A year of green at PRG

Now the street is a
great place to visit

It's time to celebrate the 1 year anniversary of greening PRG! It was a year ago that we came together over a few weeks as a community to plant the newly engineered landscape of the park. We planted out hundreds of beautiful plants shipped in and carefully stored at Regent's Cab (thank you!), with the help of SF Scrap metal (thank you!) and dozens of volunteers (you're the best!). All planted according to Annie's wonderful designs (amazing!)

Lovely winter color
 brightens PRG

The recent rain has really helped these plants thrive - so many are looking bushy and happy, like the Dendromecon putting on a great show of bright yellow winter flowers, and the rosemary with a bit of Bougainvillea peaking through.

It's been awhile since I've been able to thoroughly walk both gardens; recently I've been away from San Francisco taking care of a critically ill family member. Being able to come back and walk through the gardens, remembering all the great time I've spent here, the wonderful people I've worked with making these places beautiful, has been a great joy.

I hope the gardens are here for you too when you need them, sometimes a place just to take your dog out for a potty break, but also for finding your emotional strength when you need it. So get out for a walk today and enjoy the 1-year anniversary of greening PRG!

Good timing on that rain...

Jackie!

Well we're getting a little rain at last! Hurrah - and just a day after the volunteer day so the timing is just right.

However, we're still in a major drought so we're switching off the water and the plants are actually looking good despite it all.

Matt and Jackie met up yesterday and sorted out a few problem areas in the garden. Jackie pruned back some Salvia leucanthas - perfect timing, as they'll be sprouting new growth soon.

Before

Matt pruned the Aster "Bill's Big Blue" and also the Salvia elegans (Pineapple Sage)

After that he cut back the Melianthus major (honey flower) which was looking much too scraggly, and planted some Bulbinellas at the base to tidy up the area at the bottom of the steps.

After

Anna and Janet were over at the Triangle Garden clearing out trash and tidying up the Buddlejas and so on. All in all the gardens are looking petty darn good right now considering!

Drought

Leucadendron salignum
"Golden Tip"

It has been a dry winter. Really, really dry. And of you're a gardener you already know this. If you're not, and you didn't, time to start saving water.

We haven't watered the trees at Pennsylvania Railroad garden in a few weeks, but today it was time - they're supposed to get 15 gallons each per week for the first two years, and it's only been a year since they were planted. Matt and I headed out, fixed the hose (again) with parts from Center Hardware and set up the trees for their drip, water courtesy of Fregosi Paints.

Ice plant - what is your name?

We're also going to switch off the weekly sprinkler at Pennsylvania Garden, which has been keeping this looking great all year. Admittedly it's not a lot of water - it only comes on once a week, and only hits about 1/3 of the garden in total. I don't think the garden will suffer from a dry spell too badly - after all, we chose most of the plants because they're xeric or drought tolerant.

Tidy, with extra Agave!

After setting up the drip line for the trees, we headed up to PG and set about some tidying tasks. We weeded the middle back bed, cut back half of the Aster "Bill's Big Blue"  and planted a nice big Agave shawii there, after removing some ratty looking Aeoniums, over-enthusiastic Crassula lycopodioides, and lots of grass that likes to get in among the Dasylirion wheeleri which is very hard to weed around, having leaves like saw blades as it does.)

Afterwards the area was nice and clean - you can see how much that Dasylirion has grown. Here it is when we first planted it in May 2009, though we moved the Aloe glauca in that pic shortly after that pic was taken.

All sorts of things are in flower right now - Leucadendrons, the cherry plum trees, Narcissus, Cordylines, and the ice plant whose name I can't remember in the brights bed - come and see!

Happy New Year!

A sunny and quiet 2014 has dawned - happy new year to all the garden supporters!

Matt and I popped out to plant a few items tat need to have their roots in the dirt. We loaded up a wheelbarrow of plants and walked down to Pennsylvania Railroad Garden and put them in:

1 Agave lophantha
1 Agave "Green Giant"
1 Agave parryi
8 Puyas of some sort

We weeded and picked up trash a bit, then called it good.

