(Photo illustration by Jim Cooke / Los Angeles Times; photos courtesy of Friends of Ballona, Folar, and Calbg)
18 ways to learn about plants while volunteering around L.A.
While hiking in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains as a kid, I’d be poked by yucca spikes, scratched by the tough leaves of oak trees and calmed by the soothing aroma of sages.
Back then, I knew very little about these native plants — not even their names. Even though my mom was a gardener who’d take me to visit local nurseries, my understanding of plants didn’t go very deep. Like many of us, I assumed that lush green lawns and tall, limber palm trees were the signature plant life of Los Angeles. Volunteering as an adult has changed that.
When I first went to visit the nursery at the Theodore Payne Foundation in Sun Valley, I remember being captivated by the little Joshua Tree sprouts they were selling in tiny 4-inch pots — these are plants that have been in our local Mojave Desert for over tens of thousands of years. I signed up to volunteer there because I had a feeling that these plants were part of the profound story of this place. I wanted to know more.
The first volunteer day I attended was a group cleanup session of the grounds, which feels more like a nature park than most nurseries. There are billowing buckwheats, dramatically sculptured manzanitas, as well as sages and a big palo verde tree with its long green spreading limbs. The plants attract butterflies, bees, birds and other critters. It was easy to spend time there.
Planning your weekend?
Stay up to date on the best things to do, see and eat in L.A.
We got to work doing chores around the nursery, pulling weeds and raking leaf litter away from shrubs. Chitchat among the 15 volunteers ensued, piles of weeds formed. We were working as a team, with people taking the lead or following along as necessary, some carrying the weight and others providing encouragement. We probably worked for the better part of three hours, but it didn’t seem like it.
I didn’t realize it at the time, but I was experiencing the seeds of many revelations. I began to notice how even the simplest tasks such as pulling weeds can be a meditation. Working outside with plants is not only relaxing, but it makes you more aware of life in many ways. Being part of a group effort showed me how much a few people working toward the same goal could accomplish in a short amount of time.
Sign up for our L.A. Times Plants newsletter
At the start of each month, get a roundup of upcoming plant-related activities and events in Southern California, along with links to tips and articles you may have missed.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
Pretty soon I was helping customers in the sales yard, doing things like checkout and carting plants out to cars. I got to work with the point-of-sale computers, entering in the items people had purchased, and this helped me learn many of the plant names, both the common and the scientific ones. I started to recognize plants and pick up basic identification skills.
The sales yard staff is constantly talking to shoppers. Sometimes they’re talking to professionals, but often to complete beginners about native plants, or even regarding gardening in general. I got to witness and be a part of these conversations, which helped me learn a lot fairly quickly. I was becoming part of a larger conversation about the plants that reflect the story of California.
Since that first time at Theodore Payne, I’ve volunteered with a handful of other plant-related organizations, including the California Native Plant Society, Friends of Griffith Park and Arlington Garden in Pasadena, where I now work. At Arlington Garden, a big part of my job is working with volunteers.
California native plants have many pros, but their potent scents are the biggest draw of all. Gardening experts share the most fragrant native plants.
The other day I helped lead a group of college students volunteering at Arlington Garden, pulling weeds and turning them into compost. Now I get to see others experience the benefits of volunteering with plants – something I would never have imagined that day I was delighted by the tiny Joshua Trees.
Almost every weekend you can find volunteering opportunities at plant spaces around Southern California. Use this guide to get started. When you sign up to volunteer, confirm the event address with the organization. Events may take place beyond the sites marked on the map. — William Hallstrom
Showing Places
Volunteers clear invasive grasses at the Sunshine Preserve in Glendale.
