Not Just Your Garden-Variety Walks

Beginning in the 1920s, diatomite, a porous mineral mass used in filtering systems and insulation, was dug from a huge Palos Verdes Peninsula pit. When the diatomite was exhausted, Los Angeles County acquired the site for a landfill and buried 3.5 million tons of trash during the 1960s.

After the site was filled, the city decided to plant a garden. This decision was challenged because many horticultural problems had to be overcome: soil settling (which is why the land was unsuitable for building), lack of compost, and root-wrecking heat and gases given off by buried vegetable matter.

South Coast Botanic Garden met these challenges with technical innovation as well as style and grace. These days the garden’s major plant collections include roses, succulents, flowering fruit trees, palms, pines and even redwoods. Visitors often are particularly delighted by the garden’s impressive groupings by color--blue, pink and yellow. The garden emphasizes plants from Australia (more than 50 species of eucalyptus), the Mediterranean and southern Africa--flora that thrive in Southern California’s similar climate.

Hikers and weekend gardeners might meet up with some impressive company on South Coast Botanic Garden trails. Professional horticulturists and reclamation experts from around the world travel to the garden to study its innovative cultivation methods. Expect to find flocks of bird-watchers too. Garden habitats support an abundant bird population (more than 300 species counted). Trails lead through the garden to an artificial lake.

The garden’s high points offer superb clear-day panoramas of Los Angeles.

Directions: From the Harbor Freeway (I-110) in Wilmington, exit on Pacific Coast Highway. Go west three miles to Crenshaw Boulevard, then turn south to the South Coast Botanic Garden at 26300 Crenshaw Blvd. on the Palos Verdes Peninsula. Open 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. daily. Admission is $5 adults, $1 children 5 to 12. Telephone (310) 544-1847.

Orcutt Ranch Horticulture Center: Rancho Sombra del Roble (Ranch in the Shadow of the Oak) was once a 200-acre estate owned by William Orcutt, a geologist with Union Oil Co. His shady retreat in the San Fernando Valley remains a haven for ancient oaks and orange groves.

Tucked away at the western end of the valley in West Hills, Orcutt Ranch Horticultural Center is a delectable slice of valley history, served up in pretty surroundings amid a rose garden and ancient oaks.

Orcutt Ranch began in 1914 as the vacation retreat of Los Angeles residents William and Mary Orcutt. Orcutt is remembered not only for his considerable contributions to geology, but also for his discovery of a fossilized ground sloth in La Brea Tar Pits--a discovery that prompted great public and scientific interest.

The Orcutts built a beautiful Spanish-style home and planted hundreds of acres of citrus and walnut groves. Many of the valley oaks and coast live oaks on the property were saved.

In 1966 the Los Angeles City Parks Department purchased the estate and gardens and opened them to the public. Much of the 1920s style has been preserved.

The large adobe house, the former Orcutt residence, is surrounded by gardens decorated with interesting collections of varied plant species as well as attractive fountains, statues and sundials.

It is a romantic setting that’s frequently used for weddings.

Walkers can follow ranch paths for a look at an enormous valley oak--33 feet in circumference and about 700 years old.

Gravel nature trails wind through the lushly vegetated estate, leading to a small creek with a bridge and a rose garden.

Directions: From the Ventura Freeway (U.S. 101) in Woodland Hills, exit on Topanga Canyon Boulevard and go north 3.5 miles to Roscoe Boulevard. Turn west and drive two miles to the park entrance, at 23600 Roscoe Blvd., a few blocks past Fallbrook Avenue. Open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. Free admission. Tel. (818) 346-7449.

For more of John McKinney’s hiking tips and trails, visit https://www.thetrailmaster.com.

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Garden Trails

WHERE: South Coast Botanic Garden, Orcutt Ranch Horticulture Center.

DISTANCE: 1 mile or so round trip through South Coast Botanic Garden; 0.5 mile or more around Orcutt Ranch.

TERRAIN: A combination of native and exotic flora.

HIGHLIGHTS: Strolls through two unique county gardens.

DEGREE OF DIFFICULTY: Very easy.

FOR MORE INFORMATION: South Coast Botanic Garden, tel. (310) 544-1847; Orcutt Ranch Horticulture Center, tel. (818) 346-7449.