A maximalist approach by the gardener and the infinite curiosity of the palm expert define the garden’s spirit. Over the years there is always another palm seedling, another rare specimen, all suited to San Francisco’s temperate climate. The palms originate from around the world, from New Zealand to Mexico: often in cloud forests and surrounded by oceans.
For the first seventeen years, the garden functioned with a center island and a DIY stone path. Jason Dewees selected a small king palm for the garden’s center, and it has since lifted above the first floor of the home. Now it offers stunning views of its striped trunk. Planted beneath is a Hedyscepe canterburyana from Lord Howe Island, Australia, that delights at eye-level delight now and will become the focal point in the decades ahead.
In 2017, landscape designer Beth Mullins designed and installed a hardscape that includes a large wood deck and a separate seating area to provide more space to invite others into the garden. Concrete and layered stone walls provide contrast and texture, while allowing the garden to slope down the hill.
What most surprised me about Beth’s thoughtful design was the way that negative space makes the existing palms more visible. Even more oddly, taking away planting space provided new places to plant new palms.
This is a view of the garden at its start in 2000. The lemon tree is long deceased, a casualty of the limited sunlight in the garden. The palm tree in the center right is a Pritchardia minor from Hawaii, which now stands two meters by two meters with enormous fan leaves. Like many of the rare palms Jason brought, this once small specimen came from palm enthusiasts rather than commercial nurseries. Hummingbirds use its fibers for their nests.
Palm trees do not need to become tall to provide garden delight. These Chamaedorea woodsonia from Central America join bamboo and fern along the fence. Palms can fill many functions in a garden, and at many different heights. And they play well with other plants.
Another design goal is to see palm trees from every room in the home. There are palm trees growing in small lightwells, on the front sidewalk, as well as in the back garden.
Uplighting makes the garden visible and inviting at night. Several years ago all halogen bulbs were replaced with LED. My favorite is a low power LED from twenty years ago.
There is no space too small to add another palm tree. The species list will continue to expand in this tiny garden because there’s always room for one more.
All color photographs by Caitlin Atkinson.