(William Hallstrom)
Arroyos & Foothills Conservancy
Altadena Nature Conservancy
Angelenos are lucky to live adjacent to many beautiful natural areas that feature the kinds of wildlife that have lived here for thousands of years, but increasingly these habitats have become fragmented. Tim Martinez, program and land administrator for the Arroyos & Foothills Conservancy, in describing the goal of the organization, says, “Connectivity is key†— linking wildlife areas that otherwise would be “biological islands.†P-22, our late, great mountain lion, for instance, was effectively trapped within the confines of the Griffith Park area. Creating corridors for animals to pass through and linking habitats is what the conservancy has been doing for the last 20 years in and around the San Gabriel foothills, as well as in the Verdugo Mountains and the San Rafael Hills. The group specializes in procuring and maintaining wildlife corridors.
But with only a small staff, it depends on volunteers to maintain these sites, and a key part of the work is establishing local involvement to help projects have long-term success. The group hosts volunteer events almost every week, including habitat restoration and trail maintenance. This could mean weeding out unwanted invasive plants like fountain grass or mustard, spreading mulch to suppress weeds and putting in native plants. Arroyos & Foothills Conservancy also offers opportunities to help with wildlife cameras or to learn about leading educational field trips with students at the conservancy’s sites.
Volunteer events occur at various locations. The address listed is the site with the most frequent events.
But with only a small staff, it depends on volunteers to maintain these sites, and a key part of the work is establishing local involvement to help projects have long-term success. The group hosts volunteer events almost every week, including habitat restoration and trail maintenance. This could mean weeding out unwanted invasive plants like fountain grass or mustard, spreading mulch to suppress weeds and putting in native plants. Arroyos & Foothills Conservancy also offers opportunities to help with wildlife cameras or to learn about leading educational field trips with students at the conservancy’s sites.
Volunteer events occur at various locations. The address listed is the site with the most frequent events.
Read All Read Less
Route Details
Volunteers remove weeds from the California Botanic Garden grounds.
(California Botanic Garden)
California Botanic Garden
Claremont Botanic Garden
As the largest botanic garden devoted to California native plants, the California Botanic Garden features 86 acres of them from all over the state. Visitors can explore the grounds, which showcase the overwhelming diversity of our plant life from oak woodlands to desert landscapes. There are exhibits showcasing ideas for home gardens, and it also has a huge collection of plant specimens used by researchers.
It is one of the primary hubs in Southern California for native plant horticulture in the practical garden sense, but also for academic research, so there is a lot of knowledge to be found there. Volunteers can participate in any of these areas of the garden. The botanic garden is a large institution with volunteering opportunities in many areas, such as being a docent, mounting plant specimens in the herbarium, weeding and pruning in the gardens or maintaining flower arrangements. There are daily volunteer opportunities.
It is one of the primary hubs in Southern California for native plant horticulture in the practical garden sense, but also for academic research, so there is a lot of knowledge to be found there. Volunteers can participate in any of these areas of the garden. The botanic garden is a large institution with volunteering opportunities in many areas, such as being a docent, mounting plant specimens in the herbarium, weeding and pruning in the gardens or maintaining flower arrangements. There are daily volunteer opportunities.
Read All Read Less
Route Details
Friends of Ballona Wetlands volunteers work on a habitat restoration project.
(Friends of Ballona Wetlands)
Friends of Ballona Wetlands
Playa del Rey Nature Conservancy
The Friends of Ballona Wetlands was founded in 1978 to protect the wetlands around the Playa Vista riparian corridor. Marshy wetland areas once were common along the Los Angeles coast, but their acreage has greatly diminished. The wetlands are important in many ways: as a home for migrating birds, as a spawning ground and nursery for fish, as a natural water filtration system and as a way to mitigate flooding.
The Friends of Ballona Wetlands hosts multiple volunteer opportunities every month including cleanup and restoration events. Volunteers can expect to help with removing non-native vegetation, planting trees and shrubs and removing trash. With a staff of eight people, Friends of Ballona depends on volunteers to achieve its goals.
Volunteer events occur at various locations. The address listed is the main one for the wetlands.
The Friends of Ballona Wetlands hosts multiple volunteer opportunities every month including cleanup and restoration events. Volunteers can expect to help with removing non-native vegetation, planting trees and shrubs and removing trash. With a staff of eight people, Friends of Ballona depends on volunteers to achieve its goals.
