Almost all of the trees and plants we’ve planted at the ranch were free. We got some from friends and family but most of them came from other places and were 100% free:
- Fire department forestry (in our case the Saugus forestry). We love these guys. They gave us some native oaks and pines and also provided very valuable information about fire prevention.
- Free trees LA (for LA city residents only)
- Trading posts: there’s a great one here in Agua Dulce every year hosted by Stacey and her husband. You can reach her at badcomputer@hotmail.com
- Craiglist
- Freecycle
- Seeds from friends or neighbors: I got many acorns last year and they are now about a foot tall!).
- Christmas trees! Ask all of your friends and family to get live trees as a Christmas tree and then you’ll plant it! It’s good for the tree, for the planet and for both of you. We have gotten several already. Make sure to tell them to get them live in a pot with the roots! Believe it or not a friend got one “live tree” for us but it was a cut tree.
- Nextdoor: I have given cacti that I don’t want or have to many and I have found plants for free.
- Keep you eyes open! Driving we have found people getting rid of trees or plants they don’t want. Today we found six oleander (Nerium oleander) that were at least 1.5m high and a beautiful crepe myrtle (Lagerstroemia) of about 2.5m! The root balls were dry and severely cut but I think they’ll make it.
- Cuttings from other plants: This works great for many species like chamise, olives, rosemary or even pines. Here is how to do it:
