into 5 gallon pots. In the larger pots the plants can over-summer with less care and less stress. These plants were moved to the new tree structure. They were able to use up most of the recycled potting soil we had left.
Anne, John and I cleaned the 115-or-so 5 gallon pots that I’d fished out of the recycle bin at my work. This saved the Nursery about $600 for new pots being shipped to us.
The new docent training class stopped in with Bette to get a birds eye view of us working away.

Seed Collecting & Deer

2008-07-10T20:04:00.000-07:00

I went seed collecting and as I was trying to see the rose patch by El Toro/LCH, a “foot step” behind me made me jump, only to find a deer grazing on elderberry. Collected Mountain Mahogany, Golden Yarrow and Golden Stars. Looks like it will be super year for Toyon and Oaks. Click here for current list.

2008-07-03T20:02:00.000-07:00

Seed collecting with John. Collected: Mustang mint, onion and Mariposa lily. Black sage seed is abundant. The shrub oak look like they will bear well this year. Click here for current list.

Tree Structure Completed

2008-05-18T15:03:00.000-07:00

With the help of Peter, John and Francisco from February to May 2008, we were able to complete the new tree structure at the Nursery. Last year we successfully tested that tree/shrub plants fare fine over summer in 5 gallon pots with little attention. Add to the suggestion from Master Gardener program to use motorized auger for tree holes, which was recently purchased. And finally a need by park Ranger Barbara for these type plants. This all now comes together with a need, a planting method and a low-maintenance care while during the summer. The structure can keep an inventory of about 130 tree/shrubs. The Park staff added crushed rock to structure and path. Then they added mulch on entrance paths. Very nice. All that’s left is to purchase Nursery carts to get trees to parking areas. See slide show. (Click any pic to enlarge)

Bumping Up 2007-8/#6

2008-01-19T12:50:00.000-08:00

Sarah, Anne, Nanci, John and David helped finish off our container plant work on this work day, though Paul did drop by. At the end of the day we had 1,600 restoration plants, 146% of our goal. All container plants are in 3-4 inch pots, use TOLN potting soil, include 9 month slow-release fertilizer and are mycorrhizae inoculated, including Glomus intraradices. The pot size is ideal for restoration planting. Click here for ending plant inventory.
There are two restoration planting dates set for Feb and March, see calendar for specifics. So our plants are destined to get in the ground. The Willow area will be mowed and probably seeded right around planting.
We left the seed flats under frost cloth as temperatures are expected into the 30’s until next week. If there is a prolonged forecast of low-30’s, then we’ll also cover the container plants with frost cloth. Stay tuned about the new structure for our Tree Inventory. The proposal will be presented to The Laguna Canyon Foundation board this Monday at their next meeting. See slideshow for pictures. (Click any pic to enlarge)

Ending Plant Inventory 2007/8

2008-01-19T08:53:00.000-08:00

Bumping up 2007-8/#5

2007-12-29T16:17:00.000-08:00

Sarah, David and John came by and we continued to bump up and we fixed existing pots. Our plant numbers are at 125% of our goal of 1,100. We would have finished off our list, but a few plants just we not ready. We probably won’t have our final plants ready until a few weeks. David again graciously volunteered to come by and check on things over the next few weeks.
We started this work day later in the day to account for the continued frosty weather; and low-and-behold everyone was very happy about starting later. mmmmm this only took me 4 years to figure out! The seed flats had been under the frost cloth for 2 weeks, and they looked AOK. This looks to be promising technique. (Click any pic to enlarge)

Frozen Work Day

2007-12-22T17:26:00.000-08:00

The Seed flats were frozen, so no “bumping up” to containers was done. Paul, Nanci, Sarah and Ranger Barbara came by. We covered the seed flats with frost cloth, after they had thawed out. According to Ranger Barbara there’s been frost for the past few days. So until the weather breaks, the seed flats will remain covered. We did a mini-restoration in drainage ditch with about 30 mule-fat sticks. (Click any pic to enlarge)

