PSSC MAY 2015 MEETING

Moose

Esteemed Member
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10/09/09
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May PSSC Meeting
Laguna Hills and Mission Viejo

Saturday May 16, 2015

In May we will be visiting two gardens, first that of Jim Vargin and, second, that of Jawad and Brooke
Nesheiwat. Here is some background each have to say about their gardens:

In the words of our hosts, Jim Vargin, and Jawad and Brooke Nesheiwat:

Vargin Garden: 25011 Marin Ct. Laguna Hills, CA 92653

Nesheiwat Garden: 26631 Cuenca Dr., Mission Viejo, CA 92691

Mr. Vargin says:
We moved into our house 13 years ago this May. When my wife and I were looking, her initial response to this house was "over my dead body". Well, after lots of talk and promises, we purchased the house that offered me a 10,000 square foot lot to work with. In order to start this garden, we needed to remove over 60 trees (not palm trees!) and major regrading of the lot. The next step was to bring in 30 yards of good soil to make sure I had a chance to succeed. Looking back, this was probably the best decision I made with my garden.

My first palm was a 50 year old Chamaerops humilis with 6 trunks. It was craned it and placed on the
front corner of my lot. After 12 years of planting palms, I have over 120 palm species and 50 cycad
species on my property. Lots of failures along the way, but the successes seem to make all the work
very worth while. The garden has large Caryota gigas, Roystonea regia, over 20 types of Dypsis and
Chamaedoreas.

Over the past years, I have supported the Palm Society of Southern California, Palm Talk and the IPS.

On May 16th, I look forward to meeting all of you who decide to visit!
Regards,
Jim.

Mr. Nesheiwat says:

Although we have been in this property 11 years it was not until around 2007 that we discovered our passion for palm trees and gardening. When we purchased this property in 2004 it originally only had
2 pigmy date palms that are still here today. We slowly started adding common palms in 2005 hoping
for a canopy one day and found out the hard way that palms did not grow easy in dense clay or blazing hot summers. We eventually planted the right palms in the right places learning what they liked, and most importantly, didn’t like. Through lots of trial and error we discovered that some palms grew really well, however others struggled regardless of location or how we treated them. Through the years we have added palms large and small from a variety of genus and species, cycads, companion plants, succulents, ti plants, bamboo and other foliage to create “our jungle”. Some of our favorite palms and best performers in our garden include Brahea, Livistonia, Roystonea, Phoenix, Chamaedorea, Rhaphis, Archontophoenix and Dypsis. When we joined the PSSC in 2010 we were inspired by all the other palm tree gardens that we were able to visit and began a never-ending quest to build our own paradise here at home.

Regards, Jawad and Brooke

Schedule
9:30- Board Meeting
10:00- Tour Vargin garden
11:30- Tour Nesheiwat garden
12:30- Pot luck- Please bring a dish to share
1:00- Announcements and Auction/Raffle

Directions to Palm Tree Jim's Garden:

From North or South: I-5 to Mission Viejo- Exit Alicia Pkwy, go South approx. 1 mile, Left on Paseo de Valencia, 2/10 mile Right on Sunburst Ave., at end of road Left on Largo Dr., Right on El Capitan, Right on Marin. 25011 Marin Ct.

Directions to Nesheiwat garden from Palm Tree Jim’s Garden: Take Marin northeast towards El Capitan, turn left onto El Capitan, left on Largo Drive, take the first right onto Sunburst Ave, take 1st right onto Paseo de Valencia, right on Cabot, left on Crown Valley, left at shops of Mission Viejo/Puerta Real. As you make the left the street will turn into Puerta Real which comes to an end at a stop sign facing a park. Turn right at the stop sign, make your first right on San Gonzalo. Continue on San Gonzalo until it ends on Cuenca Drive. Make a right on Cuenca Drive and you will see us at the end of the street on the right hand side.
 
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