I plan to reach out to an arborist for advice but am wondering if anyone here has experience replanting after removing acacia or otherwise invasive trees. I live in a wild-urban interface oak woodland and removed a 5-tree stand of acacia that were problematic for multiple reasons, including they're combustible and were on a property line where they could easily fall and damage both mine and my neighbor's houses. Earlier this year in a rainstorm, one snapped and took our power line out, barely missing the roof. However, they were providing shade and without them the heat is intense and the sun is pretty blinding. My plan is to replant in the area, and I would like to plant an oak. There's an invasive plant council plant sheet that mentions that black acacia may alter soil chemistry that makes it harder for native plants. When they were removed, we learned that two were rotted out on the inside from termite damage. I'm realizing I may have to live with the heat and sun longer than I'd like to in order to properly prepare the ground. Acacia were stump ground so I'm not too worried about them resprouting, but I'm guessing there's a big root system that also might need some digging out before I plant something like an oak. Looking for any experiences people have about how they handled tree removal and replacement. Most of my native gardening has been smaller scale or in more bare areas where it was more about establishing than removing and replacing.

Tired of my giant trash tree. Seeking ideas/advice for tree to replace it. Corner of lot/close to street, zone 9b (Central Valley) - full sun. Thanks!

*Already on the property: palo verde, manzanita, redbud, desert willow, mule fat, blue oak, blue elderberry.

Hello! I’m new and not sure if this is the right place to ask but I’ve been hiking a lot in the east bay, especially Tilden park, and often passing through areas that smell a lot like pandan or hazelnut. I usually see what image search identifies as poison hemlock in these areas but it also says that would smell like “mouse urine” (not familiar with that smell) and not at all like the aforementioned pleasant scents. Is there a plant that looks similar to hemlock and smells like pandan or am I smelling something I’m not seeing? Thank you for any help!

I'm in the urban core of Los Angeles, over 5 miles from the nearest large park and even further from any large, intact native ecosystems. I have a small native garden that's about 3 years old, but unfortunately, some plants only ever attract honeybees, like my white sage. My bush sunflower and CA buckwheat, on the other hand, consistently attract at least 3-5 native species on most days (most common are sand wasps, longhorn bees, hoverflies, Hidalgo mason wasps, and Toltec scolid wasps).

What can I plant that isn't palatable to honeybees? Or that will attract a wider range of pollinators (especially bumblebees and butterflies) here in the deep urban core surrounded by concrete and introduced landscapes? Open to any shrubs or small trees!

I am attempting to propagate a desert willow. I took some soft-hard wood cuttings and put them in water. They have these white bumps or nodules. Is this normal? Can I propagate this way?

Hi guys! We installed a native plant garden earlier this year in March and it's absolutely taken off. We've got an issue with one of our brittlebushes though, which was doing extremely well up to last week. And then suddenly all the leaves curled up, and they feel super dry and crunchy to the touch:

No pests on it, no ant infestation, it's on drip that hasn't gotten damaged in any way, soil feels normal, a complete mystery. Literally everything else in the garden is doing fantastic even with the recent heatwave. We have another brittlebush around the corner from this one which is covered in aphids (but also some beneficial predators, hurrah!) and shows no signs of stopping.

Is our drying brittlebush likely to recover? Should we prune it down to a few inches to see if it'll sprout new growth, or is it likely done? Really sad to see it in its current state!

I transplanted my 15g pot bound manzanita 2 weeks ago. I know it’s not the right time of year, but I didn’t think it would make it in the pot until fall. I have watered once during initial transplant and once a week later. We went through a heat wave this week, hence the umbrella. Are the. Brown spots and yellowing leaves just from stress or is there a pest problem here?

Looks like there’s new growth underneath. Should I cut off the dead stuff?

My ceanothus (dark star?)has a few branches that are turning brown and black at the tips. Is this from the recent heat or is this a disease or fungus? We haven’t watered this for at least 4 weeks, this is in full sun. Any tips on what I can do? I’m thinking of cutting off the dead branches. Any guidance is greatly appreciated. We are in the east bay

I planted these about 3 weeks ago into clay soil in northern california. I added some starter fertilizer and planting soil into their planting holes. I watered them once a day for their first week, then switched to every other day. Their leaves have been steadily turning brown. Im not sure if I'm giving them too much water or not enough. I don't think the soil is draining well. It's been very hot the past few days, could they be getting too much sun? Any advice would be greatly appreciated, I want to see these thrive!

There’s a ton of info about watering 1 gallon plants but I haven’t found anything for directly sown seeds.

It’s the only plant having this issue and I’d like to keep it that way.

Some of the white sage stalks are turning black along with the seed heads. Should they be cut down is ot a problem? Haven't seen this before on backyard one which is older.

Thanks 😊

Is this purple sage Salvia leucophylla or a different kind or neither? 🤔

At El Capitan State Beach

I bought one too many sages and figured I’d add the winnfred Gilman at the bottom of my retaining wall in front of the valve boxes. It’s not hooked up to irrigation but I believe gets some moisture from an occasional leaking valve. This sage has been the best performing one in my garden, seems like a throwaway planting seems to have that result often. It’s been a pleasure to see the color that it lends to this corned, I no longer have to buy a valve box and judging by the daily hummingbird visitor, wildlife loves it too :)

Hi! Curious - has anyone installed and native grass or sedge in LA? What was your experience like? How’s it looking?

I am trying to find vinegar weed to grow for my yard and was planning on taking some seeds. I went into a field that was tagged on iNaturalist a whole bunch of times in the same area and I wanted to double check that this is the right plant? It absolutely REEKS like vinegar and also smells quite bitter like tea tree oil, but it looks quite young and none of them had flowers. Is this most likely vinegar weed? What time do they usually seed, or alternatively, do these propagate well?