Bumping up 2007-8/#4

2007-12-01T18:27:00.001-08:00

Volunteers today were Sarah, Nanci, John, Paul and David. We bumped up 106% of plant goal, a total of 1,170 restoration plants. These container plants are put in potting soil from Tree of Life Nursery, have slow release Scotts Ocmocote fertilizer added, and are mycorrhizae inoculated. The Nursery is filled with plants for park restoration. See slideshow for more pictures. (Click any pic to enlarge)
The Dec 8 work day was cancelled. How come? Two species have taken longer to mature, and once we bump them up, we're essentially done: Monkey Flower, Mimulus aurantiacus, and Spiny Rush, Juncus acutus. Not included in the restoration count are the 350+ "other" plants we've done.
This may be our most bountiful year, but is unquestionably the record time: 3 months. The work days have been fun and "work" I look forward to. I am reminded that I work best with competent people.
I’m waiting for the frost cloth to get here (long story), as the temperatures in Aliso Viejo are in the 40’s, which means the Nursery is in the 30’s.

Bumping up 2007-8/#3

2007-11-25T16:05:00.000-08:00

Sarah, David, Paul and John volunteered. This is our 3rd work day to bump up seedlings from flats, and our day's work brought our total of restoration plants to 846, or 77% of our 1,100 goal. Very good progress.
Our potting rate is about 38 pots/hour/person, or 2 flats/hour/person. We are only 254 plants short of our goal. At this rate, we should hit our goal in as little as 1 more work day. But most likely it will be 2-3 work days, as I'd like to have more plants than promised.... "just in case". We just can’t stop at the Restoration plants. We’ll have a few hundred of trial and “just because” plants. Click below to see G-rated video.

More bumping up

2007-11-10T11:43:00.001-08:00

David, Nanci and Anne helped today. Together they bumped up 324 plants: 30% of our goal today; moving us up to a total of 54% of our goal. Started new seed flats for White sage, Purple needle grass and Goldenbush.

First “Bumping” Up 2007/8

2007-11-03T10:25:00.000-07:00

John, Greg and David volunteered. We bumped up our first plants, about 325, or 30% of our goal of 1,100 plants. Not a bad days work. We worked on CA fuchsia, Goldenbush, and branching Phacelia. We’re getting initial growth on narrow-leaf milkweed, and looks like we just might have Indian milkweed. We’ll have to start another seed flat for White sage, Goldenbush and purple needle grass. See slideshow for pictures. (Click any pic to enlarge)

Seed Flats II

2007-10-20T13:28:00.000-07:00

Tom, David, Nanci and John volunteered. We created remaining seed flats, as remainder of seed was delivered Thursday. David filled in for watering during the week; seed flats can not dry out, else the germinating seeds will die. We won’t do more seed flats unless the seeds we’ve used are not viable or there is some problem.
We reviewed “bumping up” for our next work day: when to do: after 1st set of true leaves, potting soil from Tree of Life Nursery, slow release fertilizer (Scotts “Osmocote Plus”, 8-9M, 15-9-12), pots to use and labeling.
Santana Winds are due the first part of the week: hot and dry with temperatures expected in mid-90’s F. David will come by twice a week to check/water seed flats the first week. I’ll do the 2nd week.

Plant List 2007/8

2007-10-18T09:59:00.001-07:00

Seed Flats 2007/8

2007-10-07T18:04:00.000-07:00

Today we did initial seed flats for the year. When we get remainder of the seeds, we’ll finish off the seed flats. Today we had help from Nanci, Sarah, John, David, and Wendy and her daughter. This year tried a new strategy of mapping the flats before the work day… worked OK, but with some of the seed missing this plan was not too great. Also new was measuring seed before starting flats, a good idea, but probably should have been done before this work day. All equipment was sanitized with 10% bleach solution. We are again doing alternate seed flats to be kept away from Nursery… in case of trouble. We also did set of pots of Milkweed. All told: 9 flats using 23 seed lots and 4x32 pots. See slide show.

First Work Day 2007/8 Plant Year

2007-09-30T08:14:00.000-07:00

Today was our first official work day of the season, and what a busy day it was: cleaning, arranging and working with seeds. Volunteers included Nanci, John, Sarah, David, and Paul.
To get things started we moved the hutches out, which had been on their side protecting the oaks and dudleya. The seed cleaner, which we don’t know how to use, was moved out too. Nanci bumped up and planted a few remaining oak trees. All this to make room so we can work under the poly-film roof… in case it rains.
Sarah and David cleaned out and organized storage bins after 4 years. Paul and John cleaned and sanitized seed flats (15). Also Paul filled one of the cisterns with city water… in case we don’t get rain.
Finally David, Paul, John and Nanci helped do seed cleaning from this summer.