Volunteer events occur at various locations. The address listed is the main one for the wetlands.
Read All Read Less
Route Details
Friends of Griffith Park volunteers help to maintain the trails at Griffith Park.
(Friends of Griffith Park)
Friends of Griffith Park
Griffith Park Park
With more than 50 miles of trails that meander across wild hills, and panoramic views of Los Angeles from the Pacific to the San Gabriel Mountains, Griffith Park stakes a claim as a bulwark amid the sprawl of the city. Here is the Hollywood sign and the Greek Theatre, but also so much wildlife such as hawks, deer, bobcats and sometimes a mountain lion. Hikers, runners and outdoor enthusiasts of all kinds come in throngs to this wild place mere miles from downtown. The goal has always been to keep it a public space since Griffith J. Griffith donated it to the city, and in 2009 legislature was drawn up to stipulate that today’s Griffith Park, at least in part, should represent the landscape of precolonial Los Angeles.
The Friends of Griffith Park is helping to maintain this vision. Brenda Rees, a veteran volunteer with the group, says volunteer events are joyful and inclusive. She says volunteers “love to be at events like this because we get our hands dirty, feel the breezes and maybe hear the chortling quail or howling coyotes.†The group hosts a few big volunteer days every month that typically involve cleanup around trails, removing invasive plants and restoring habitat areas.
Volunteer events occur at various locations within Griffith Park.
The Friends of Griffith Park is helping to maintain this vision. Brenda Rees, a veteran volunteer with the group, says volunteer events are joyful and inclusive. She says volunteers “love to be at events like this because we get our hands dirty, feel the breezes and maybe hear the chortling quail or howling coyotes.†The group hosts a few big volunteer days every month that typically involve cleanup around trails, removing invasive plants and restoring habitat areas.
Volunteer events occur at various locations within Griffith Park.
Read All Read Less
Route Details
Friends of the L.A. River volunteers working at Sepulveda Basin.
(Friends of the L.A. River)
Friends of the L.A. River
Encino Nonprofit
The Los Angeles River really is a river. Despite being mostly covered with concrete and channeled to mitigate flooding, the L.A. River is a naturally occurring waterway that for thousands of years provided water to communities in and around what today is Los Angeles. The Indigenous peoples of this region lived along the river and the Spanish built the original El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Ãngeles along the river in and around what’s now Olvera Street. In many places the natural history of the river still shows through; in some cases it is even being restored. Poet, activist and L.A. River steward Lewis MacAdams formed Friends of the L.A. River in 1986 to advocate for the river and restore it as a natural ecosystem open to the public. For 30 years the group has hosted an annual Great L.A. River CleanUp and many other events in pursuit of that goal. Friends of the L.A. River partners with the California Native Plant Society to host a monthly Habitat Restoration Day at the Sepulveda Basin; volunteers help remove invasive plants while learning about their effects on local ecosystems.
Volunteer events occur at various locations. The address listed is for the group’s main office.
Volunteer events occur at various locations. The address listed is for the group’s main office.
Read All Read Less
Route Details
(Lisa Boone / Los Angeles Times )
Grow Good
Bell Gardens Urban farm
You’ll never know what you will be doing or learning at Grow Good, a 1.5-acre urban farm in Bell, but you will undoubtedly make new friends while volunteering there. Through a partnership with the Salvation Army, the Los Angeles-based nonprofit provides organic produce and other services to the Bell Shelter across the street. So nearly everything you work on at the farm, from planting seeds and turning compost to harvesting baby carrots and fruit, will be consumed at the homeless shelter.
You can sign up for two-hour shifts at 9 a.m. Wednesdays and Saturdays online. Children 12 and older are welcome if accompanied by an adult.
Grow Good provides gloves and tools, but bring a hat, sunscreen and water bottle as there is little shade.
When you’re done, head to Aqui Es Texcoco around the corner for lamb barbacoa. You’ll be dirty, but they won’t mind.
