Nursery Can Provide Rare Native Plants

QUESTION: I have been searching everywhere for a California native, Juniperus communis saxatilis. Can I purchase one by mail?

--N.P., Tujunga

ANSWER: This is a rare bird indeed. An alpine juniper native to the Sierra and the North Coast, it may be found now and again at the few nurseries that specialize in California natives. Las Pilitas Nursery is the one mail-order source and usually has a few for sale.

This nursery has a remarkable selection of native plants; you can get a free price and availability list by calling (805) 438-5992, or you can write for the very informative $8 catalog, at Las Pilitas Road, Santa Margarita, CA 93453.

The only place I’ve seen this juniper growing in Southern California is at Rancho Santa Ana Botanic garden in Claremont. It’s a handsome plant, staying about 6 to 8 inches tall and spreading to 2 or 3 feet.

The garden’s director of horticulture, Bart O’Brien, says they irrigate the junipers about every two weeks and find the forms from the North Coast--including some named types, such as the silvery-blue “Pt. St. George” and “Gold Beach”--do best it the Southland.

Now through January is the best time to plant California natives, by the way.

An Unwelcome Mat Is Needed for the Birds

Q: Birds perching on a utility pole are making a mess of our pool deck. The utility company wants $15,000 to move the pole. This is not going to happen. The utility refuses to put a fan-rotor device, like the ones seen on top of billboards, on top of the pole.

So what can we do to scare the birds away? On a trip, we saw Mylar streamers in farmer’s fields. Would that work? How about a fake owl?

--P.O., Valley Village

A: In my experience, fake owls, cats and other scarecrows work only for a while, and the same is true of the more effective Mylar streamers. The manufacturer of the bright red and silver Mylar streamers suggests using them only temporarily.

At first the birds are surprised by these devices, but they will soon get used to the shape or the motion. Their manufacturer also suggests taking them down immediately after the fruit ripens, so that when you put them up the following years, they will be again be surprised and startled.

Nothing in my experience works over an extended period, except the rotor device that you mentioned, which is why the billboard companies use them. Perhaps another reader can suggest something permanent.

Questions should be sent to “Garden Q&A;” in care of the Real Estate section, Los Angeles Times, Times Mirror Square, Los Angeles 90053. Please include your address and telephone number. Questions cannot be answered individually.