Birth of Willowbrook Nursery

[Palmzilla]

After countless hours and buckets of blood, sweat and tears my dream has came true! Willowbrook Nursery is up, running and licensed! We stumbled over a foreclosed piece of land last summer and after much negotiations with the bank we closed escrow over the winter in the month of November. At the time the property was a total mess, it was almost impossible to even walk around the place without hitting your head or tripping over outrageous 8 feet tall weeds. The property was abandoned for approximately 2 years and at one time must have been a beautiful site to see as there were around 300 dead citrus trees and countless deceased vegetation. My first purchase was a heavy duty chainsaw, and after 2 weeks I filled twenty giant forty yard dumpsters to the gills with green-waste just to make space to walk around! Attached are some pics from day # 1:

[Palmzilla]

Lobo (My Husky) even found a stray goat! One of my concerns when I located to this property was the amount of rodents living here. Rabbits, gophers, squirrels and other critters flooded the place like a plague. Long story short, Lobo didn't eat dry food for about a month, he preferred fresh meat! I haven't seen a pesky rodent since!

Also, I wanted to share how hardy and bullet proof Butia Capita is (Pindo Palm). In one of the pics above you can see the palm. This was the only living palm alive when I moved here. It looked 100 percent perfect when I came here and it probably didn't have a drink of water for 2 yrs! Luckily it is about 12 feet tall so it must have a dense root system to hold itself through hard times, but talk about a survivor!

[Palmzilla]

Here she is

[Rafael]

Well done Miss Butia!

Now you might be the new nursery's pioneer!

[Kathryn]

Congratulation Braden. When will you open for business?

[Mark Heath]

Your dog Lobo is a beauty! I would love to ask you some questions about Huskies! I have

a half German Shepherd and half Husky. I need to know what to expect seeing he is a puppy. PM me if you would answer some questions for me, otherwise i'll know you're not interested!

BTW, you have done alot of work there and i went through the same thing 10 years ago. Good job!

Mark

[newtothis]

stray..goat??

[newtothis]

that b.cap is strictor form right? wish mine was!

[OCPalmnut]

Braden - that is alot of hard work and sweat! Years back you will look at how you were able to transform nothing into something spectacular.

Let us So Cal folks know when is the big grand opening so we can come down to support you!

[Jeff Searle]

Braden,

Good luck on the new nursery property! Mine is 28 years old now and I love going to work more now, than when I first started. I wish you all the best.

Jeff

[BS Man about Palms]

I've been there already and seen the transformation! Or better yet, I just NOW saw the BEFORE Pictures!! Braden and mom and pop POGO have done an amazing amount of work!

They got some pretty neat stuff coming up for sale too...

[Palmzilla]

Congratulation Braden. When will you open for business?

I got all the paperwork, permits and licenses a few months back and this week is pretty much the Grand Opening!

[Palmzilla]

that b.cap is strictor form right? wish mine was!

I am not sure what form this may be, the tighter formation may also be caused by a lack of water I assume...

There was two other pindos right next to this one that sadly didn't make it

[Palmzilla]

Braden,

Good luck on the new nursery property! Mine is 28 years old now and I love going to work more now, than when I first started. I wish you all the best.

Jeff

Thanks Jeff and everyone else for the good vibes!

Hope I can say what you just said in 28 years from now, so far it has been a blast!

[Tassie_Troy1971]

Whoa Braden , Bob and Lobo !

What a mess to clean up - can't wait to see the after pics !

[pogobob]

Whoa Braden , Bob and Lobo !

What a mess to clean up - can't wait to see the after pics !

I will dig up some pics of the project soon

[Kathryn]

I love going to work more now, than when I first started.

I wish I could say that about my job.

[Urban Rainforest]

Braden, That's a classic pic of the stand off between lobo and the stray goat. It reminds me of my place in Hawaii. So far I've had a Goat, a Donkey and wild pigs wander in. You never know whats gonna show up next . All that hard work is gonna pay off and knowing you I'm sure it's well stocked with Cycads! Congratulations and best of luck to you guys!

Stevo

[Palmzilla]

Braden, That's a classic pic of the stand off between lobo and the stray goat. It reminds me of my place in Hawaii. So far I've had a Goat, a Donkey and wild pigs wander in. You never know whats gonna show up next . All that hard work is gonna pay off and knowing you I'm sure it's well stocked with Cycads! Congratulations and best of luck to you guys!

Stevo

Stray animals, gota love them! I heard lobo going crazy one morning before anything was fenced off and he was in a battle with a giant goat. The goat was trying to head-butt him and wasn't backing down haha. Turns out it belongs to a neighbor and it just roams all over! Lobo probably saved a lot of plants from being an expensive salad for the goat!

I'll post some before and after pics tomorrow!

[Palmzilla]

Ok time for some before and after pics:

Before--

[Palmzilla]

After!

[Palmzilla]

Here is Cycad Hill # 1

[Palmzilla]

Sun grown Hedycepe

[Palmzilla]

This is what the top pics above now look like

[Palmzilla]

Some more action!

[BS Man about Palms]

Very good Braden, now everyone can appreciate your hard work!!! Incredible!!

[iamjv]

Congrats on the new place.... wishing you all the best! Jv

[Wanderanwills]

Hi Palmzilla,

Congratulations on opening your nursery

Lots of hard work, it will pay off in the end.

Good luck with the business.

