u/crabbypinch — reddlx

SoCal Guerilla Gardening: seed plant palette guidance requested!

Hypothetically speaking...

Let's say you wanted to do some guerilla gardening along a busy road in suburban southern California.

Which species would you choose? Pick your top 3.
- A mix of annuals and perennial shrubs that mimics the native habitat once there (e.g., south-facing slope of coastal sage scrub)
- Oak acorns and other tree species?
- Showy flower superbloom for public awareness/outreach appeal?
- Fast growing groundcovers for slope stabilization for the Super El Nino forecast?
How would you do it?
- Sprinkle seeds by hand or spice shaker?
- Thrown seed bombs (clay or paper pulp binder)?
- Cuttings (e.g., cactus pads, mulefat stakes, etc.)?

Goal: surreptitiously convert a disturbed habitat into something a little better in terms of ecological benefit to native wildlife. Birds, bats, bees, butterflies, bunnies, probably not bears.

Where:

South Coast ecoregion (Los Angeles River basin) https://calscape.org/garden-planner/ecoregion-map/
A disturbed slope next to a busy roadway
Full sun, loose sandy soil and rock
Formerly invasive annual grass and mustard >>> partially burned and chopped by maintenance crews.
No, this isn't adjacent to any wild native habitat.
No, Caltrans or other agencies are not planning on re-vegetating this patch.

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u/crabbypinch — 13 days ago

▲ 316 r/Milkweeds+1 crossposts

Longtailed aphideater devours oleander aphids (Chicago suburbs, IL)

I feel dumb after spraying neem oil on my milkweed. My aphid population was just completely out of control and I didn't see any predators. But then after watering, I saw a bunch of these little guys surface. At first I thought they were weird baby caterpillars but now I feel even dumber after discovering they are "aphideater" larvae! Bruh, I've been trying to get aphid predators since I found them, I even paid for lacewings and got nothing. Then I get these guys for free by nature.... I hope I didn't accidentally collapse my ecosystem.

I also found that the dwarf white isopods and springtails I paid for that I thought all died off have established themselves and bred in my milkweed container pot. I also have spiders, tarnished plant bugs, ants (who have thankfully stayed outside on the balcony and not invaded my home), green aphids, and I even think I saw a pirate bug.

Just wanted to share the cool video and also to reinforce the advice that people give here, if you have oleander aphids, let them be, nature will come and native insects can handle them. At most, spray some normal water or your hand to reduce population, but avoid chemicals or you can collapse your bug population.

u/Fuehnix — 2 months ago

▲ 12 r/Ceanothus

ID Request: California fuchsia cultivar

Grayish foliage, kinda low growing habit 2-foot-tall. Found in a garden near Glendale, Los Angeles County. Maybe ‘Carman’s Grey”?

u/crabbypinch — 3 months ago