Planting and Watering.

Planting and Watering

Connect with nature and give back to the land as we assist native plants and wildlife flourish in an extremely sensitive area of Limestone Canyon Preserve. You will ride through the canyon in a safari-type vehicle to the Dripping Springs Trail where you may water or add native plants along the trail. In addition we will give existing native plants room to thrive as we weed out invasive plants. As a bonus we will hike approximately 2 miles round-trip to Dripping Springs; a fern-covered rock face dripping with life-giving water creating an essential watering hole for wildlife in the canyon. Your work along this trail will not only benefit the plants and animals, but you will be supporting its continued beautification and protection.

Reviewing the 1-5 Difficulty Ratings will help you evaluate your readiness to participate in this Level 3 activity. The hike is a Level 2 Difficulty Rating.

The Tecate Cypress is a rare species found only in southern California and northern Baja California. Unfortunately, the northern most population in the Santa Ana Mountains is in severe decline due to too-frequent wildfires. In effort to protect this rare species, locally genetic trees have been planted in Fremont Canyon, in close proximity to the staging area. Join us as we deeply water and weed around the young trees. Your work will ensure the newly-planted Tecate has all they need to thrive, and will directly help the effort to ensure the persistence of this unique forest community here in Orange County!

Reviewing the 1-through-5 Difficulty Ratings will help you evaluate your readiness to participate in this level-2 activity on the land.

Watering the Native Plant Nursery at the Quail Hill Trailhead, inside the gated yard off the parking lot. Germinating seeds under the black shade cloth: water under the mist setting to moisten soil and cover back with shade cloth. All other grass plugs and 4″ pots not covered: water under the shower setting once. The larger, gallon sized pots do not need to be watered unless noted prior to your shift. Watering can occur at any time during your said available days.

**No need to water during rainy days.

IRC volunteers will help to water and maintain the native shrubs at the Augustine Nursery  to enhance the Augustine Staging area and Dipping Springs Trail. Thank you!

Monitoring our raptor nest in Agua Chinon onTuesday, May 1.

Ted Edgell; 4.0 hours

COH – OR – 176 (NOT ACTIVE WITH A Coopers Hawk nest

BNO – OR – 116

RTH – OR – 244

Could use a boost of  living colors? Looking for a way to give back to Nature?

Then sign up to help behind the scenes at the Irvine Ranch Conservancy’s one-of-a-kind Native Seed Farm in Irvine!  You will be harvesting seeds from beautiful native spring wildflowers, like California Poppies and Arroyo Lupines. Absolutely no experience or special equipment required!

Please note our Minors Policy as noted on the letsgooutside.org website:  All minors (under 18 years of age) must be accompanied by their parent or legal guardian. They must also (both parent and minor) be registered for the Irvine Ranch Conservancy led program they wish to attend.

Reviewing the 1-5 Difficulty Ratings will help you evaluate your readiness to participate in this Level 1 activity.

Creekside Academy/YAT, an after school community-service based program throughout the City of Irvine regularly volunteers their time to steward the Irvine Ranch Natural Landmarks. This week, High School students will spend their afternoon helping to enhance Bommer Canyon! Stewardship activities can include planting native species to enhance the habitat, planting cactus to close social trails, watering newly planted natives, and more. Please help lead this group and provide a wonderful experience they will never forget!

Reviewing the 1-through-5 Difficulty Ratings will help you evaluate your readiness to participate in this level-2 activity on the land.

Sahara mustard is a nasty exotic that has invaded thousands of acres across Southern California and is just beginning to encroach upon the Irvine Ranch Natural Landmarks. Now is the time to act!  Your help is needed to search for and remove new mustard plants that have come up from seed so that we can keep this weed from infesting our wild lands! This event will include bending, kneeling and walking across slopes and uneven terrain. All training and tools will be provided. We hope you can join us!

Birds and other wildlife need healthy habitat to thrive. Simple things like planting native plants can greatly improve habitat for wildlife. You can be part of that positive impact while enjoying the beauty of Buck Gully near Newport Beach. This activity takes place on sloped terrain and sturdy hiking boots are highly recommended. All training, tools, and gloves will be provided to ensure your safety and comfort. Rattlesnakes are occasionally seen here and generally avoid people, but protective gear will be provided.

Reviewing the 1-through-5 Difficulty Ratings will help you evaluate your readiness to participate in this level-3 activity on the land.

Could use a boost of  living colors? Looking for a way to give back to Nature?

Then sign up to help behind the scenes at the Irvine Ranch Conservancy’s one-of-a-kind Native Seed Farm in Irvine!  You will be harvesting seeds from beautiful native spring wildflowers, like California Poppies and Arroyo Lupines. Absolutely no experience or special equipment required!

Please note our Minors Policy as noted on the letsgooutside.org website:  All minors (under 18 years of age) must be accompanied by their parent or legal guardian. They must also (both parent and minor) be registered for the Irvine Ranch Conservancy led program they wish to attend.

Reviewing the 1-5 Difficulty Ratings will help you evaluate your readiness to participate in this Level 1 activity.

If you enjoy using the wilderness park and aren’t afraid of a little hard work, this is your opportunity to give back by improving the trails. You’ll also learn to see your favorite trails in a new way! Join Laguna Canyon Foundation and OC Parks for a morning of trail maintenance. We’ll be using tools such as loppers, picks, shovels and McLeods to clear brush out of trails, restore features that protect the trails and/or build new features to improve trail sustainability. Ages 17 and up (must have waiver signed by parent). Lunch and refreshments served. Trail to be determined closer to event and notification will be sent to those signed up (sign up required). www.lagunacanyon.org.activities. For questions call 949-497-8324

Do you like to garden or just enjoy being outdoors?

Join us the first Sunday of every month for our Mason Butterfly Garden Volunteer Day. No gardening experience needed! Meet new friends, learn new gardening tips, and help create a beautiful butterfly sanctuary for you and park visitors to enjoy.

Please bring a sun hat, sunscreen, sunglasses, gloves (some will be available to use at the park), water, snack, comfortable clothes and covered shoes. All gardening tools and plants will be provided.

Once you enter the park turn right at the stop sign and park in parking lot A. We will meet at the Butterfly Habitat at 9am.

Event and parking are both FREE.
Rain will cancel event.

Leave your park better than you found it! Join Irvine Ranch Conservancy staff during monthly habitat stewardship activities at Irvine Regional Park, aimed at keeping the park’s trails and habitat healthy. Identified in collaboration with the Park Rangers that patrol the trails everyday, stewardship projects can include planting to combat the effects of off-trail use, removing invasive plant species that threaten to crowd out the diversity of native plants, and more!

Reviewing the 1-through-5 Difficulty Ratings will help you evaluate your readiness to participate in this level-3 activity on the land.