You can sign up for two-hour shifts at 9 a.m. Wednesdays and Saturdays online. Children 12 and older are welcome if accompanied by an adult.
Grow Good provides gloves and tools, but bring a hat, sunscreen and water bottle as there is little shade.
When you’re done, head to Aqui Es Texcoco around the corner for lamb barbacoa. You’ll be dirty, but they won’t mind.
Read All Read Less
Route Details
LA Compost volunteers pose with a pile of food scraps.
(Courtesy of LA Compost)
LA Compost
Nonprofit
LA Compost creates community around composting. Los Angeles residents are required to compost food scraps and LA Compost will help you learn how to do it right and answer questions. It has composting hub sites throughout the city and booths at select farmers markets where members can bring food waste. The organization has been refining its model of community composting since 2013, but in a nutshell, you give them your waste and it gets returned for use as plant fertilizer. The compost hubs require maintenance as compost piles need to be turned and hydrated in order to produce the compost. That is one of the primary volunteer activities, although volunteers can also help out at farmers markets. In the process, volunteers will learn about the science of composting and how healthy soil contributes to growing food.
Address provided once you sign up for a volunteering event.
Address provided once you sign up for a volunteering event.
Read All Read Less
Details
(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)
LA Green Grounds
West Adams Urban farm
Learn from the master — master gardener Florence Nishida who founded the nonprofit L.A. Green Gardens demonstration garden in South L.A. to teach people in the neighborhood how to grow their own food. The former teacher loves educating people about plants — kohlrabi, Japanese purple mustard, Chinese cabbage, luffa, okra — and isn’t shy about getting you to taste things on-site.
In addition to her teaching duties, Nishida and the volunteers at Green Grounds are the driving force behind “Dig-Ins,†community-driven workdays where volunteers, neighbors and family friends transform front yards and parkways into edible gardens. Garden applicants must live in South L.A., and the garden must be visible to the public as a way to inspire and encourage others.
You can sign up to help tend L.A. Green Gardens’ Teaching Garden in South Los Angeles on Tuesday or Saturday mornings once a week for three months.
The teaching garden is located at the point where Carmona Avenue and Boden Street come together (the closest big cross streets are Jefferson and La Cienega boulevards). The garden is adjacent but not part of the Good Earth Community Garden on the west end.
Dig-ins are held from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Saturdays and are open to families. Garden tools, water and lunch are provided. By signing up to volunteer, you’ll receive notifications two weeks before every Dig-in event. Please make sure to RSVP right away as Dig-ins fill up quickly. After you RSVP, you will get the details you need about the event.
In addition to her teaching duties, Nishida and the volunteers at Green Grounds are the driving force behind “Dig-Ins,†community-driven workdays where volunteers, neighbors and family friends transform front yards and parkways into edible gardens. Garden applicants must live in South L.A., and the garden must be visible to the public as a way to inspire and encourage others.
You can sign up to help tend L.A. Green Gardens’ Teaching Garden in South Los Angeles on Tuesday or Saturday mornings once a week for three months.
The teaching garden is located at the point where Carmona Avenue and Boden Street come together (the closest big cross streets are Jefferson and La Cienega boulevards). The garden is adjacent but not part of the Good Earth Community Garden on the west end.
Dig-ins are held from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Saturdays and are open to families. Garden tools, water and lunch are provided. By signing up to volunteer, you’ll receive notifications two weeks before every Dig-in event. Please make sure to RSVP right away as Dig-ins fill up quickly. After you RSVP, you will get the details you need about the event.
Read All Read Less
Route Details
Volunteer Michael Tullius and Arboretum botanist Jim Henrich work in the Engelmann grove.
