About Our Plant Nursery Work
CIR grows native plants for habitat restoration! We grow all manner of native plants at the nursery, from purple needle grass (Stipa pulchra) to scrub oaks (Quercus berberidifolia)! After gathering seeds from the surrounding area, we are now raising native plants in our nursery. The native plants we grow will be planted in restoration sites like the San Marcos Foothills Preserve, Hammond's Meadow, Pt. Mugu, the Carpinteria Salt Marsh, and more. Habitat restoration can't happen without plants, so we need your help to grow these plants!
Plant Nursery Restoration On San Nicolas Island
In the past few months, CIR volunteers have been hard at work on San Nicolas Island and have installed more than 12,000 plants. After removing patches of invasive ice plant, the volunteers installed and have been maintaining native plants to stabilize sand dunes on San Nicolas Island with resounding success. Plants were grown in our San Nicolas Island Nursery built last year.
We also have been working to restore upland habitat for the threatened island night lizard and are currently in the process of growing additional plants for this project in our San Nicolas Island plant nursery that we will install in the coming months.
We are incredibly proud of the plants that we have been able to produce from the nursery, especially a newly discovered plant, just last year, Lycium brevipes 'desert box thorn'. It was thought that this particular species was long extinct on San Nicolas Island. We were able to collect cuttings last fall from a population on 10 plants. These cuttings were propagated and planted in the landscape around the nursery. The plants were placed on a drip system. This planting has been so successful that we have been able to collect more cuttings from these plants and start an additional 400 new little clones. These new plants will be planted out this coming fall/winter creating more habitat for island critters such as the endemic night lizard.
Besides box thorn we are growing cactus, buckwheat, mule fat, morning glory and a whole palate of native bunch grasses. We are very glad we are afforded the opportunity to be part of the habitat restoration for San Nicolas.
Recently we have improved the nursery with fantastic flood tables, capable of propagating plants with high water demands - like those near marshes or in riparian habitat - with very little water waste. Each table has its own dedicated waterline and can be manually watered or set on a timer. This is all possible because of great, dedicated volunteers.
Trips to San Nicolas Island fill incredibly quickly and spots are coveted. Because of the demanding and high priority nature of our work with the US Navy on San Nicolas Island, CIR mostly seeks volunteers that we have worked with in the past on this or other projects, so that we can work with teams of known quality during our short trips to the island. - 2016
Continuing Nursery Work On San Nicolas Island
Channel Islands Restoration staff and volunteers teamed up with the United States Navy in April on San Nicholas Island to completely rebuild and expand an old native plant nursery. More than 1,100 plants have been grown so far, and CIR staff and volunteers recently planted most of these at a restoration site on the island.
The nursery, which consisted of a shed and small planting benches, had fallen into disrepair over nearly two decades. CIR built new benches, erected a shade structure and installed an irrigation system. The three benches (each forty feet long and six feet wide) include custom designed “biosecurity” measures that prevent introduced pests like Argentine ants from infesting the plant pots.
The nursery shed required major cleaning, and it will soon receive repairs to its roof and doors. Funding to build the new nursery and to grow the plants has been provided by the Navy. The nursery has an automated irrigation system, so CIR staff only needs to visit the island approximately once per week.
The plants were installed at a restoration site on the eastern side of the island to help prevent erosion along roadside dune habitat. More plants will be grown in the nursery to revegetate sites impacted by upcoming construction projects on the island.
CIR Board Member Gordon Hart designed the nursery and led the construction project along with volunteers Dave Edwards (also a Board Member) Don Mills and John Reyes. The plants were grown by Norma Hogan, who recently joined the CIR team.
CIR has been working on the island for several years eradicating Sahara mustard from habitat of the threatened Cryptantha traskiae (a threatened plant in the Borage family). Sahara mustard is a highly invasive plant that has caused great ecological damage in the deserts. It has spread quickly on San Nicolas Island, and the Navy staff is committed to eradicating it from the island.
CIR has donated the staff time on this project for several years, but the Navy has recently contracted with CIR to perform this service. Our staff and volunteers are trusted to work around these sensitive plants and around protected archeological sites. CIR greatly values our relationship with Naval Base Ventura County and the U.S. Navy as a whole. - 2018
An Interview with Nursery Manager Kelle Greene
We sat down with Nursery Manager Kelle Green to ask her about her work at CIR - how she became such a great gardener, how she joined CIR, what her favorite plant is, and more!
So how did you first get involved with Channel Island Restoration?
Well, I have been volunteering with the Park Services on the Channel Islands for quite a while and in doing that I worked with CIR volunteers. I would do the propagation and they would do the installation.
Around when did you start doing that?
It was around 2013.
So when did you go from volunteer to nursery manager?
I was out on a volunteer trip to San Nicolas. I knew Ken and Kevin because we’ve all worked quite a bit together. I was talking to Ken and he knew what I’d been doing for Park Service and I said, “Whenever you’re ready you really need to hire me to manage your nursery on San Nic.” And he goes, “Well guess what? We need somebody!” And so then I was hired.
Oh! That worked smoothly. Did anything change after you got hired?
The Navy wasn’t so happy that CIR hired a volunteer to do the nursery. A lot of people don’t really know what to think of volunteers. But volunteers are really dedicated, pretty smart, have pretty damn good careers and like to give back. I never underestimate volunteers. Then, I heard the Navy had an opinion about me but it changed and we work closely together now.
That’s good! What exactly do you do as a Nursery Manager?
Kelle Green, CIR’s Nursery Manager working with plants in her nursery.
When there is a project in which we are growing plants and it involves removal and restoration — restoring a site with natives — that’s where we come in. We are more usual now because we have a mainland nursery. So not only do we do habitat restoration but we also grow the plant, which means we can grow plants that are genetically appropriate for an area. We can collect the seeds and grow them instead of buying a native from a grower.
Where did you gain experience with nurseries?
Well I’ve always had an interest in plants and growing and doing things like that, but it was just a hobby before. Then when I retired from my design business I got involved with the Master Gardener Program for Ventura County. I started to get into the science of growing and agriculture.
Can you tell me more about what you do on the islands with your volunteers?
If I’m just doing nursery work, I have eight people (seven plus me). The work leaders go out and collect seed with me. I can leave them on site and they know what to do. It’s collecting, cleaning, storing, recording then propagation and transflighting and keeping it alive then babysitting. You keep your fingers crossed that your plants, if their scheduled for a November install, will actually happen.
What does happen many times is that projects get delayed for various reasons, like weather conditions. You have to keep the plants going. But plants do not like being in a pot, they want to get out and go on the ground. Every year I get faster and better, and we become more efficient.
And the volunteers, I mean there’s just a whole bunch of them there and it’s absolutely great. They are great people to work with. It makes it a really sweet job.
When you are working on a project, how often would you say you are going out to the channel islands and how long do you stay.
When we are on a project we are in the nursery twice a week.
Kelle Green, CIR’s Nursery Manager working with plants in her nursery.
Can you tell me more about the Pipeline Project you did - the three mile roadside erosion control - and what the connection was there with the channel island fox?
Basically it’s the most physical project we have ever done on the island San Nic, and probably one of the most physical projects period. It’s not off in a canyon or down at a beach or lagoon where people can’t see it. This is all on a road side where everyone sees it. And on San Nic you have vehicles and foxes. Foxes aren’t car savvy at all. So, the back rows will be shrubs which will provide protection to other plants. But we can’t have tall plants towards the road because the foxes can’t be seen. So we had to be able to put plants in that could be mowed or driven on, or that could be wacked down so that we can see the foxes. That was really important criteria.
That sounds like quite a puzzle!
Right. And your choices of plants are very limited. Some of the islands have a much larger choice of natives. San Nic’s palet is just not as big as other islands, but we were able to do it and it looks really good!
You’ve done a lot of work on San Nic, is it your favorite island?
It didn’t used to be. I used to think it was a hassle being with the Navy and on the base. And I absolutely love Santa Rosa, there is no comparison between the islands. But, San Nic really grows on you. Yes, yes its flat but it has its own personality and the people there are really great. They are quirky, some have been out there for over 25 years! Santa Rosa is so different, so diverse. So those would be my two favorites.
Which was the first island you had ever been on?
Anacapa.
Do you remember when?
I didn’t start going on the Channel Islands till about 2011, 2012, so it was somewhere in there.
And just out of curiosity, what is your favorite plant?
Oh… I don’t know. I used to always say Shasta daisies and roses. I do really like the buckwheat, the whole family of buckwheat, I think they are amazing plants. They are a great food source, they are beautiful plants, and they are very generous plants. But I also love the salvias like purple sage and black sage. Those I would say are some of my favorites.
What’s in store for the future?
Hopefully the same thing! As long as there are projects and they want me to grow, well even if they didn’t, I probably would still do it. I like installing, I like going out and leading. I like all that stuff. So I enjoy it a lot!
Awesome! Thank you so much for talking with me!
You’re welcome!
Camarillo Nursery News
Kelle Green, CIR Nursery Manager, takes great care of native plants on a bright and sunny day at the nursery. Since its construction in November last year, CIR's new native plant nursery in Camarillo has been filled with volunteers and growing native plants! We have had over 100 volunteers so far donate their time and help kick-start operations at the nursery in preparation for our new mainland restoration project at Point Mugu Naval Air Station (Pt. Mugu NAS). Once the nursery was built, CIR staff and volunteers collected seeds from Mugu Lagoon to grow in the nursery, and then the propagating, transplanting, and potting and re-potting of wetland plants began full-force! Volunteer tasks vary greatly, from delicate work with tiny seedlings to watering and maintaining native plants.
Join Our Native Plant Nursery Team!
Although this opportunity is currently unavailable, please join our volunteer list for future volunteer opportunities in the nursery.
Join us at the Camarillo Native Plant Nursery (aka CAMFAC) to help us grow native plants for habitat restoration! You'll be working with certified Master Gardener Kelle Green, who will guide you through every aspect of growing native plants from seeds. Whether you have a green thumb or you have trouble keeping cacti alive, Kelle has knowledge and experience to share that will help you be a better gardener.
Volunteers will help with activities like watering, repotting, weeding, facilities maintenance, and more. This event will go from 9 am to 2 pm. Be sure to bring water and a snack. We will provide gardening gloves if you do not have your own.
Thank you!
