HORTICULTURE AND PLANT WORK OPPORTUNITIES
IN AND NEAR SAN FRANCISCO
March 22, 2017
PUBLIC:
Federal government
Nursery and propagation
Presidio, Fort Funston, Muir Woods native plant nurseries
Gardens, parks and maintenance
Presidio landscaping crew
Tree work and arborists
Presidio Urban Forestry
Habitat restoration
Presidio Habitat Restoration, Site Stewardship Program
State of California
Education
City College of San Francisco Environmental Horticulture &
Floristry
UC Berkeley Extension Landscape Architecture program
UC County Extension Master Gardener’s Program
San Francisco State University biology and botany
UC Berkeley plant biology and natural resources
Pest control and quarantine
California Department of Food and Agriculture
City and County of San Francisco
(R&P is Recreation and Parks, DPW is Department of Public Work, PUC is Public Utilities Commission, SFUSD is San Francisco Unified School District, DPH is Department of Public Health)
Education
Education outside SFUSD
Nursery
Park Nursery R&P
Conservatory of Flowers R&P
City College of San Francisco nursery R&P
SF Botanical Garden nursery R&P
Turf
Sharp Park Golf Course R&P
Lincoln Golf Course R&P
Harding Golf Course R&P
Mow crew R&P, DPW
Gardens, parks and maintenance
Neighborhood parks and Golden Gate Park R&P
Schools SFUSD
Hospitals DPH
Reservoirs and surrounding wildlands PUC
Port and piers SF Port Authority
Streets, median strips and islands DPW
Design and landscape architecture
Capitol Improvement Division, City Planners R&P and DPW
Tree work and arborists
Urban forestry R&P, DPW
Arborists R&P, DPW, PUC
Pest control
Integrated Pest Management R&P
Integrated Pest Management DPW
Public gardens and arboretums
San Francisco Botanical Garden R&P and SFBG society
San Francisco Zoo R&P and zoological society
Japanese Tea Garden R&P
Habitat Restoration (native plants)
Natural Areas Program R&P
City College of SF Habitat Restoration
Horticultural Therapy
Laguna Honda Hospital DPH
Farm and crops
Community gardens R&P
PRIVATE: (numerous companies. Examples cited, not endorsements)
Nursery and propagation:
Wholesale (e.g. Pacific Nursery)
Retail (e.g. Sloat, Flora Grubb, Bay Natives)
Box stores (e.g. Lowes, Home Depot)
Turf:
Olympic Golf Club
San Francisco Golf Club
Gleneagles Golf Course, commercial and residential landscapes
Landscape/garden, maintenance and installation – outdoors and
indoors; working for commercial corporate, homeowner associations,
apartment complexes, and private residents in neighborhoods throughout
the City:
Large company (e.g. Cagwin & Dorward, Valley Crest)
Medium company (e.g. Rock and Rose)
Small company (e.g. SF Landscapes, Broucaret Landscaping)
Design and architecture
Large firm 10+ people (e.g. CMG Landscape Architects, Gehl)
Medium firm 4-10 people (e.g. Arterra)
Small firm or independent ❤ (e.g. Deanna Glory, Foxygardener, Late Afternoon)
Tree work and arborist
Large company 12+ people (e.g. Aspludh, Davies, Bartlett)
Medium company 6-12 people (e.g. Kippings Tree Service)
Small company 2-5 people (e.g. Kutches Tree Service)
Pest control – refer to tree work or landscape company maintenance
divisions
Large company (e.g. Pestec)
Medium and small companies (part of landscape maintenance)
Habitat restoration
Consulting and restoration (e.g. Shelterbelt)
Medicinal plants
Retail (e.g. Scarlet Sage, Rainbow Grocery)
Clinic and school (e.g. Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine)
Cannabis operations
Farm and crops
Farmer’s Markets
Food stores (e.g. Bi-Rite, Rainbow Grocery, Whole Foods)
Education
California College of the Arts, Academy of Art University
NOT FOR PROFIT (many are affiliated with, or partners with, government agencies)
Nursery and propagation
SF Botanical Garden society
Heron’s Head native plant nursery Literacy for Environmental
Justice
Mission Blue native plant nursery San Bruno Mountain Watch
San Francisco Seed Library
Alemany Farm
Gardens, parks and maintenance
SF Botanical Garden
Neighborhood groups (e.g. Sunnyside Conservatory, Portola
Neighborhood Group, Friends of ‘park’ groups)
Garden for the Environment
Tree work and arborists
Friends of the Urban Forest
Habitat restoration
San Bruno Mountain Watch
Literacy for Environmental Justice and Heron’s Head
California Native Plant Society and various neighborhood stewards
Nature in the City
Horticultural Therapy
Part of hospital and senior care therapy programs (e.g. On Lok)
Farm and crops
Small farms (e.g. Alemany Farm)
Community Gardens (e.g. New Liberation Community Garden)
Rooftop gardens (e.g. Glide Memorial)
Jails (e.g. The Garden Project)
Botany
California Academy of Sciences
Education
San Francisco Permaculture Guild
Ecology Center of San Francisco
San Francisco Professional Gardener’s Association
Garden for the Environment GFE
Horticulture societies: Dahlia, Rose, Cactus and Succulent,
Bamboo, Palm, California Horticulture, Pacific Horticulture, Alpine
garden, California Rare Fruit Growers, Bromeliad
Community and school gardens ( e.g. Urban Sprouts, Community
Grows)
Hierarchy and chain of command:
Nursery: in the nursery there is the chief nursery person, supported by nursery people, propagators, gardeners, heavy equipment and truck drivers.
