Native Plants

YOU'D THINK it would be easy to murder a lawn, since many of us have had plenty of success without even trying. But finishing off that green sponge takes a smart strategy, or it may come back to haunt you. Removing lawn seems basic enough: Dig it up and haul it away. But it's best to subordinate reflex and forgo brute hacking, experts say. First of all, yanking out sod "can be back-breaking work," says Steve Gerischer, a Glassell Park landscape designer who gives talks on turf termination for the Theodore Payne Foundation for Wild Flowers and Native Plants as well as the Los Angeles County Arboretum.

The 28,000-acre Springs fire spread swiftly over arid territory at a time of year when Southern Californians have barely started thinking about the coming fire season. Typically, the hills around us are still green in mid-spring. But this year, after a particularly rain-starved winter, the ubiquitous nonnative grasses that have taken over so much of the region's open spaces browned out in April. The Springs fire obviously caught the region unprepared. One landowner said he had been just about to trim back the plants on his land.

WEED. We need only one syllable to differentiate friend from foe in our gardens. Yet the word seems inadequate for a new generation of weeds -- plants that we find beautiful or delicious when we cultivate them but that have escaped into the wild to potentially catastrophic effect. No single source tells the story of the shifting definition quite so methodically as "Weeds of California and Other Western States." When UC Davis weed scientist Joseph M.

Not a rock goes unturned in Greg Rubin and Lucy Warren's new book, “The California Native Landscape: The Homeowner's Design Guide to Restoring Its Beauty and Balance” ($34.95, Timber Press ). The authors give us context for the renewed interest in native gardening, describing what our land looked like before Native Americans settled here. They take us through the changes that came with European farming practices and bring us to our present state of concrete, lawns and imported ornamentals.

Many plants are native to California. The five most commonly found are: Plant Name Description California Lilac ground cover, ornamental (Ceanothus) California Holly shrub, attracts birds (Heteromeles arbutifolia) Catalina Ironwood evergreen, ornamental (Lyonothamnus floribundus) Coyote Brush ground cover (Baccharis pilurais) Purple Sage shrub, sachets (Salvia leucophylla) Source: South Coast Native Plant Society.

Visitors to the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden on Saturday will be treated to oak nut marzipan, manzanita berry cider and other hors d'oeuvres crafted from plants common to California. It's all part of the "Cooking With Native Plants" lecture by Alicia Funk, an herbalist and author who not only cooks with plants found in the wild but also uses them to make medicine. I caught up with Funk, author of "Living Wild: Gardening, Cooking and Healing With Native Plants of the Sierra Nevada," to talk about the Saturday event: Question: What are the advantages to "living wild," as you call it?

Autumn sage ("Seductive Scent of the West," Sept. 9) sounds like it's a wonderful plant to have if you live in Arizona, Texas or Mexico, where the plant is native. Why not focus on the many amazing native sages, such as Salvia pachyphylla (rose sage) with its amazing purple- and rose-colored blooms, the sweet scent of Salvia spathacea (hummingbird sage) or Salvia clevelandii (Cleveland sage), with its beautiful purple blooms and fragrance? Most natives are easy to grow and anything but finicky.

Those who know California's native plants also know that fall is the best time to plant them, so it is not too surprising that most of the special sales of native plants--by botanic gardens and other groups--occur during the autumn months. (Natives are hard to find at general nurseries because they look terrible in containers).

Many of the colorful native plants now in bloom in Southern California were used by Native Americans for medicine, tools, housing and clothing. An exhibit at the Palm Springs Desert Museum explores uses of these plants. "Harvesting the Desert: Plant Uses Past and Present," illustrates how the Cahuilla Indians used plants to treat everything from stomach cramps to sterility. Bows were made from mesquite branches and houses were built with palm leaves.