(William Hallstrom)
Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden
Arcadia Botanic Garden
Many of us know the arboretum for its peacocks, or as an iconic filming location. Perhaps you’ve even been to a wedding there. But the arboretum is also home to the largest extant grove of Engelmann oaks in Los Angeles — a unique species that was once prevalent in the San Gabriel Valley. It features a sweeping collection of Mediterranean plants from places like Madagascar and Australia, as well as from California. The inquisitive visitor will appreciate the arboretum as a multi-layered slice of Los Angeles history that touches on everything from the rancho era to our agricultural period, the rise of Hollywood and beyond. The arboretum also features a plethora of volunteer opportunities. Its many different themed garden areas are each run by expert botanists and horticulturists that volunteers can learn from. Newly hired Executive Director Michael Desplaines says from gardeners to docents to the arboretum’s board of trustees, the organization runs on volunteers, adding, “who wouldn’t want to volunteer in paradise?â€
Read All Read Less
Route Details
Mujeres de la Tierra volunteers during a restoration event over the summer at Kenneth Hahn State Recreation Area.
(Mujeres de la Tierra)
Mujeres de la Tierra
Lincoln Heights Nonprofit
Mujeres de la Tierra promotes environmental equity through community projects, focusing on underrecognized and marginalized people in Los Angeles. Started in 2004, the Latina-founded nonprofit is committed to healing la madre tierra (Mother Earth). The group hosts beautification and restoration events at Kenneth Hahn State Recreation Area and at the Los Angeles River Center and Gardens. While not all events are focused on horticulture, environmental awareness is a key part of its mission. It hosts a grassroots theater project called Telenovelas in the Park, which makes dramatic presentations on issues such as drought, water conservation and plastic pollution.
Over the summer, the group led four volunteer projects at Kenneth Hahn State Recreation Area where participants removed invasive weeds and planted California native plants. Volunteers can expect to enrich their environmental knowledge and take on leadership roles.
Volunteer events take place at multiple sites. The address listed is for Mujeres de la Tierra’s office.
Over the summer, the group led four volunteer projects at Kenneth Hahn State Recreation Area where participants removed invasive weeds and planted California native plants. Volunteers can expect to enrich their environmental knowledge and take on leadership roles.
Volunteer events take place at multiple sites. The address listed is for Mujeres de la Tierra’s office.
Read All Read Less
Route Details
A volunteer waters plants in the nursery at North East Trees in Ascot Hills Park in El Sereno.
(William Hallstrom)
North East Trees
El Sereno Nonprofit
North East Trees is based in Ascot Hills Park in El Sereno, a pretty amazing habitat space within view of downtown Los Angeles — proof that natural habitat is possible directly within our most urbanized areas. It was founded in 1989 with the goal of building and maintaining parks and other green spaces, as well as connecting communities with nature, especially in underserved regions.
The group restores and maintains a number of sites around Northeast Los Angeles, including at Ascot Hills Park, where its nursery is based, and the nearby Elephant Hill and Flat Top sites. North East Trees is very much a part of its community. Nursery Manager Hannya Ortiz Caldera grew up in nearby Lincoln Heights, and she says that local community involvement is “present and consistent.†She says many volunteers have made the North East Trees nursery their hangout spot and a place where they can decompress — some even find ways to help on their own time once they learn the basics.
Volunteer activities include seed collecting, seed processing and other nursery propagation tasks, as well as habitat restoration work and putting plants in the ground. North East Trees is developing a native plant micro-forest at Ascot Hills Park, a project involving a number of aspects of habitat restoration, which volunteers can learn about. North East Trees also helps local youth acquire skills to gain employment in green jobs. It promotes volunteer opportunities with other local organizations through its website as well.
The group restores and maintains a number of sites around Northeast Los Angeles, including at Ascot Hills Park, where its nursery is based, and the nearby Elephant Hill and Flat Top sites. North East Trees is very much a part of its community. Nursery Manager Hannya Ortiz Caldera grew up in nearby Lincoln Heights, and she says that local community involvement is “present and consistent.†She says many volunteers have made the North East Trees nursery their hangout spot and a place where they can decompress — some even find ways to help on their own time once they learn the basics.
