Mockingbird Nursery
California Native Plant Specialists
Water Budget Friendly!
Our family has been growing California Native Plants for Over 35 Years with a robot tondeuse gardena.
Sustainable, Low Water, Native, Organic Plants.
California Native Plants, Drought Tolerant, Sustainable Growth
Specializing in California native plants, drought tolerant plants, and contract growing, Mockingbird Nursery is dedicated to the promise of a sustainable future for California.
We are proud to have served California as a family owned business for over 35 years. We keep our promise of sustainability through mitigation, re-vegetation, and restoration projects around the state, as well as contract growing and site specific collection.What sets us apart from other nurseries is our specialization as an organic nursery growing our plants completely chemical free.
We are dedicated to helping builder home owners develop water saving landscape designs by utilizing California natives and drought tolerant plants. We have a wide variety of California Natives to offer.
Contract Growing Services Contractors love this!
Our experts will plant, feed, and care for your plants until you are ready for the plants.
So kick back and relax while Mockingbird Nursery grows the plants you want, when you need them.
Drought Tolerant – Low Water Plants
With any luck, California will typically see roughly 5 months with rain followed by about 7 months with no rain. We are not using the word drought since
Planting and Care Instructions and Advice
When you buy your California native plants from Mockingbird Nursery, they are in great condition, ready to plant. However, just like any nursery raised plants, the natives will
Initial Maintenance for California Native Plants
Like all plants grown in nurseries, California native plants grown in containers need careful attention during their establishment period in their new environment (your landscape). As a rule
Chemical Free, Organic Nursery
Enjoy the comfort of landscape grown naturally, organically, without chemicals
Mockingbird Nursery has been family owned for over 35 years and has only grown with organic principals and practices, chemical free. We grow with sustainability through mitigation, re-vegetation, and restoration projects around the state, as well as contract growing and site specific collection.
California Native Plants
We Have Specialized Exclusively in Natives for Over 35 Years
Popular Plant List
We Have Many More, These Are Our Most Commonly Stocked and Sold Plants
| Agave attenuata |
| Arctostaphylos Emerald Carpet |
| Arctostaphylos Sentinel |
| Artemesia douglasiana |
| Atriplex canescens |
| Baccharis emoryi |
| Baccharis salicifolia |
| Carex pansa |
| Carex tumulicola |
| Ceanothus crassifolius |
| Ceanothus Joyce Coulter |
| Ceanothus Sierra Blue |
| Cercis occidentalis |
| Cistus ladanifer |
| Cistus Sunset |
| Encelia farinosa |
| Eriogonum fascilatum |
| Helictotrichon sempervirens |
| Isomeris arborea |
| Juncus acutus |
| Keckiella cordifolia |
| Lonicera subspicata |
| Leymus(Elymus) triticoides |
| Malacothamnus fasciculatus |
| Mimulus guttatus |
| Muhlenbergia rigens |
| Nasella lepida |
| Opuntia prolifera |
| Pinus coulteri |
| Populus fremontii |
| Quercus agrifolia |
| Rhamnus californica |
| Rhamnus Little Sur |
| Rhus ovata |
| Ribes vibernifolium |
| Rosmarinus Lockwood de Forest |
| Salix goodingii |
| Salix lasiolepis |
| Salvia clevelandii |
| Salvia greggii Dr. Waines |
| Salvia greggii salmon |
| Salvia leucantha (purple) Tera Seca |
| Sisyrinchium bellum |
Low Water / Drought Tolerant Plants
Water wise, native plants allow for sustainable growth
California’s climate is roughly 5 months of rain followed by 7 months of no rain. This is the standard weather pattern, 7 months of ‘no rain’ is normal. This can make life hard on a gardener. With the rising cost of water bill in California, it is more important than ever to use low-water plants in your landscape plan. The plants we offer are California natives which makes them all the easier to maintain here.
Is your landscape as water wise as you think it is? We specialize in California native plants that are low water / draught tolerant.
Good plant choices go a very long way with the water budget. Let us help you reduce your water usage today with California natives.
Landscape that is not to be missed. Achieve a luxurious look and feel without the need for excessive watering.
Promoting Environmental Health
As a family-owned business, Mockingbird Nursery takes pride and great care in growing all our plants organically. We do it for our family, we do it for your family, we do it for the environment, and we do it for the future and sustainability of native California plants.
We started growing California natives in 1980 without chemicals and we have kept our promise to continue that mission through today.
Choose The Best Nature Has To Offer
Mother Nature offers everything we need to grow California native plants
Is it more work to grow our plants the old fashioned way as nature intended? Sure it is, but that extra effort is a small price to pay to help ensure the health of the environment and water supply in California.
Call us crazy but for us it is more love than labor. Growing plants naturally, organically, without harmful chemicals, from clippings and not from engineered seeds is safeguarding the future of the California native plant eco-system and we are more than happy to do it this way to help ensure it.
Contract Growing
Don’t waste time sourcing multiple nurseries or settling for plants you don’t really want
Mockingbird Nursery specializes in contracts grows. We will plant, grow, and care for your specified plants until you are ready to put them in the ground. Contact us today to get a quote for your project.
Phone
Office: 951.780.3571
Fax: 951-780-4037
Other
info@mockingbirdnursery.com
MockingbirdNursery.com
Native Plants of California
Location
Located Behind the Beautiful, Historic State Citrus Park
1670 Jackson St., Riverside, CA 92501
Don’t believe the myth – growing native plants is not just sticking any random cuttings in a pot and adding water. We scout for the heartiest native plants and we have been cutting from our own crops for decades with unsurpassed success.
