We've covered a couple of the Haight's many hidden backyard gardens in the past. Today, we take you along for a garden chat with professional gardener and landscape designer Dani Coulter, wherein we talk microclimates, soil, and gardening in the city.
Coulter, herself a transplant, landed in San Francisco five years ago from Philadelphia, where she trained as an interior designer. Arriving in San Francisco launched a series of fortuitous plant-related developments for Coulter: she found herself suddenly in possession of a handsome backyard and a landlord happy to have it planted, a climate that miraculously grows things year-round, and an internship at the San Francisco Botanical Garden.
Coulter said that her work at the botanical garden and her curiosity about plants let her to a series of horticulture and landscape design classes at City College, particularly with Professor Thomas Wang.
From there, she worked with a couple of local landscape design outfits before launching her own business, which now allows her to be more involved with the planning and design part of the process. (This is some of her work.) She also teaches gardening to elementary school kids in the San Francisco Unified School District through A Living Library.
Coulter's backyard is only steps from the corner of Haight and Ashbury but it's a peculiarly quiet, secluded spot, with shady corners and unusual surprises. She said when she moved into the building, the yard was an overgrown mess that tended to attract stray raccoons from over the neighboring wall.
It now has a back porch (formerly a hot tub deck) covered in potted plants and converted into a shady oasis with the help of some lights and bamboo shades.
The succulents on the back wall are installed in adjustable, lateral sills:
Potted plants on the deck run the gamut from ferns and flowers to a potted lemon tree, aloes and begonias:
There's even a flowering strawberry plant in an enamel basin:
The yard itself is unusual for the area, Coulter says, because it remains relatively protected and shaded, which makes it not ideal for most of the typical California native plants. She focuses on climate-suited mixes, which tend in San Francisco to include lots of succulents, grasses, and species native to South Africa and Australia, like Proteaceae. Plantings in the yard include a lavender shrub, a rambunctious jasmine vine, an enormous flax plant, and a trained fuchsia:
Coulter said one of her favorite parts of gardening is that even as a professional she's still constantly learning.
When asked what she wishes San Francisco had more of, she said that a community of gardeners to share tips, advice and gardening know-how are on her wishlist (or to-do list).
In the meantime, she had some tips for Upper Haight gardeners.
For climate-compatible outdoor plants, she loves the Botanical Garden's monthly plant sales. She said that because the garden doesn't have time to pamper their plants, everything that comes out of there is hardy, and they have a decent selection of rarer species.
What should gardeners know about the climate we're dealing with here? With some variations for site, the Upper Haight and anything west of it has the same soil: beach sand. Coulter likes South African and Australian species for nutrient-poor, sandy soils, and of course they're drought tolerant, too.
