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March 04, 2014

Streets of San Francisco - Late Winter 2014

Our beloved and healthy London Plane street trees on Market Street.* Some landscape architect consultate in the Bay Area thinks these do well here and keep planting them. Most recent additions along Valencia Street. *Sarcastic smart a**

I love these shallow wide urns in front of the Federal Court House. Complements those gigantic lights well.

Severn Alley? According to Alan from my community garden, its the last unpaved street in the City. Cute little white cottage at the end. Better than an Cul-de-Sac.

Eco-conscious fully compostable sidewalk refuse. (SF novelty?)

Art on my corner that didn't last long. Within two weeks it has been covered by at least five big tags. I can already see a tear in the pink guy's eye.

Cute little gate in Noe Valley.

A year or so after the new Phormium garden in Delores park was planted. Yuck. Many are already reverting.

Looking north at Mt Tam from Tank Hill.

Russian Hill abode.

My path

Garden Fluffer, Personal Gardener, Fine Gardening, Market Gardener these are some of the names I have toyed with as my official title or job description. Most would classify me as a maintenance gardener. But i do things much different than your basic gardening crew. It is all about the process or procedures that I use to make my green spaces.

Simple things, done well. A gardener’s influence on a space is through control. Pruning, thinning, dividing and moving plants around to create an authentic natural look. But this is far from Nature. Step lightly and preen like a large herbivore. Leave all clippings around its source to replenish and shade the soil, creating a good environment for seeds to germinate. Only remove weed seed heads, diseased material and anything sharp like rose thorns, all other green material is made into compost either in a formal pile or as a light mulch. Nothing looks more authentic than a plant mulched with it’s own leaves and twigs. That is my gardening process. Simply well.

This is on top of picking the right plant in the right place. When I am looking to fill a void, no matter if it’s an annual or perennial, tree or shrub, evergreen or deciduous; I start with California and Western US native plants. If nothing fits my requirements (exposure, water, form and floral timing, client preferences) then I look at plants from the other Mediterranean regions of the world.

This blog is my chance to show my work and those things that inspire and influence.

March 04, 2014

Streets of San Francisco - Late Winter 2014

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