Volunteer activities include seed collecting, seed processing and other nursery propagation tasks, as well as habitat restoration work and putting plants in the ground. North East Trees is developing a native plant micro-forest at Ascot Hills Park, a project involving a number of aspects of habitat restoration, which volunteers can learn about. North East Trees also helps local youth acquire skills to gain employment in green jobs. It promotes volunteer opportunities with other local organizations through its website as well.
Read All Read Less
Route Details
A Palos Verdes Peninsula Land Conservancy native plant nursery volunteer holds up two small potted plants.
(Palos Verdes Peninsula Land Conservancy)
Palos Verdes Peninsula Land Conservancy
Nature Conservancy
By the ocean in Palos Verdes, under the rugged, weathered cliffs, next to tide pools populated with crabs and urchins, you may think you’re a million miles from the city. The Palos Verdes Peninsula is a unique and somewhat isolated part of Los Angeles with spectacular views of the Pacific Ocean. Those cliffs and tide pools, along with rare and endangered seaside plants, contrast with the expansive sandy beaches of the neighboring South Bay communities. The hilly landscape provides a buffer from the greater metropolitan sprawl. Also, in some parts the fragile geology makes a big impact on potential development.
The Palos Verdes Peninsula Land Conservancy has worked since 1988 to preserve the history and ecology of open spaces in the area, and it now counts 1,600 acres under its stewardship. Volunteer program manager Lynn Rotunno says she is “inspired every day by our volunteers and their commitment to us.†First-timers can come out for weekly restoration and trail maintenance events. There are also opportunities for growing plants in the nursery and wildlife monitoring. Hikers who frequent the area can learn how to report trail damage so repairs can be made.
Volunteer events occur at various locations. The address listed is for the conservancy’s main site.
The Palos Verdes Peninsula Land Conservancy has worked since 1988 to preserve the history and ecology of open spaces in the area, and it now counts 1,600 acres under its stewardship. Volunteer program manager Lynn Rotunno says she is “inspired every day by our volunteers and their commitment to us.†First-timers can come out for weekly restoration and trail maintenance events. There are also opportunities for growing plants in the nursery and wildlife monitoring. Hikers who frequent the area can learn how to report trail damage so repairs can be made.
Volunteer events occur at various locations. The address listed is for the conservancy’s main site.
Read All Read Less
Route Details
(Casey Schreiner)
Santa Monica Mountains Fund Rancho Sierra Vista Native Plant Nursery
Goleta Nature Conservancy
If you’re looking for a real hands-on learning experience, then reserve your Thursdays to volunteer at the Santa Monica Mountains Fund Rancho Sierra Vista Native Plant Nursery, where you can spend an entire day learning about the propagation and care of California native plants while helping the nursery prepare plants for wildland restoration.
Bonus point: If you put in at least two hours of work between noon and 4 p.m. on Free Plant Thursdays, you can take home three plants for free. Propagation Thursdays from 9 a.m. to noon are best suited for volunteers who want to improve their native plant horticulture skills. The tasks focus on one or two native plant species every week, such as milkweed, sages, manzanitas, dudleyas and monkeyflowers, with activities such as preparing plant cuttings, transplanting rooted cuttings into containers, creating and applying soil mixes and fertilizers and cleaning recent conservation seed collections.
The nursery also offers free workshops on a variety of plant topics, so sign up for its newsletter to find out about upcoming events.
Bonus point: If you put in at least two hours of work between noon and 4 p.m. on Free Plant Thursdays, you can take home three plants for free. Propagation Thursdays from 9 a.m. to noon are best suited for volunteers who want to improve their native plant horticulture skills. The tasks focus on one or two native plant species every week, such as milkweed, sages, manzanitas, dudleyas and monkeyflowers, with activities such as preparing plant cuttings, transplanting rooted cuttings into containers, creating and applying soil mixes and fertilizers and cleaning recent conservation seed collections.
The nursery also offers free workshops on a variety of plant topics, so sign up for its newsletter to find out about upcoming events.
