January 22, 2001 
858-535-8101
You can see more than trees at Lake Forest
LAKE FOREST, CA — Miramar Wholesale Nurseries (MWN) has moved and expanded its Irvine/Lake Forest Commercial Landscape Center and sales offices. The property the center leases is scheduled for redevelopment, so as of March 1 the landscape center and offices will relocate to another larger site nearby, at the east end of the nursery — west of the 241 Toll Road at the corner of Alton Parkway and Towne Centre Drive. The landscape center currently utilizes about 6 acres; the new facility will cover about 10 acres, providing additional room for even greater selection. The remaining 70 acres will stay where it is and continue as the production site where plants are grown.
MWN purchased the site, formerly SeaTree Nurseries, early last year. At the time, the 80-acre facility was known for its great selection of trees. Now it’s known for its great selection of everything landscape related.
“We’re a one-stop shop for all landscaping needs,” said Keith Lazenby, sites manager of the Orange County locations. “From irrigation supplies to fertilizers, we stock everything.”
The addition of a commercial landscape center is what made the difference. Like the MWN locations in San Diego and San Juan Capistrano, Irvine/Lake Forest now stocks a complete inventory of plant materials and landscape supplies, including trees, bedding plants, bulk soils, sod, and distinctive trees from the Vista Hill Collection.
“The staff really worked hard to increase product availability at the site,” said Suzie Wiest, branch manager for all three MWN locations. “It’s been a year of heavy production.”
That heavy production was overseen by Jacinto Munoz, Lake Forest’s production manager. He and the rest of the team pulled together to develop the commercial landscape center. Their goal was to provide great customer service as well as superior selection.
“Everyone really works hard to make the operation run smoothly,” Wiest said. “We like the changes at Lake Forest and are proud of what the staff has accomplished.”
Like MWN’s other commercial landscape centers in San Diego and San Juan Capistrano, customers at the Irvine/Lake Forest site can call ahead to place an order for quick delivery or pick-up, or drive through the facility to directly pick the plants of their liking. “Architects like to come out early in production to pick the trees they want. We tag them and hold them until they’re ready to place them,” Lazenby said.
Miramar Wholesale Nurseries is Southern California’s leading supplier of landscape plant material and supplies. MWN grows a wide variety of perennials, shrubs, and trees at each of their three locations for projects in and around the region. The fully stocked will-call facilities in San Diego, Irvine/Lake Forest, and San Juan Capistrano serve the needs of commercial properties, institutions, property managers, and commercial landscapers. In an acquisition in early 1999, MWN became a member of the San Diego region of TruGreen-LandCare, a ServiceMaster company.