Not sure when to place your order for your job? Let us know and we will figure it out for you. Not all native plants grow at the same rate; we will take the guess work out of it and get you the plants you need, when you need them.
Less Effort, Better Plants
Your plants are grown for you, when you need them.
Plants are more likely to thrive when they are not root bound when you remove them from the container. When you hire us for a contract grow your plants are grown on your schedule so the plants are just right when you need to plant them. Root bound, over stressed plants are a thing of the past when you hire Mockingbird Nursery for a contract grow.
Information and Resources for California Native Plants
As one of the most established California Native Plant Nurseries in business today, we have a lot of experience with the planting, care, and overall landscape design with native drought tolerant landscapes. Here are some articles and resources to help you get involved with Native California Plants.
Planting and Care Instructions and Advice
When you buy your California native plants from Mockingbird Nursery, they are in great condition, ready to plant. However, just like any nursery raised plants, the natives will need more careful attention after you first plant them while they become established.
The Easy, Step by Step Way to Ensure Native Planting Success
- Dig your planting hole twice as deep and twice as wide as the plant container you purchased. Avoid digging a hole with sides that are too smooth (this is often called the “bathtub” effect).
- Break up large clods of dirt you remove so it will be better suited as your back-fill soil; the native soil should be soft and friable and you should eliminate large rocks and clods. For many landscape and re-vegetation projects, no soil amendment is recommended for native plants.
- For landscape soils requiring amendment use roughly 1/3 composted or nitrolized forest humus to 2/3 native soil by blending them in a pile outside the hole to make your back-fill mix.
- Slow release fertilizer granules or tabs may also be incorporated with the back-fill mix or placed in the bottom of the hole. Note that if tabs are used they should NOT touch the root ball.
- Most native plants are able to find nutrients even in poor soils however if you decide to use a pre-plant fertilizer then your application rate should be lower than that used for general landscape ornamentals.
- Before you put the plant in the hole, fill the planting hole with water and allow the water to drain into the subsoil.
- Put some back-fill material into the bottom of hole then moisten it, tamp it down, and slightly mound it.
- Set the plant root ball on top of the moistened back-fill so that the plant “collar” roughly 1 inch higher than finished grade.
- Replace the back-fill material up to about 2/3 the height of the root ball and moisten it while tamping and settling it all around the plant.
- Back-fill the remaining portion of the hole surrounding the top of root ball and be sure “collar” of the plant is still higher than the finished grade.
- You will have back-fill material left so use it to create an irrigation basin berm outside the dimension of the hole. If you run out of back-fill material to finish the berm then use additional native soil.
- Apply roughly 2 inches to 4 inches of coarse, organic weed and disease-free mulch as a topdressing around the exposed collar and inside the entire basin area that you built up.
- Irrigate the new native plant(s) thoroughly by filling the basin with water and sprinkling around to settle back-fill, mulch, and berm. Then allow the water to soak in and repeat the process a second time…
Congratulations, you just performed a successful planting!
NOTES – For Warm Season Planting and Watering:
- Carefully follow the Easy Step by Step planting instructions above with the added precautions:
- For best results planting your California Natives, wait until Fall through Early Spring; Summer is the most difficult season to install native plants in the landscape!
- Avoid watering during the heat of the day, and avoid overhead watering; prolonged leaf wetting can promote disease.
- Provide temporary shade to the most sensitive species to reduce the stress of exposure to direct sun.
- Do not allow the root ball to dry out! Water 1-3 times a week by thoroughly soaking the soil and remember, less frequent, deep soaking is preferred over short, frequent watering schedules.
Initial Maintenance for California Native Plants
Like all plants grown in nurseries, California native plants grown in containers need careful attention during their establishment period in their new environment (your landscape). As a rule of thumb, mulch and thin the plants in early Summer then start feeding in the Fall and mulch again. Prune and head-back branch tips as needed in Winter and Spring and irrigate your California natives wisely during the warm season.
- WATERING: It’s very important that you do not let the root ball dry out during the first 2 to 3 months. Be sure to water roughly once a week and try not to over soak the surrounding soil. After the first 2 months be sure to water deeply but don’t allow the ground to remain soggy for long periods of time because that encourages disease, especially during the dry season! Native plants need deep moisture and cool roots to find oxygen. Usually, one deep watering once or twice a month is sufficient in Summer and Fall with even less frequent watering required in the Spring. During Winter, rainfall alone is adequate for almost all native California plantings. Be sure to avoid overhead watering during the hot part of the day in the warm seasons or hot days in general.
- MULCHING: Using an organic mulch in late Spring and Fall will strengthen the plants by helping to retain moisture, keeping the roots cool, and discouraging weeds.
- FERTILIZING: Use an all-purpose type of plant foods for the cooler season feedings (those from October through May) at about half the rate given for general ornamental plants. For mid-Summer, perform a single light application.
- PRUNING: Although it varies by the type of plant, typically you will need to thin the plant out to direct growth of the maturing plant. Be sure to remove any dead wood and be sure to use the appropriate sanitation procedures when pruning any diseased branches.
- PROBLEM SOLVING: If you are having trouble with insects, disease, weeds, or pests please feel free to call us at Mockingbird Nursery.