Re "Rare butterfly is winging back," July 9 The return of the rare El Segundo blue butterfly reminds us that gardening with native plants does more than just reduce water use. Native plants serve as a food source for native butterflies, not to mention birds and other species. KEITH MALONE Montecito Heights

Re "This landscaping is a crime," Column, April 7 As a Los Angeles taxpayer, this irks me no end. A $170-million cost overrun for the Los Angeles Police Department's new headquarters, with $1 million spent on failed landscaping? You have got to be kidding me. This doesn't even include the extra $400,000 on the latest "upgrade" to fix the grounds surrounding the building. Los Angeles should follow the example of many cities in Nevada and Arizona: Plop down some sand, boulders, native plants and cactus and be done with it. It looks great, it's ecologically sound and it's cheaper to maintain.

If the phrase “native plants” conjures the image of a scrubby yard that looks more like wild parkland than lovingly tended landscape, then Lynnette Kampe asks for a little open-mindedness. “You can't typecast these gardens,” said Kampe, executive director of the Theodore Payne Foundation for Wildflowers and Native Plants, which holds its annual garden tour this weekend. The 42 featured properties include romantic cottage gardens, native gardens with clean lines and a modern aesthetic, and some pretty substitutes for traditional lawns, she said.

TRAVEL Presentation Ava Waits will offer tips on healthy travel to Europe and what to do if you need to see a doctor or pharmacist on your trip. When, where: 7:30 p.m. Monday at Distant Lands, 20 S. Raymond Ave., Pasadena. Admission, info: Free. RSVP to (626) 449-3220. MT. WHITNEY Workshop Experts will offer tips on preparing to hike Mt. Whitney, including the permit system, coping with high altitude and taking alternative routes to the top. When, where: 7 p.m. Wednesday at the REI store in Arcadia, 214 N. Santa Anita Ave. Admission, info: Free.

The remains of what was once one of Los Angeles' most coveted neighborhoods can be seen behind a fence topped with barbed wire. Weeds sprout through cracks along streets lined with majestic palms. Retaining walls and foundations of custom homes peek through the brush. Rusty utility lines that have wiggled their way above ground bake in the sun like scattered bones. Two throttled-up passenger jets simultaneously take off from LAX and soar overhead, the thundering cacophony a reminder of why the community of Surfridge was forced to disappear.

British Invasion singer Eric Burdon, who sang with the Animals and then the funk band War, has listed his retreat in Joshua Tree for sale at $999,000. The Southwestern-style gated house, built in 2007, sits on 2.5 acres surrounded by native plants and encircled by an adobe wall. The 3,200-square-foot-plus courtyard-style home features four bedrooms, three bathrooms, a laundry room and an office. There is a studio with a woodburning stove. Outdoor amenities include a heated saltwater pool, a spa and a rooftop deck.

The new $45-million concourse at Long Beach Airport has opened its doors, giving passengers their first look at a project 10 years in the making. Scores of travelers - arriving and departing - made their way Wednesday morning through the 35,000-square-foot eco-friendly structure, with its rows of palm trees and native plants in an open courtyard. The new terminal is also equipped with a fire pit and lounge chairs. The food area inside the northern concourse offers samples from Long Beach restaurants.

Visitors to the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden on Saturday will be treated to oak nut marzipan, manzanita berry cider and other hors d'oeuvres crafted from plants common to California. It's all part of the "Cooking With Native Plants" lecture by Alicia Funk, an herbalist and author who not only cooks with plants found in the wild but also uses them to make medicine. I caught up with Funk, author of "Living Wild: Gardening, Cooking and Healing With Native Plants of the Sierra Nevada," to talk about the Saturday event: Question: What are the advantages to "living wild," as you call it?

Ricardo Brizuela tasted his first s'more this summer at a campfire at Vista Hermosa Natural Park. That wasn't surprising, as Ricardo is only 8 years old. But it was also a first for his mother, who is 39. Not once in her Lincoln Heights childhood did Silvia Brizuela's family barbecue or cook out, let alone roast a marshmallow. She was an apartment latchkey kid whose parents worked long hours as a sheet-metal installer and cook at a convalescent home. "My parents were worker bees," she said.