Please note that the January workday is off due to a whole load of other commitments we have. Come join us in February for some gardening fun!

Happy holidays!

Agave xylonacantha

Things have been pretty quiet at the garden recently - we're all pretty busy with work and family obligations, but today Matt and I wandered up to PG for an hour to make sure everything is cool. I noticed right away that once again someone had broken into the shed - this time by crawling along the side wall by the loquat tree and pulling out a side panel.

We retrieved all the stuff pulled through the gap, and placed a lot of Agaves and Yuccas back there. Anyone who tries that again will have to be very determined. Agaves to the rescue again ;)

Puya sp.

After that I did some trimming and pruning, and found that Scabiosa "Ace of spades" had rotted out, so I removed it and put in.... an Agave lophantha! (Nope - John corrected me it's A. xylonacantha)

Opposite that in the middle front bed our poor Tanacetum ptarmiciflorum “Silver Lace Bush” that was such a favorite of mine had died. Someone pruned it back to stubs, and that killed it - so sad! In its place we put a Puya of some sort - TBD!

We have tons of Puyas, Bromeliads, Yuccas, Agaves and so on to plant - better get 'em in the ground soon.

Happy holidays everyone!

5 year anniversary

Today is the 5 year anniversary of Pennsylvania Garden, the day that Matt and I went out and planted the very first plants on that nasty lot of land. Awww.

I looked back, and here's what we planted that day, with status update:

• 4 Dietes - they rule; they're everywhere now
• 8 Agapanthus - ditto 
• 3 Hakea suaveolens - flowering as I type
• 3 Kunzea baxterii - never a dull moment
• 1 Coprosma australis (variegated) - kicks major butt
• 2 Geranium maderense - um, not all that prolific...
• 3 Ceanothus "King Sip" (ground covering/low) - superb border edging plant - trimmed some today in fact
• 2 Geranium macrorhizum - bopping around int he left bed somewhere I think...
• 2 Dianella Tasmanica - much too excitable, yet mostly dull looking. I removed and sold them.
• 1 Aeonium - can't even remember where the original plant went, but we have dozens of them.

So yeah. Not bad for the very first selection.

Today we had a volunteer day too, and I should have brought cake except I only remembered it's the 5 year anniversary just now... oh well!

Emily, Matt, Eliot, Mary and Carlin came to help me weed the front border, turn the compost, weed and trash pick Pennsylvania Railroad Garden, cut back Stachys and Plectranthus, and generally get some biz done in the chilly December weather.

John also cam by with a truckload (literally) of Furcraea (some sort of species) which he and Matt went right ahead and planted at PRG, filling in some empty spots instantly.

Later on Matt moved an Agave parryi that had flowered by the arch up to the compost area, pulled out an Agave americana from the same spot and put it up in the dog area, and replaced the original A. parryi with a nice new one.

Good job folks - and happy birthday PG!

Volunteer Workday: Green Saturday?

Get in the holiday spirit by
coming to the workday this Saturday

Our monthly workday is coming up this Saturday, December 7th from 10am-12; come get in the holiday spirit with a little digging in the crisp winter air! Please meetup at Pennsylvania Garden, and we’ll disperse from there. We have the necessary tools and gloves, and like always, whether you're a new or returning volunteer, all are welcome.

With the commencement of the 'shopping season' I've noted a few monikers for the days:

Black Friday

Plaid Friday

Small Business Saturday

Cyber Monday

I think we should add 'Green Saturday' 

noun Day of volunteer gardening in Potrero Hill

You wouldn't have to buy anything, or wait in a line, but I can almost guarantee that you'll have a great feeling of satisfaction after the workday!

Good Gardening

Can you identify this caterpillar for us?

