GROUPS PITCH IN TO RESTORE GARDENS.

Byline: Yvette Cabrera Daily News Staff Writer

In the memories of those who grew up in the San Fernando Valley, the gardens across from the San Fernando Mission were once an Eden of blossoming fruit trees and flowers.

``What I remember are the roses, a lot of beautiful herbs and trees,'' said Rachel M. Corralejo, 63, a San Fernando native. ``But at one point, the gardens did die out. Nobody was taking care of them.''

With the goal of restoring the Memory Gardens section of Brand Park to its original splendor, Corralejo and dozens of volunteers rolled up their sleeves Saturday in a special effort to get the job done in time for the September Celebration of the San Fernando Mission Bicentennial.

The cleanup, organized by Councilman Richard Alarcon, is part of a larger effort by the Friends of Memory Gardens that began more than a year ago.

The gardens had fallen into disrepair due to cutbacks at the Los Angeles Recreation and Parks Department.

``If you had seen it before you'd be amazed,'' said Alarcon, describing how the weeds overtook even the hedges surrounding the garden beds. ``The people in the community felt it would be a shame if the gardens were left in the shape they were.''

Students from Alemany High School, which borders on the mission, decided to apply for an urban partnership grant but were turned down. Undeterred, the school's ecology club joined the Friends of Memory Gardens by adopting two garden plots.

``It looked bad. It looked like there were just dead trees in here,'' said 17-year-old Yvonne Caycedo, as she patted the dirt around a newly planted Dusty Miller plant.

``Like someone hadn't been here in 20 years to fix it up,'' said Joe Mazzeo, 16.

His hands caked with dirt, Mazzeo glanced at his fellow students and nodded with approval.

``Two hours ago, this was an empty bed, and by the time we leave it will be full of leaves and plants,'' he said.

Originally, Memory Gardens was filled with the native plants of the 21 missions that dot California's El Camino Real. Over time, the plants withered away, but now the original layout has been re-created free of charge by Corona landscape architect Tom Munoz, a Valley native.

Since Earth Day '96, community groups - like the all-female mariachi group Xochitlan, the nonprofit Latino arts organization CultuAztlan, and the Los Angeles Conservation Corps group Clean and Green - have adopted garden plots which they rake, weed and clean at least once a month.

``If you teach the boys to keep their own parks and communities clean, instead of tagging something, they'll be cleaning it,'' said 17-year-old Rene Tenas of Royal Rangers, a Christian boys group similar to the Boy Scouts.

Leticia Comaduran was battling a cold Saturday but decided the sniffles wouldn't prevent her from contributing to preparations for the three-day mission bicentennial festival planned for Sept. 5 through 7.

``Some people probably just walk by and say, oh this needs to be fixed, but they don't have the time of day to help out or they don't see it as an important thing,'' said 15-year-old Comaduran, a Phoenix House resident.

Though Alarcon is expecting Federal Emergency Management Agency funding and $250,000 in Proposition K funds to pay for improvements such as repaving the walkways and strengthening the arbors, the money won't be available until January.

With a donation of $1,100 made by the parks department, which has also adopted its own garden bed, the volunteers were able to start planting Saturday.

``The work these people have done is as valuable as anything FEMA or Prop. K will do,'' said Alarcon, whose family has adopted its own plot in memory of his grandmother. ``This has been a special project. It fosters community pride, it teaches kids something about their environment, and it has kids working with their families.''

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3 Photos

Photo: (1) Geraldo Gandara, 10, carries new plants Saturday for Brand Park's Memory Gardens.

(2)Above, Joe Mazzeo and Nicole Bollinger bed down plantings at Memory Gardens.

(3) Pedro Mares turns the soil at the Memory Gardens, preparing it for new foliage.

Evan Yee/Daily News