California Garden Project Fundraiser

Looking for a way to spread a little holiday cheer, and support the preservation of native California landscapes? The California Garden Project is offering just that with its Holiday Madness Open House.

mPOWER features John Nitta

High Ranch Nursery's president John Nitta has been featured in a promotional video for Placer County mPOWER.

EcoLandscape Conference 2012

Mark your calendar! High Ranch Nursery is participating in the 2012 EcoLandscape Conference, hosted by EcoLandscape California. Register today for your chance to learn how to make sustainable landscaping businesses successful and profitiable.

Plant Sales with Roger

Roger Snell will be selling plants at two local events this weekend.

El Dorado CNPS Plant Sale

Roger Snell will be hosting a table at the semi-annual plant sale of the El Dorado Chapter of the California Native Plant Society.

Disease-Resistant Elms

Dutch Elm Disease (DED) is a fungal disease spread by the elm bark beetle. It has drastically reduced native elm populations across North America since it was accidentally introduced in 1928.

Westervelt Breach Event

by John Nitta

This morning I attended a very momentous event in Thornton. It was the breaching of a farm levee to naturally let the Consumnes River flood a 500 acre former farm. The farm was purchased by

Read more...

Photos from Melissa Borel on UCDAAS

The workshop on July 28th hosted by the California Landscape Contractors Association was a great success. Melissa Borel gave an informative presenation on using UC Davis Arboretum All-Stars to attract pollinators at the historic Loomis Train Depot. Photos from the event are below.

Harvest Day 2011

Join the UC Master Gardeners for Harvest Day 2011 this Saturday, August 6th in Fair Oaks. Here's a description from their web site

Read more...

Rotary Discovery Garden

by John C. Nitta

The

Read more...

Melissa Borel to speak on Arboretum All-Stars

On Thursday, July 28th, The Sacramento Valley Chapter of the California Landscape Contractors Association is hosting a meeting at the Loomis Train Depot.

The Curse of the Yellow Dragon

by Roger Snell

Read more...

by John Nitta

This week we are totally jazzed that we’re getting solar.  The outfit that's doing the installation is Yes! Solar Solutions.  They also did our home, back in May or so.  For our home we got private financing, which Yes! Solar helped get us in contact with.

We're thrilled to see the progress that Westervelt Ecological Services is making on their Cosumnes Floodplain Mitigation Bank project.

Guest Blogger: Colin Nitta

Hi. I'm Colin Nitta, son of John and Sarah. I attend California College of Arts, and this last summer I had an opportunity to take a class which focused on landscape design and public architecture.

by Sarah Nitta

On a beautiful spring day the week after Easter my son, Joel, and I took a day off to visit the splendors of Stevens Trail, Colfax, CA.  We wound down the north side of the North Fork of the American River to the hum of insects and the welcome of wild flowers.

Jennie Nitta has been featured in the Loomis News for her work as a Landscape Designer. Read

Read more...

A sure sign that spring is coming - magnolias

Spring comes early in the American River Canyon. Check out these photos, taken today on a hike near the confluence of the American River near Auburn, CA. All the signs of spring were showing: acorns sending down shoots, buckeyes budding out into new leaves, colorful early wildflowers and green moss carpeting granite boulders.

Both Placer County Water Agency and the City of Roseville offer rebate programs for lawn replacement with water-wise plants. Check out these links for details on how you can take advantage of double savings.

by Roger Snell

Biologists in California, led by researchers at The Scripps Research Institute and the University of California (UC), San Diego have solved the structure of a critical molecule that helps plants survive during droughts.

by Pattie Roberts

Just because you have a dog or two doesn’t mean that your yard has to be one big mud hole! Understanding your dog’s behavior will help you create a space that is functional and beautiful at the same time.

by John Nitta

When you’ve grown a lot of products over the years, things change. That is, some plants become very popular and desirable and some fade away. Some become what’s considered an “invasive plant.

sby Roger Snell

Statistics show that the life span of an indoor cat are much longer than an outdoor cat. On average, an indoor cat lives twelve years, but some live for as many as twenty years. In comparison, an outdoor cat’s life expectancy is less than five years.

by Roger Snell

Read more...

by John Nitta

On June 26th, Sarah and I had a unique opportunity to experience first-hand, up close and personal, a rare California plant and some pretty neat wildlife. This all took place at the Placer Land Trust’s

Read more...

by John & Sarah Nitta

John and Sarah Nitta – Team High Ranch! - participated in the 2nd Annual Britton Fund Ride at the recent annual conference of the Western Chapter of the International Society of Arboriculture on May 4th.

by John Nitta

High Ranch Nursery had a table at the recent 16th Annual SERCAL/CNGA Conference in Folsom, CA.

What is a Vole?

A Vole looks quite a lot like a mouse. Voles also have shorter tails, and a rounder face than a mouse does.

by Roger Snell

That's right! Spring is one of only two times that you can go to a California Native Plant Society plant sale and the other is in the fall.

This is our first post! We're excited to share ideas with you on the emerging art of sustainable landscaping.  If you're interested in plants and growing methods that foster a greener future, you'll find a community of like-minded plant lovers here.  Welcome!

by Roger Snell

“Sustainable,” “Green Movement”, “Eco-Landscaping” - you’ve heard the buzzwords.