What does it mean to be a good gardener? The idea of what it means to be a person that 'cultivates the land' runs the gamut from those who engage in habitat restoration to the blue-ribbon flower grower. At the very beginning of our workday yesterday it was just Annie and I picking up trash along PRG. This pause gave me a few minutes to think about this spectrum of what it means to 'cultivate the land', and it made me really proud to be a part of Pennsylvania Street Gardens. All of our volunteers bring a different perspective and energy to the gardens, and it is a privilege to work with them to cultivate our little corner of San Francisco. Many thanks to everyone who makes these gardens possible!

After a little bit we were joined by Jackie, Nate, Eliot and Jenny, so I organized the group for different tasks as the workday continued. After Annie was done weeding at PRG, she joined Matt for the remainder of the workday on a special project of putting in some additional Agaves in at the northern end of PRG. Meanwhile, the rest of the group set about to rid the southern end of PRG of fennel, and Jackie came across a really cool caterpillar. If you know its proper name please comment or send me a note (emily@psgsf.org). Jenny patiently hand watered from the corner to the start of the redwood fence, giving the Salvias and other non-cactus/agave plants in the garden a well deserved drink; they've made it through the dry summer, and are ready and waiting for some real rain.

Nate, Eliot and Jackie making the triangle
garden look extra nice

After a brief discussion about how we feel like we've neglected the triangle garden a bit lately, we walked up the hill and weeded there, and then our roving band of weeders moved to PSG. Nate and I tackled some massive Malva neglecta and cleared leftover brush from the dog area while Jackie and Elliot weeded by the french drain. After cleaning up a nasty mess by the shed of shoes and unmentionables, I went to PRG and Jenny and I packed up the hose and thanked everyone at Fregosi for letting us use their water. Meanwhile the rest of the crew made sure everything was put away at PSG. We definitely had a full workday and then some, so we finally called it quits and went to lunch.

Summery Post-Summer Workday

Leslie and Amanda in position to reclaim
the path from the Helichrysum

The temperature gauge on my car read 72F when I left the house for the garden workday today with no wind and bright sunshine. Annie was out and about this weekend on horse business so it was my turn to setup the watering for the trees.   Leslie was the first to arrive for the workday and we started by weeding out the blackberry and some of the ivy along the pathway  - and were soon joined by Amanda and Mary! We worked our way along the path, mostly weeding, and also pruning the dry and dead Helichrysum petiolare. The path was now much easier to navigate and the Helichrysum will fluff out again after the first good rain.

Mary and Amandy tidy the border

Next, we weeded the front border and cleaned up the Gaillardia, sweeping the sidewalk and keeping everything fairly neat and tidy. Keyvan joined us and set about picking out all the tricky grass from in among the plants in the border and then made quick work of the variegated Mint that always takes over in front of the middle back bed. The ladies fanned out in the garden, giving the Glaucium flavum a much needed cutting back and taking out the dried up annual Marigolds from along the pathway.

Pull weeds like pesky sorrel
 now before the rains hit!

The temperature was climbing above 80F now and the time was nearing noon, the end of the workday. Amanda and I went down to PRG to pickup trash and put away the watering. I made a note to spend more time at the next workday at PRG to keep it looking good. After putting away the gardening supplies we enjoyed the shade by the bench at PG and called it a day. What a lovely post-summer summery workday!

Mint in the pathway begone,
 Keyvan is here!

The many gardens of our organization

Everyone's busy
 at Pennsylvania Railroad Garden

Given the recent press coverage by NBC Bay Area, I thought it would be good to post a quick overview and hopefully answer any questions our reads may have.

We are very fortunate to be able to garden in San Francisco and have created a few public gardens that we invite you to visit. All of the gardens are publicly accessible, open all hours, and are collectively managed by volunteers from the community. Our mission is to create beautiful, accessible public green spaces in our neighborhood, Potrero Hill, in San Francisco.

