urban yard design in LA - resources, guilds, recommendations?

hi folks, im a pacific northwest permaculturist and designer and im going down to LA to stay with a friend who just bought a house in the city with a nice big empty yard. they'd like some help designing things but ive got little experience with the LA climate & plants. i want start by running all their gutters to a "rain garden" in their yard and plant it out with some good stuff for a less-intensive-maintenance-start to their new yard adventure... so far ive looked into what california tropical fruit tree nursery (tropicalfruittrees.com) has to offer but i'd love some help. (i also realize that "rain garden" might be a joke down here, but use that hardscape! right?!) maybe we can do greywater too, any LA guerrilla plumber connects?

what are some guilds that folks have had success with in LA? anyone growing dwarf avocados?
where the best nurseries to buy from down here? i checked out permaculturedesignmagazine.com/resources/plant-nurseries/#california which had a nice list, but any first hand feedback or recommendations for LA specifically?
what about nitrogen fixers and dynamic accumulators?, i read in another thread that comfrey isnt too good in LA, i'd love to just be able to seed as much as i can, but i dont really know what seed to buy haha

should we wait till fall to plant trees out? or are my friends basically going to have to irrigate their trees & no way around it?
who are some rad folks in LA who i can connect to!?!! i'd love to see some LA urban permaculture or just recommendations for places or groups to check out...

thanks a bunch! im going to link up my friends to permies as well so hopefully this will be a fruitful thread for them and me both. and you!
-roo

Grape, Kiwi, Passionfruit,
Pistachio, Chilean Nut, Macadamia Nut, Olive, Avocado
Figs, Date Palm, Pomegranate, Pineapple (cactus family), Papaya (overstory), Pineapple Guava, Chilean Guava, Dwarf/Weeping Mulberry
Custard Apple (PawPaw family), Mango (dwarf like Congo), Jaboticaba, Citrus
Mint/Thyme family, Onion family, Carrot family, Daikon Radish
Legume family: Some sub-shrub Acacia

Andy Roo wrote:

what are some guilds that folks have had success with in LA? anyone growing dwarf avocados?

When I lived in Santa Paula (Ventura county), I had several small avocado trees. They don't have to be huge to yield well.

should we wait till fall to plant trees out?

Yes. September is the best time to plant. Even then, you are

basically going to have to irrigate their trees & no way around it?

Plan on some drip irrigation, which is a great way to use grey water. Remember that the area is desert -- even without the current drought -- and that if you want something to grow, it needs a daily drink. It doesn't have to be a large amount of water, but it does have to be frequent.

thanks for the recommendations! im absolutely going to try some of the above mentioned plants. i may seed date palms because i have many seeds. maybe cover crop initially with a mix for the upcoming season. any nursery recommendations out there for plants near LA?

If your friend is completely redesigning their yard for food, or even redoing a few sections of it, I can't too highly recommend Brad Lancaster's "Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands Volume 2" It tells all about ways to store water in the soil. http://www.harvestingrainwater.com/

If you are in Los Angeles county, I'd love to show you what we've got growing. We are not too far off the 5, 15 minutes north of Disneyland.

We've got 60 fruit trees, and a diversity of understory food producing plants and support species. We have fresh fruit 12 months of the year, perennial greens, sweet potatoes that are taking over the world and serve as an edible ground cover, and most of the normal garden veggie crops. We employ the so called "Back to Eden" method, having laid down hundreds of yards of wood chips down through the years.

PM me if you are interested in touring our place.

thanks so much for the reply marco. i am back at home in the pacific northwest now but next time i am in LA (hopefully in a few months) i would absolutely love to come for a visit. do you have any recommendations for plant/tree sources? also do you have photos you would be willing to share? i didnt have sweet potatoes on my list but sounds like a no-brainer! for now i bought some drought tolerant wildflower seeds from bbb seeds (great company with great seed mixes by region and use) to increase diversity and soil life and just generally make things a little prettier before we have the chance to do any major work.