Empowering youth through community-based stewardship and restorative landcare.
These plots are testing five planting communities that will soon take root on the former Puente Hills Landfill: cactus scrub, chaparral, coastal sage scrub, grassland, and thematic urban wild. As an experiment in native planting and community stewardship, this project engages people in hands-on environmental learning while tending hopeful and joyful visions for the future of the Puente Hills Regional Park.
The Puente Hills Test Plot is more than just a California native garden. As well as reintroducing native plants and wildlife, the plot has always been envisioned as a community oriented gathering space with short and long term opportunities for passive programming.
Back in spring of 2024, Youth@Work Cohort Four began work on the plot, surveying the area, gathering data, and most importantly, they established a list of guiding principles that shaped the development of the plot throughout Cohort Five.
Anyone and everyone is welcome at the Puente Hills Test Plot.
Create a calm, inviting atmosphere that everyone can enjoy.
Involve the community.
Reintroduce native plants and wildlife to the area in an appealing way.
Whether it’s a community event or simply taking a break from a hike along the Schabarum-Skyline Trail, anyone is welcome at our plot. With many opportunities for ecological education and an inviting atmosphere, the Puente Hills Test Plot is a beautiful place to enjoy the beauty of the native Southern California landscape. If you’d like to learn more about Cohort Four’s Guiding Principles for the Puente Hills Test Plot, you can view their entire completed work here.
Our Amazing Partners.
This project was made possible by the Puente Hills Youth@Work Cohort in collaboration with Studio-MLA and Test Plot, with exceptional support from the Los Angeles County Department of Parks and Recreation and the Los Angeles County Department of Economic Opportunity.
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Studio-MLA is a design studio that integrates landscape architecture, urban design, and planning to create places that inspire human connection, unite communities, and restore environmental balance. ‘Advocacy by design’ is a foundation of their practice, a powerful tool to catalyze ecological and social change with inclusivity and authenticity.
Studio-MLA acted as the prime, design landscape architect, and outreach lead for the Puente Hills Regional Park project. The studio continues to lead the Puente Hills Youth@Work program in partnership with the Los Angeles County Department of Parks and Recreation and Department of Economic Opportunity.
Learn more about Studio-MLA here.
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Our mission is to cultivate a land ethic rooted in community care and ecological stewardship. We create experimental native plant gardens in degraded urban parks and invite communities into hands-on learning that builds biodiversity, climate resilience, and lasting connection to place.
Through monthly workdays, we guide volunteers on an ecological journey, building skills in land care, design, and community engagement. Our plots serve as living labs and long-term stewardship sites within the larger urban landscape.
Visit our Test Plot sites across California here.
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RE.CO is an experiential design collaborative that creates active public spaces through vibrant community programming, temporary interventions, and partnerships.
RE.CO founder, Rodrigo R. Rodarte, has consulted with Studio-MLA since the early stages of the Puente Hills Landfill Park and helped launch and manage the Puente Hills Youth at Work program.
He has thoroughly enjoyed providing the students with education of design fundamentals, helping them to conceive the idea for an experimental garden, and put shovels in the ground to build the Test Plot.
Say hello here.
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The Los Angeles County Department of Parks and Recreation serves as stewards of parklands, builds healthy and resilient communities, advances social equity and cohesion, and strives to be a world class parks and recreation organization.
The Department of Parks and Recreation initiated the Puente Hills Youth@Work program with Studio-MLA and the Los Angeles County Department of Economic Opportunity during the community engagement phase of the Puente Hills Regional Park project. The Department continues to generously support the program and the Puente Hills Test Plot.
Learn more about the Los Angeles County Department of Parks and Recreation here.
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The Los Angeles County Department of Economic Opportunity strives for a more equitable economic with thriving local communities, inclusive and sustainable growth, and opportunity and mobility for all. The Department of Economic Opportunity creates quality jobs, helps small businesses and high-road employers start and grow, and builds vibrant local communities and spaces.
The Department of Economic Opportunity initiated the Puente Hills Youth@Work program with Studio-MLA and the Los Angeles County Department of Parks and Recreation during the community engagement phase of the Puente Hills Regional Park project. The Department continues to generously support the program and the Puente Hills Test Plot.
Learn more about the Los Angeles County Department of Economic Opportunity here.
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Rio Asch Phoenix is a Los Angeles-based photographer documenting the contested boundaries between built and natural environments. Raised in North Florida, his work focuses on the intersection of these sites and the stories of destruction, renewal, and harmony that emerge from them. His photographs have appeared in Contemporary Art Review LA, Telegraph Magazine, and KCRW. Recently, he received an Honor Award from the American Society of Landscape Architects and was selected for Review Santa Fe 2024.
Rio began working with the Puente Hills Youth@Work program during the fifth cohort—carefully documenting the love, hard work, and joy that made the Puente Hills Test Plot a reality. If there is a beautiful photograph on our website, it was probably taken by Rio!
Learn more about Rio here.