Next work day we’ll be able to focus on getting seed flats ready, so we can meet our goal of having container plants ready by the end of February.

Seed collecting

2007-08-11T13:44:00.000-07:00

Went seed collecting today to refresh the Nursery’s seed bank, especially for this years plants: CA sage brush, monkey flower, mountain mahogany, golden yarrow, goldenbush, piney-leaf goldenbush, and Juncus patens(?). The CA fuchsia was a bust… looks like it didn’t even bloom. The mountain mahogany seeds were scant, as prior years the tree’s looked like featured boa’s.

The Willow-Laurel loop is really a treasure chest of plants (thank you Sarah for this observation). Along Willow so much was dried up together, it was very difficult to determine identify plants.

The oak trees: scrub and coastal live, have acorns ....on the trees that were bearing. What determines if an oak will bear is a mystery. I saw at least 5 scrub Oak loaded with acorns. The acorns will be ready to harvest when they start to turn brown, and are easy to pull from the cap… probably in 3-6 weeks.

Scrub oak acorns:

Coastal live oak acorns:

Getting ready for the 2007/8 year

2007-08-05T06:29:00.000-07:00

Met and talked with Meg Jones, our new Executive Director of the Laguna Canyon Foundation. We talked about the need for planters in March/April timeframe and the need for a meeting about restoration logistics: plots, methods, and followup. Meg made a strong commitment that the Restoration side of things would come together this year. When the number of planters and days, then we will have a better idea of number of plants we should do for the 2007/8 year.
The pictured 5 gallon pots are an experiment using recycled soil. Also this is a test to see how well plants can hold up to environment with only watering every two weeks. Pictured are scub oak, Quercus berberidifolia, and mountain mahogany, Cercocarpus betuloides. The final test is putting them in the ground when the rains start. This may be what we do with our tree-like plants.

Many thanks to Francisco, Rick and Fidel for helping with checking and cleaning rain collection gutter. This is very hard to do by oneself.

Welcome the 2007/2008 year

2007-08-01T19:00:00.000-07:00

Let us welcome the new year for the LCWP Nursery. We’ll start our seed flats at the beginning of October, in anticipation of our plants being ready for planting in March/April 2008. We’ll begin with an introduction session, so everyone can meet each other, we can cover any questions, and the plan for this year can be discussed.

Year End Thanks 2006/2007

2007-02-25T10:54:00.000-08:00

Thank you all who have come and volunteered through out the year either with plants at the Nursery or collecting seed.
The goal for restoration plants was 600, and we only hit 400. However we can say that the additional bumper crop of chalk and lancet-leaf Dudleya made up for things: over 200 each! We were hit very hard by the dry winds coupled with days of ‘teen weather – destroying over 50% of the 2 major planting days we had. Thank you again to those that helped out: Nanci, Anne, Sarah, David, Tom, Paul, Greg, Kimberly, Barbara, Francisco and Larry.
Seed collection goal was 3 lbs, which we met handidly: 3.3 lbs of LCWP Nursery “Party” mix: 80% CA buckwheat, remainder about 4% each: CA everlasting, golden bush, deer weed, E. californica, and purple needle grass. Many thanks to those who helped collect: Anne, Sarah, Dale, Marilyn, Matt, Brad, David, Tom, Ranger Barbara, Francisco … and especially Kimberly by incorporating collection into her educational classes (she also totted around family with un-named CA State Park ranger to collect acorns).

Wrap up day, plants at Nursery

2007-02-24T10:48:00.000-08:00

This was last work day at Nursery for this season (Oct-March). Thanks to Nanci and Anne for helping bump up remaining plants: oaks and Dudleya, general all-around work and final seed cleaning. Much of the remaining Nursery plants will be put in the ground at the Nix Center in March by a Soka University Horticulture class.
The cleaned seed mix was turned over to Ranger Barbara for safe cool keeping and “use as needed”… she mentioned use at Rattlesnake Canyon. 3.3 pounds in total.
Stay tuned for newly posted work schedule, which will begin in June timeframe. I’ll send out email when I’ve posted it, but most likely won’t be until April.