Turf: in golf courses and sports fields (AT&T, Levi’s Stadium) the top spot is the supervisor or head grounds keeper, supported by mowers, gardeners, arborists, irrigation specialists, truck drivers and mechanics.
Gardens and parks, maintenance and installation: in gardens and park maintenance the top spot is the superintendent/general manager or boss/owner, supported by managers/supervisors, gardeners, and gardener apprentices. In installations, there is the main contractor working alongside designers/architects, and subcontractors/trades such as masons, carpenters, plumbers/irrigation specialists, gardeners and laborers.
Landscape design and architecture: in a large firm the big cheese is the principal; then there are associates and interns. There are also structural engineers and specialists in irrigation, lighting, plant material, etc.
Trees work and arborists: in tree work there is the jefe, supported by field managers, climbers, and grounds people who do the bucking, hauling, and chipping.
Pest control: in pest control the top spot is the pest control advisor or Integrated Pest Management specialist. The spraying and killing work is done by trained pest applicators.
Habitat restoration: in native plant restoration there is the manager/supervisor and educated scientists (botanists, geologists, entomologists, etc). In the field are gardeners/restoration specialists and many volunteers.
Medicinal plants: in curing with plants there is the shaman guide, curandero/curandera, or the doctor, and also assistants, herbalists and herb growers, collectors, sellers, and medicine makers.
Farms and crops: in farms and crops the owner is sometimes the production manager. There are few to many field workers, supervised by managers, depending on the size of the farm.
Education: In colleges and universities there are chancellors and deans, department chairs and professors, students, student workers, and volunteers. In the garden, there are knowledgeable elders who may not be formally trained in school, but have learned through experience and from the plants themselves. In the community, there are sharing people who know how to grow lemongrass, pomelos, collard greens, bush beans, Bolivian sunroot, and walking onions. There are wise grandmas, grandpas and little kids.
See y’all in the garden!
Mission Azul 
landscape design and architecture is what I am most interested in. I feel that I have a well understood background in gardening basics to help with the design aspect of the gardens. Most ideally I would like to have a small team consisting of 3 to 6 people max. This method apparently is easier than having a larger company if you were a company leader. There is the least amount of oversight and the maximum amount of control over your gardens. Less people to communicate too. faster communication. If a company must be bigger it is possible it would just require more delegation. The company will be divided into basic gardeners and installation team and then the leader and would you believe me would be the person that goes and gets clients an estimate gives estimates.
When it comes to design I will try to make it simple for the client understand what it is that they want by giving them options. Give the client a general overall theme for a garden that they can choose from and then based on the individual design of the actual location based off the theme you can create a theme specific to that Garden. A lot of time to be wasted delete the tossing around ideas as to what the client long answer does not want without giving them a design already so I feel like this will help in the future.
I would like to see this Happen within the next few years. Buying companies, creating companies, to help knowing myself but people that wanna excel in life.
I would like to see a company of mine within San Francisco and also with in Hawaii. There’s a lot of potential for small little gardens here in San Francisco. However if one does not be want to be racing around all over the place doing house to house gigs daily walk in and choose larger properties to manage on the islands. Hawaii is pretty much jungle that needs to be cut back and there aren’t too many people that are willing to do hard work such as gardening. I heard it’s hard to keep a gardener in Hawaii so having a proper work edicate Will help out tremendously on the islands as well as anywhere in the world or space.
I feel the landscape design is of upmost importance for the growing of our world and I hope that everybody will at least participate A little bit in someway.
-Anthony
This is excellent. I agree with you about the size of a company, as well as taking responsibility as a leader even if you are part of something much larger. Not sure but remember reading about the mongol’s army and how it was all in sets of ten all the way up and down the hierarchy which made it tight and easy to move and maneuver and do whatever needed to be done. You have the artistic vision , work ethic and charisma to make this happen. GO!!!!