Volunteer Team from The Presidio Group
at Pennsylvania Garden

We'd love to see you at our next workday, which is always held the first Saturday of the month from 10am to noon, and our next workday is Saturday  here. We've also held workdays for interested community groups and businesses, so if you have a large group that would like to volunteer many hands make light work and there is always plenty to do!
October 5th. You can find more information about workdays

You can also donate directly to the garden and don't hesitate to contact us if you have some exciting plants or other things to donate.


Here is a quick overview of the gardens
Pennsylvania Garden - the first garden,

Dogs are welcome to visit all of the gardens

started by Annie in 2008, is now a lush collection of beautiful plants that thrive on this sunny hill. This garden is in partnership with SFPA, DPW and Caltrans and is located on Pennsylvania Avenue at 18th.
Pennsylvania Railroad Garden - the newest garden, which runs the entire 100 block of Pennsylvania Avenue, and features exceptionally drought-tolerant plantings and 23 street trees. This garden is in partnership with SFPA, CCG, PUC and DPW.
Mariposa Center Garden - What was once an illicit entrance to the railroad tracks is now a cute garden featuring mostly

Nate and Paloma tidy up
 the Pennsylvania Triangle Garden

native plants across from Center Hardware.
Triangle Garden - this lovely triangular shaped garden was designed and installed by the Potrero Hill Garden Club, and it is now maintained by us - it's just across the street from Pennsylvania Garden.


Hope to see you around the garden soon!

Tags begone!

Christian zaps tags

In the last week one huge black grafitti tag on the redwood fence at Pennsylvania Railroad Garden turned into a dozen - the entire length of the fence was covered. So disappointing... though not unexpected of course.

Today after I set up the hoses to water the trees and picked up all the trash on the street I was joined by the wonderful Jackie and her husband Christian and all their power tools. Together we spent a couple hours buffing the tags out. Presto - magically clean fence!

Jackie and Christian

The next step is to plant some of the millions of Agaves John and Matt got in Healdsburg this week, all along that fence. There's nothing quite like getting stabbed in the shins to make the average tagger give up, in my experience at PG. Natural urban blight repellant, thy name is Agave.

So, dear taggers - take note: we're going to be removing your tags; why not come to a workday and contribute something meaningful instead?

NBC Bay Area, volunteers and lots of agaves

Yesterday's volunteer day was hot hot hot - what a weekend of roasting weather!

Some of our core volunteers came out to play: Emily, Nate, Carlin, Keyvan, Anna, Mary, John, Eliot, Amanda and I worked up quite a sweat doing lots of tasks.

The Amaryllis belladonna and Chasmanthes were cut back by Carlin, Nate did some twig border work, Anna sprayed vinegar on weeds to kill them, Mary deadheaded Agapanthus, John turned the compost and lots of weeds were pulled garden-wide. I cut back some Watsonias and Agapanthus too.

Oh yeah - and NBC Bay area was there to film it all! I got miked up for the workday and had to try not to swear as much as I usually do (!) while being followed around by the lovely Garvin and Claire from NBC. It was sort of fun!

The spot airs a week on Tuesday and I'll post a link when it's online. They came down to my house after the workday to do an interview too - as a result of preparing for that our house is now nice and clean, so at least there's that...

In the meantime John and Matt were in Healdsburg collecting Agaves and all sorts of goodies from a garden that was being demolished - how tragic. They came back around 3pm with carloads of amazing things. Huge Agaves, stunning Puyas, gorgeous Yuccas - such cool stuff. Among them:

Dyckia - a ground cover type
Agave americana "Lemon Lime"
Agave angustifolia 
Agave pachycentra (mislabeled?)
Agave "Rosa Gorda"
Agave salmiana "Butterfingers"
Agave weberi (maybe)
Puya alpestris (maybe)
Puya - some kind of giant, silvery one
Yucca aloifolia "Marginata"
Yucca elephantipes "Variegata"

Mental! We planted a few right away and today Matt planted some more. Awesome haul guys!!!