Read All Read Less
Route Details
A South Bay Parklands Conservancy volunteer pulls weeds at the Esplanade Bluff Restoration project in Redondo Beach as the sun sets.
(Daniel Fort)
South Bay Parkland Conservancy
Redondo Beach Nature Conservancy
The South Bay Parkland Conservancy in Redondo Beach is a nonprofit dedicated to acquiring open spaces and parks to keep them accessible to the public, and to restoring native habitat on public lands, as with its Esplanade Bluff Garden Restoration, between Avenue A and Knob Hill Avenue, on a small piece of ocean-facing property owned by Los Angeles County.
The conservancy has regular workshops that are monthly opportunities for volunteers to learn about native plants, wildlife and gardening while helping to restore and maintain sites such as the Esplanade Bluff, Hermosa Valley Greenbelt, Hopkins Wilderness Park and Redondo Beach Community Garden. The conservancy also offers guided nature walks in Hopkins Wilderness Park every month for children and adults discussing topics such as birds, pollinators and plant reproduction. Even its website is a revelation, with beautiful photos and names of plants native to the region.
The conservancy has regular workshops that are monthly opportunities for volunteers to learn about native plants, wildlife and gardening while helping to restore and maintain sites such as the Esplanade Bluff, Hermosa Valley Greenbelt, Hopkins Wilderness Park and Redondo Beach Community Garden. The conservancy also offers guided nature walks in Hopkins Wilderness Park every month for children and adults discussing topics such as birds, pollinators and plant reproduction. Even its website is a revelation, with beautiful photos and names of plants native to the region.
Read All Read Less
Route Details
Volunteers walk one of the trails toward a sprawling sunflower plant in South Pasadena Nature Park.
(William Hallstrom)
South Pasadena Nature Park
South Pasadena Park
The South Pasadena Nature Park is a great example of turning a neglected lot into something beautiful. It was once a vacant, derelict and unclaimed city-owned property at the edge of a recreation area and golf course adjacent to the 110 Freeway, a forgotten remnant of earlier infrastructure projects. In 2004 it was converted into a nature park as native plants were added to an existing system of trails. But without support, it was still threatened by invasive weeds. So in 2006, local resident Barbara Eisenstein started to bring in volunteers to steward the 4-acre parcel, which straddles South Pasadena and Highland Park. Now it is filled with a diverse and expanding palette of thriving California native plants that in turn support birds and other wildlife and make it a pleasant space for a quick escape from city life.
Volunteer days happen once a month. Cleanup, weeding, pruning and mulching are typical activities, but participants may also clear trails or engage in other special projects. Eisenstein says volunteers may have unique skills they can contribute. For example, volunteer Monica Kelly grows milkweed at home and started a butterfly garden at the nature park. She also educates visitors on the importance of milkweed for the monarch butterfly. Community is key at the South Pasadena Nature Park and it is likely something volunteers will learn how to foster.
Volunteer days happen once a month. Cleanup, weeding, pruning and mulching are typical activities, but participants may also clear trails or engage in other special projects. Eisenstein says volunteers may have unique skills they can contribute. For example, volunteer Monica Kelly grows milkweed at home and started a butterfly garden at the nature park. She also educates visitors on the importance of milkweed for the monarch butterfly. Community is key at the South Pasadena Nature Park and it is likely something volunteers will learn how to foster.
Read All Read Less
Route Details
Volunteers on the grounds at the Theodore Payne Foundation in Sun Valley.
(Theodore Payne Foundation)
Theodore Payne Foundation
Sun Valley Nursery / Garden Center
The Theodore Payne Foundation is perhaps best known for its annual garden tour, which has featured an amazing array of California native plant gardens throughout Los Angeles, as well as for its retail nursery carrying an extensive selection of native plants. Theodore Payne advocates for native plant landscaping, which is more drought-tolerant and also creates urban habitat to help offset the loss of wild spaces. The nonprofit organization has relied on volunteers in its operation since it was founded in 1960. Volunteer engagement coordinator Rachel Bailey says, “Our team of volunteers has an extensive knowledge base that they are always willing to share.â€
The staff and community at Theodore Payne are incredibly knowledgeable when it comes to gardening with native plants in Los Angeles, so it is a great educational opportunity. It has regularly occurring volunteer days every week, as well as bigger project events that occur from month to month. One of the most intriguing aspects of the nursery is that it is situated within a lovely native plant showcase garden.