Seeding at Nix and Nursery

2007-02-10T15:30:00.000-08:00

Sarah, Ranger Barbara, Tom and David helped prep and seed about 1 acre directly around the Nix Center. We roughed up about ½ area with McCloud’s.... not easy work, as much of the ground was very compacted from the original construction. All we need now is some light rain.
Meanwhile back at the Nursery, Nanci worked with Boy Scout's troop for a project to "improve mammal habitat" for a merit badge. They helped re-seed remaining oak seedlings, clean up after freeze/dry damage, and bump up from seed flats.

Dudleya planting at Nix Center

2007-01-28T19:08:00.000-08:00

We planted over 200 Chalk Dudleya along the “rock way” to the Nix center: Anne (with broken collar bone), Sarah, her sister, Scott and family: Julie, Guy and Bridget. The plants were started in October, and interesting enough the seed came from plants recovered from the toll road construction. Thank you to Ranger Barbara for watering the area for this planting. The weather forecast of showers for the next few days is just what these new plants will want.

Frost damage, make-up day

2007-01-21T17:46:00.000-08:00

We lost 30-50% of our potted plants due to repeated days of freezing weather and dry winds…. guess they were “freeze dried”. Thanks to Greg and Nanci for their earnest help salvaging what they could, especially for our first planting in 2 weeks. It is too early to tell what the status of the oak seedlings are now… they’re not dead, but not too lively looking… so consensus was “wait and see”. Without the oaks we have over 600 plants… small and battered. The remaining seed flats are a mixed bag, but the Dudleya was unfazed!
Oh.. on Wednesday Ranger Larry, helped (read, he “did”) replace the cistern valve that broke in the prior frost. Much thanks for the help!

2007-Jan-14 Frozen Out

2007-01-14T14:34:00.000-08:00

The work day was called off due to “everything” was frozen: rain cisterns, all hoses, city water line, seed flats, stratifying oak acorns and all potted plants. This is first time this has happened in 3 years. Ranger Larry Sweet said it was 26 degrees (F) at 7:30am. The cistern valve broke… probably trying to get it to work after it was frozen. Sarah, Paul, David, and Nanci showed up to work…. Click here for video.

More bumping up

2006-12-10T15:32:00.000-08:00

Anne, Nanci, Greg, and David "bumped up" Giant needlegrass, Monkey flower, Sticky Cinqfoil, Deer grass and Golden yarrow. Also Supervising Ranger Sweet (not pictured) came by and kept us company and shared his insights. A good day all around.

Bumping Up

2006-11-26T09:00:00.000-08:00

Nanci and I worked Friday, Nov 24, and Sunday, Nov 26, it was Sarah, Paul and myself. Nanci and Sarah bumped up the remaining Scrub Oak and Coast Live Oak acorns into 4” tall pots, Quercus berberidifolia and Quercus agrifolia respectively. The rats/mice eat the tops off early, so the hutches laid on their sides provided convenient caging until the oaks get at least 8” tall. Nanci and Sarah did the oaks. Paul did all the Purple Needle grass, Nassella pulchra, and jointly Sarah and Paul did 3 flats of Giant Needle grass, Achnatherum coronatum. I did two flats of Encelia californica. Very productive weekend! See slideshow for pictures. (Click any pic to enlarge)

Nursery Video Tour 2006

2006-11-24T09:00:00.000-08:00

Nix Center Opening

2006-11-04T08:52:00.000-08:00

The opening of the Nix Center in Laguna Coast Wilderness Park was attended by over 1,000 people. The Nix Center’s initial planting was 1,600 California native bunch grasses grown the Laguna Greenbelt’s Nursery. See OC Register article which mentions the Nursery’s native bunch grasses being planted. See slideshow for pictures. (Click any pic to enlarge)

Planting Grass at Nix

2006-11-01T18:53:00.000-08:00

Time to get 1,600 grass plants, propagated at the volunteer Nursery, into the ground at the Nix Center at Laguna Wilderness Park. Kimberly, Elliott (not pictured), Barbara and Francisco were the catalyst… with a prison crew from Casper’s coming to help over the next few days. The plot you see is about 400 square yards, or about 13 flats… we have 50, so there’s a lot of grass to go around the Nix Center. See slideshow for pictures. (Click any pic to enlarge)