Regards

Wanderanwills

[Alicehunter2000]

Wow! 40 dumpsters in 2 weeks! My back hurts just thinking about it. Good thing your young Great job on the transformation, could you give us some stats on the property and business.....size of lot, buildings,location, mail order etc. I'll bet the neighbors love you...what an eyesore before the transformation. Some really cool boulders and hardscaping on site as well. The plants for sale look awsome....I suspect that you have everything listed on your website?

On a totally unrelated note....none of my "abreojos" seeds have germinated (+ or - 6 months) any ideas on length of time to expect for those (been using the baggie method with bottom heat). I was thinking about re-soaking them again, re-bagging and putting outside in my storage shed now that it is starting to warm again.

[Gbarce]

Looking VERY good Braden!

[freakypalmguy]

Killer Braden, look foreward to seeing it first hand.

Matt

[Palmzilla]

Wow! 40 dumpsters in 2 weeks! My back hurts just thinking about it. Good thing your young Great job on the transformation, could you give us some stats on the property and business.....size of lot, buildings,location, mail order etc. I'll bet the neighbors love you...what an eyesore before the transformation. Some really cool boulders and hardscaping on site as well. The plants for sale look awsome....I suspect that you have everything listed on your website?

On a totally unrelated note....none of my "abreojos" seeds have germinated (+ or - 6 months) any ideas on length of time to expect for those (been using the baggie method with bottom heat). I was thinking about re-soaking them again, re-bagging and putting outside in my storage shed now that it is starting to warm again.

The property is on 3 acres, and as of yet I have only filled about an acre up with plants. I used my friends tractor and graded the bottom level the other day and plan on setting up a giant greenhouse. All the boulders were scattered around, so I pushed them all up to the top level and planted a bunch of cycads around them! I also have brought about 200 yards of decomposed granite in also to make it look more dramatic. As for my website, it is far from being updated, most my plants haven't been put on the site yet as I am having a hard time getting around to everything All the near by neighbors started to fix there places up too when they saw what we were doing, I guess it motivated them which is nice.

As far as the abreojos seeds go, they usually come up like weeds. Most of them time I don't even try to germinate them because they come up like grass below the mother tree. As long as they stay somewhat moist the come up more me. Let me know if they never germinate, I'll send you more this summer when they ripen again. Some years seed is better than other years for some reason. I have a secret stash of them that is now 15 gallon size and they look different even as juveniles

I think I am going to plant a row of them somewhere soon!

Braden

[pogobob]

Wow! 40 dumpsters in 2 weeks! My back hurts just thinking about it. Good thing your young Great job on the transformation, could you give us some stats on the property and business.....size of lot, buildings,location, mail order etc. I'll bet the neighbors love you...what an eyesore before the transformation. Some really cool boulders and hardscaping on site as well. The plants for sale look awsome....I suspect that you have everything listed on your website?

On a totally unrelated note....none of my "abreojos" seeds have germinated (+ or - 6 months) any ideas on length of time to expect for those (been using the baggie method with bottom heat). I was thinking about re-soaking them again, re-bagging and putting outside in my storage shed now that it is starting to warm again.

The place is 3 acres with a 2000 sq ft home that was partially remodeled when the prior owner abandoned. we are located on the Oceanside/Vista border approx 6mi from the ocean on a hilltop with a view of the Guajome/San Luis Rey valley. Our area is very mild with ocean breeze daily and sunny days all year round. This area is known to be the best climate in all of California for nursery production, citrus, avacado, and many other produce farms. Right across the street from us is an organic fruit and vegetable packing and distribution center where all the local farmers sell their stuff.

Getting back to our project, it has been a very chalenging, expensive, but fun experience for our whole family. We are working very hard and seeing wonderfull results for our labors, and to see each one of our visions becoming realities is extremely satisfying, especially Bradens creative landscapes and unique plant choices. He moved several large granite boulders and placed them around the property and created a very natural environment with colonies of cycads, agaves, yuccas, aloes, proteas,and many more native and exotic plants that will flourish. Before any of the landscapeing and nursery stocking took place, the cleanup was a HUGE undertakeing! We spent about a week chainsawing dead and neglected trees, about a dozen rat infested washingtonias, half dead queenpalms, and other drought stricken fruit trees. The front yard was covered in over grown bamboo and about 40 phoenix reclinatas rooted thru boxes. The rest of the land was covered in every kind of junk and debris(old car parts, trailers, oil drums, stacks of sheetrock, telivisions, electronics, piles of old lumber etc.) It seemed very daunting at the beggining, but we went at it and never gave it a doubt.

Besides the land improvements, the house was also a project we worked at on the same time. We had to complete the "remodel" the previous owner started, Stucco, electrical, and conctrete decking, plumbing, new furnace and ducting, paint and so many other things that go with home improvement. So far it has been a real positive experience, with the help of many friends and workers, and even the city and county agencies we had to deal with. There is still a lot to do but it is realy starting to shape up now!

[Breadfruit Bill]

Wow guys! This project is awesome... Congratulations and best of luck with it!

[pogobob]

Thanks everyone! stay tuned

[Hollywood Palms]

Amazing! Best of luck.

David

[Palmzilla]

Got rocks?

[pogobob]

Got rocks?

Are you still embarrased about getting high centered on that rock sonny?

[Palmzilla]

Here is some of the grading process

[Palmzilla]

More mayhem!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!