Volunteers can expect to help out with typical garden chores such as weeding or planting, but there are also opportunities to learn about things specific to the plant nursery, such as collecting seeds or propagating plants. Theodore Payne also partners with other organizations for volunteer days at sites like the Rio de Los Angeles State Park and the Audubon Center at Debs Park.
The staff and community at Theodore Payne are incredibly knowledgeable when it comes to gardening with native plants in Los Angeles, so it is a great educational opportunity. It has regularly occurring volunteer days every week, as well as bigger project events that occur from month to month. One of the most intriguing aspects of the nursery is that it is situated within a lovely native plant showcase garden.
Volunteers can expect to help out with typical garden chores such as weeding or planting, but there are also opportunities to learn about things specific to the plant nursery, such as collecting seeds or propagating plants. Theodore Payne also partners with other organizations for volunteer days at sites like the Rio de Los Angeles State Park and the Audubon Center at Debs Park.
Read All Read Less
Route Details
(Adam Corey Thomas)
TreePeople
Nonprofit
TreePeople is a nonprofit organization working in both urban and wildlands spaces throughout Southern California. Its mountain forestry teams host regular volunteer events in the Angeles National Forest to restore oak woodlands and fire-scarred chaparral ecosystems. Its urban forestry teams work in communities from Inglewood to Riverside to San Fernando, using volunteers to help plant shade trees in green-deprived urban neighborhoods.
Education is another focus, with periodic workshops and online information about conservation and helping the environment. For instance, check out its concise “8 Principles to Rainwater Harvesting†on Instagram and its new downloadable starter guide, “Southern California Native Plants.†You can also visit its headquarters at the 45-acre Coldwater Canyon Park for hiking, picnicking or guided tours.
Education is another focus, with periodic workshops and online information about conservation and helping the environment. For instance, check out its concise “8 Principles to Rainwater Harvesting†on Instagram and its new downloadable starter guide, “Southern California Native Plants.†You can also visit its headquarters at the 45-acre Coldwater Canyon Park for hiking, picnicking or guided tours.
Read All Read Less
Route Details
Matthew Teutimez hosts a plant medicine workshop with Wild Yards.
(Wild Yards Project)
Wild Yards Project
Eagle Rock Community Group
The Wild Yards Project began in 2016 when David Newsom wanted to be able to show his daughter, who was then a year old, nature through plants, birds and bees. His family lived in Northeast L.A. surrounded by concrete and he didn’t know how to garden. But he started to learn, planting a small garden to attract wildlife. He photographed his project along the way. Today the Wild Yards Project helps create habitat gardens and outdoor classrooms, often at schools. The Los Angeles Unified School District is the city’s biggest landowner, but many of its sites have minimal landscaping, and nothing in the way of the kind of habitat gardens that can help to enhance student education in the natural sciences. Newsom’s primary mission now is helping to change this.
Most recently he worked with volunteers to create a garden at Toland Way School in Glassell Park, where participants, including 35 volunteers, cleared an 1,800-square-foot lot, covered it with mulch and planted 200 native plants. Newsom’s projects happen from month to month; you can stay tuned by following him on Instagram.
Most recently he worked with volunteers to create a garden at Toland Way School in Glassell Park, where participants, including 35 volunteers, cleared an 1,800-square-foot lot, covered it with mulch and planted 200 native plants. Newsom’s projects happen from month to month; you can stay tuned by following him on Instagram.
Read All Read Less
Route Details
Sign up for The Wild
We’ll help you find the best places to hike, bike and run, as well as the perfect silent spots for meditation and yoga.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
