Laguna Hills Nursery is currently operated by Gary Matsuoka. George and Grace Matsuoka, Gary’s parents, were the founders of the business in 1954 at a location in Pasadena, CA.
Gary’s father George was born in California, but spent his youth in Japan. His father sent George and his brother Tom back to the US at the start of WWII, because he knew Japan had no chance against America. George spent WWII in the US Army. After the war he held many jobs but became a gardener by the time he was married. He soon saw that store owners made more money and purchased H&M Nursery in Pasadena in 1954 and renamed it Fair Oaks Gardens.
Gary grew up watching his father grow and sell plants. Gary’s uncle, Tom Matsuoka, was an award-winning landscaper and the two brothers worked on many projects together. In 1968 Pasadena had over 20 retail nursery's, in 1970 George bought 8 acres of land in El Toro and opened Laguna Hills Nursery. Gary and his siblings worked for the nursery weekends and summers while attending high school.
Gary attended graduate school (medical research) at the University of Texas and did not intend to become part of the business. However he returned in 1978 determined to become the best nurseryman possible. In 1988 he married Nancy Miller, whom he had hired the year before as the nurseries manager. By 1994 when Gary’s parents experienced decline in their health, Gary was fully in charge of his father’s nursery business, Nancy oversaw the finances and staff. In 1995, fully intent on becoming become the best nurseryman possible, Gary started researching and developing his own ideas about horticulture. He credits Nancy for being CFO and manager so that he could perfect his skills at propagating, growing, product development, marketing and teaching. By the late 1990’s Laguna Hills Nursery was thriving. It was known for the highest quality and best selection of roses, fruit trees, ornamental trees and perennials.
Unfortunately by 2007 both of Gary’s parents had passed on and the El Toro property had to be sold to settle the family estate. Gary and Nancy closed the store in 2010 and spent the next 4 years selling at local farmers markets. In 2013 they decided to find a retail location and open another garden center. This is the story of how Laguna Hills Nursery came to be located in Santa Ana, CA.
WHY CONTINUE?
We have seen the decline in quality of most of the plant material sold by retail nurseries over the last 3 decades. This is due to several factors. Competition in the market place is good if the public is knowledgeable about quality. Certainly we have seen the competition among automobile manufacturers raise the design and quality of cars to a high level. In fact healthy competition has raised the quality of many items we purchase because organizations like Consumer Reports have done an excellent job concerning performance over the life of the product.
Unfortunately plant growers are quite small and too numerous to have any comparative studies done. Also plant research projects are only funded for several months, whereas plant problems often don't become apparent for several years.
Virtually all container plants offered at the retail level are defective. The substrate the plants are grown in is based on temporary materials like wood shavings, finely ground bark, peat moss or some other form of compost. Initially these substrates can support vigorous growth, however all of these materials continue to decompose after installation. The original substrate soon shrinks, becomes less permeable and often toxic. The roots suffer and the plant, if it survives, usually exhibits stunted growth and small, off-colored foliage for many years.
Plants in nature grow in soil called loam. Loam is generally more than 98% mineral. Compost does not become soil. (click on the SOIL INFO above for details) Container plants originally were grown in sandy loam or sand. Growing plants in compost was originally developed for annual flowers (florist trade) but unfortunately adopted by woody plant growers in order to lower shipping weight, at the expense of the health and quality of the plants.
Our large variety of fruits, vegetables and herbs is the best in Orange County. Our staff is highly knowledgeable about horticulture and will gladly help you pick out an aesthetic combination of landscape plants to fit your location. We can answer your plant questions and concerns, we also offer demonstrations, classes, delivery and repotting service.
After serving Orange County from Lake Forest, we relocated to Santa Ana in 2014. We are happy to continue serving our customers here in Santa Ana.
Our Mission:
Here at Laguna Hills Nursery our purpose is to provide correct information, plants and products that perform at maximum potential, which enables our clients to garden effectively and efficiently. Our goal is to offer significantly superior plants by growing them ourselves or acquiring them from growers we trust.
714 542 5600
Sun-Sat: 9am-5pm
1829 N. Tustin Ave
Santa Ana California 92705
