potrero view

August 2009

Resident Creates Garden at 280 Off-Ramp

By Mary Purpura

In 2008, Annie Shaw noticed a potted princess plant left on the side of the road in her neighborhood near 18th Street and Pennsylvania. A couple of days later, she noted that the plant was out of its container, lying on its side, looking pretty miserable.  Still later, she found that the plant had been planted in the open space area at Pennsylvania and 18th that she could see from her apartment across the street.  A Good Samaritan had obviously taken pity on the plant, and tried to give it a new lease on life.

That small action planted a seed for Shaw. Why couldn’t she plant in that space? Over the course of her five years living in the neighborhood, Shaw had watched as mature pine trees on the plot had been cut down, reducing it to a barren-looking patch of wood chips and dog doo.

Shaw went to the San Francisco Botanical Society’s annual plant sale. When she told the folks selling there that she’d come to buy plants to beautify an empty city lot, they promptly deeply discounted everything she bought. This was the beginning of an outpouring of generosity and good will that Shaw has experienced as a result of her work at the Pennsylvania Garden.  “I lived right across the street from the garden for five and a half years, and I never met any of my neighbors,” said Shaw. “But I’ve gotten to know so many neighbors since I started working in the garden. People have come up and volunteered to do all sorts of things to make the garden happen.”

Ron Lester, an ironworker, Hill resident, and Chief Executive Officer of the Iron Maverick metal shop, offered to make an arch for the garden. The result is a beautiful, one-of-a kind entrance with a large “PG” incorporated into the design. Gary Brickley, whose business, Brickley Production Studios, is next door to the Pennsylvania Garden, is finishing a unique, six-foot-long bench he made especially for the space. Brickley also did the calculations necessary to figure out the correct proportions for the steps, and then helped install them. About half of the garden’s plants have been donations, through Craig’s List, direct gifts, and anonymous surprises left at the site.  Shaw paid for the rest of the plants from her own pocket, or grew them from seeds in her apartment. Many of the plants are natives; all are drought resistant, creating an oasis that – after the plants are fully established – should require minimal watering. The result consists of 800 to 1,000 plants in about 170 genera, within which approximately 400 species are represented. Though she’s the daughter of two avid gardeners, the Pennsylvania Garden is Shaw’s first foray into cultivation.

The garden is on Caltrans property, where the Mariposa Street off-ramp spills onto Pennsylvania Avenue.  Shaw has been gardening it under the auspices of Caltran’s Adopt-a-Highway program, which has allowed her access to a water source to keep the garden healthy. But the Adopt-a-Highway program has some restrictions, including prohibitions against arbors, trellises, arches, benches, and boulders; some of the very features that Potrero Hill neighbors, such as Lester and Brickley, have chosen to contribute. Shaw will meet with Caltrans representatives to discuss the issue, and has posted an online petition, http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/save-pennsylvania-garden, for neighbors to sign in support of Caltrans relaxing their restrictions at the Pennsylvania Garden.

“We don’t grow food at the Pennsylvania Garden because CalTrans won’t allow it,” said Shaw. And, she adds, with good reason. Her first big task at the site was a major clean-up of dog and human feces, used hypodermics, and rotting batteries.  It seems quite likely the soil is not the sort that you’d want your carrots to grow in.  

Shaw has created a green space where everyone is welcome. “One dog paw, one footstep, one curious child pulling up a plant can doom it. But such is the life of an urban plant,” said Shaw.  A dedicated area has been set aside for dogs, with compostable poop bags and a trash can for depositing them. Paths encourage respectful movement through the space. “I hope that everyone in the area sees this as their garden; they own it, they take pride in it, they take care of it,” said Shaw. “I want people to love and enjoy the garden.”

The Pennsylvania Garden will be one of the gardens featured in the September 13 Potrero Hill Garden Tour, a fundraiser for the library. The Garden welcomes volunteers. Regular monthly workdays occur on the first Saturday of each month, from 12 to 2 p.m. In August, the monthly workday will shift to the 15th.  Annie Shaw recommends that those intending to volunteer check the web site before coming to keep abreast of any scheduling changes: http://pennsylvaniagarden.blogspot.com/

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