Farewell to Native Grasses

2006-10-26T14:13:00.000-07:00

We watered and fertilized 1,600 native grasses the week before they are due to be planted in the Laguna Coast Wilderness Nix Nature Center. Next year’s container plants are in either seed flats or containers. Each seed flat and post is has been inoculated with mycorrhizae.
See complete plant list. See slideshow for pictures. (Click any pic to enlarge)

Seed Flats & Oaks

2006-10-22T17:41:00.000-07:00

Tom, David, Sarah and Nanci helped plan, prep, label and prepare seed flats for this year: 15 species in seed flats and 2 species of oaks. We topped the flats with vermiculite to deter fungal gnats. Each species was paired in the flat with a dissimilar plant.
The group also de-bugged oak acorns being stratified and “bumped up” the ones with tap roots into 4” tall square pots.
See complete plant list. See slideshow for pictures. (Click any pic to enlarge)

Starting Oak Trees

2006-09-30T10:00:00.000-07:00

Ranger Barbara, Kimberly and Winter jointly collected acorns: Coast Live Oak, Quercus agrifolia, and Scrub Oak, Quercus berberidifolia. Tom and David cleaned acorns, and placed them in polyethylene bags with moistened medium, germination mix. The bags, slightly open, were placed in dark container…. “stratification”. Once the acorns produce a tap root, in 4-6 weeks, we’ll put them in 4” tall pots. We’ll have to cage these pots after the first leaves show as rats will gnaw off the stalks.

Seed Collecting

2006-09-16T10:35:00.000-07:00

Robert, David and Tom back from seed collecting CA Everlasting, Gnaphalium californicum (?), to be used for restoration seed mix. Seed collection is for both restoration by seed and for container plants. We’ll be starting seed flats at the end of September: 30th. Reviewed seed collecting by educational groups with Kimberly.

Fixing rain collection system

2006-08-12T13:13:00.001-07:00

Today Nanci and I watered the 1,600+ grasses for the Nix center. The original delivery was for August 1, but the un-official reschedule date is November 4, which also appears unlikely. This is frustrating as the grasses are stressed and not in containers for prolonged care. We’ll just have to do our best.
Francisco, and new volunteer Paul, helped fix the rain collection system. The unique design by Ranger Larry, that combined the roof-end and the gutter got separated due to the screws snapping. This time heavy-duty screws were used... "screwed down for life".

Seed Collecting

2006-07-01T06:46:00.000-07:00

Matt, Dale, Marilyn and Ranger Barbara helped collect seeds from Indian Tobacco, Nicotiana quadrivalvis, Bush sunflower, Encelia californica, and Hollyleaf Redberry, Rhamnus ilicifolia. We collected around Big Bend and worked our way back on a very hot day. The Bush Sunflower we will use for container plants and seed restoration. See slideshow for pictures. (Click any pic to enlarge)

2006-05-28T06:04:00.000-07:00

Nanci poses with Nix Center grass seedlings. Note the size of the stand of white sage! Many other changes you might note: 3 new benches and new signage. I capped the screened top of the rain collection cistern, as weather is forecasted to get hot. Last year lost 25+ gallons to evaporation. (Click any pic to enlarge)

Restoration Site Survey

2006-05-11T17:20:00.000-07:00

Ranger Barbara arranged for Trish Smith from The Nature Conservancy to come along to help articulate restoration site. Anthony’s Restoration Learning Cluster from Soka University also came along. We did soil samplings, invasive and native plant inventory, site description and talk on site challenges. See slide show for more pics and details on the grass plants for the Nix Center. (Click any pic to enlarge)

Soka Restoration Class Planting

2006-05-04T13:20:00.000-07:00

Soka University’s Restoration Class doing a work day at Nursery. Anthony Mazeroll’s class pumped out 1,944 2 ½ pots of purple needlegrass, Nassella pulchra, for the Nix Nature Center. This completes the goal of a total of 2,000. Hard working group. We also did field trip up to one of the naturally occurring grass area’s. See slideshow for more pictures. (Click any pic to enlarge)