Heres the chalkboard notes for our day of hardscapes.  Stone patios, decks, retaining walls, pebble strewn riverbeds, brick walls, calculations of volume, and more…  The  standout concepts from the day are:

1.  Whatever you design is going to interact with the world and grow over time.  Swell and contract, erode and and settle, get swamped and drain.  So keep in mind the natural forces of water, wind, warmth and light, soils.  Do not forget about gophers and coyotes, rats and raccoons, wood rotting fungus and termites, as you lay down a layer of wood or stone or concrete over the earth.
2. A couple big catch words these days are Permeability and Sustainability.  Permeability is the ability of the landscape to breathe and allow water to penetrate infiltrate down down low to the groundwater and aquifer below, filtered through the soil.  Sustainability is a bunch of big question marks – what can we keep using without depleting?  At what rate can we cut things down or pump things out or burn stuff up?  What is the value of an intact primeval ancient river bed or forest?  How can we beautify the world through the design and construction of gardens?
3. When calculating the amount of hardscape materials needed.  Remember to always multiply using consistent same units.  That is to say, in estimating volume, multiple feet x feet x feet, not feet x feet x inches.  Also, use proper and correct conversion factors.  For example, 27 cubic feet is one cubic yard.  One cubic yard.  Even though at the stone yard they just always say ‘one yard’, it is one cubic yard.

These are the chalk board notes from the OH53 Landscape Horticulture class.  This is our garden legend and hero Gus Broucaret talking about the importance of awareness and working safely in the field.  Sorry you were not in class and missed out on all the stories and adventures at work.  Well at least here are some of the drawings and vocabulary:

 

Was filling in the curriculum for a class called Introduction to Horticulture.

Here’s a few more drawings for the ‘reader’.  It is specific to residential commercial and public gardening in and around San Francisco.

 

 

MAINTENANCE IS GARDEN DESIGN

The garden is a dynamic creature, hatched and etched in the mind

The beast is sometimes drawn on vellum or on paper with borders

Drawn to scale one quarter inch is one foot, one eighth of an inch is one foot

It is birthed and grows awkwardly

Stumbling through the natal stages called planning groundbreaking and installation

Well, a garden is not a set, not a one time deal, not an exhibit in a gallery

It is a creature very much alive, a demanding life form that requires care and love and

Maintenance

Imagine the garden as a mutually beneficial, symbiotic endeavor between people and plants

Words can only approximate

The scene behind the magnolia tree the dew hanging poppy and the cheerful summer iris

Maintenance seems a word

Better suited to five years or 50,000 miles, car maintenance

Or keeping up with a certain standard of living – maintaining ones status

There is a monotony melancholy mistaken misery in calling the action filled gardening tasks of

Pulling pruning planting propagating, digging turning building amending cultivating

Maintenance

Do you call tooth brushing facing washing eating breakfast stretching exercising working

The basic duties of life –

Maintenance?  How sad that sounds, where is the joy in ‘maintenance’?

Perhaps there is no better word though

Let’s just fudge and nudge this one, rather than invent something new

Okay garden maintenance it is

Maintenance is design

 

In the best garden designs

There is a human built into it

Because you recognize that – no human no maintenance no design – it is that simple

Because the tree grows big and grows old

Way past the 10 foot circle drawn on the original landscape plan

A shrub limbs stretches and bows and starts to swallow the sun loving lavender lily loropetalum

A good gardener can prune a shoot here, take a tip there, keep it in line

Then scoot a perennial this way, and move the lemon tree outa the shade

Encourage the ground cover, and meticulously pluck the weed seeds emerging

Mold it, work with it, adapt it to fit, so the design holds and stays intact

The flow the mood the balance the unity  – the design

 

In the best garden design

The person who thought up the design

Is, was , will be until they die, a gardener

A gardener of dirt imbued with the scent of daphne philadelphus pittosporum

A gardener who has been educated in the finest university lab research vessel of all time:

A little plot of sun lit land putzed over and over and over again

A learning studio of a few rows of daisies and columbines fading and seeding

A rectangular lot with warm rays and moss bit shadows

Tulip tree leaves gathered on the ground in conference 

Tulip flower petals fallen in the sun, unveiling the bare ovary

The best designer is a gardener – 

A plants person trained by time, wetted by rain splattered by mud

Scarred and attacked by berry thorns and yellow jackets stingers and sticky spider webs

They know what plants need, how plants grow, why plants die

These are the forces you have to meet and greet, the forces that you have to work within

To dream up a nice garden design

Field knowledge is foremost, accumulated by you and gardeners like yourself

Working sharing discussing observing experimenting

In a world of experience and stories

Tilting the academic and theoretical knowledge on an edge –

The long charts graphs spreadsheets what the current research says the latest book of facts

Second hand third hand fourth hand knowledge –

The beveled edge cushioned against the mind and the body and the earth heart the earth guts

So stay intimate stay close to whats goin’ down

Be a good gardener playing in the dirt, the fading sun on the left cheek and sweaty forehead

Then you will be a good designer

 

So to summarize thus far

In garden design, remember that

1)  A person a person a person has to care for the garden over time

2) The garden is a living creation that will grow and change

3) The best designer is a gardener, a maintenance gardener

 

The worst garden designs – there are so many

Part of the problem is that the design feedback loop is not complete

The circle is not a circle, it is just a climbing wiggly line

The designer does not learn from the mistakes of oneself or that of others

And who points out stuff like that? “If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say it at all’

Hard to learn from things gone wrong, when they go wrong not at the beginning

But one year two years three years five years ten years down the line

By then the designer is outa there

And the errors problems methods continue to advertise and repeat and fester and spread

Leaving the clean up improvement rearrangement editing to the gardener

Leaving the yanking butchering root digging ransacking demolition of a garden that never was

To the maintenance gardener

 

In the worst designs, the designer does not know the site

They do not design based on drainage compaction hard pan runoff rodents disease

They forget to acknowledge the wind and the fog

They dismiss the power of the southern sun and the darkness of the north side

Suffice to say that without an understanding of how life forms fit together, dwell with one another

The design flops

Such a garden betrays the relationship of interconnectedness, forfeits a chance at communion

And, destroys the union of plants and human beings

Nature has her own design principles , they are easily seen – If you take a walkabout

In the mountains rivers foothills forests grasslands scrub vacant lots and open fields

Examine life, and the design patterns will light up

 

In the worst designs, the designer has no respect for maintenance

Has never done maintenance – pure design

Been to school, but never sowed a seed, made a cutting or scarified a legume

Never fixed a valve on a sprinkler, have a pipe break and have to dig it up

Never repotted a plant or pruned some roots or lowered the canopy

Never had to clean the algae off the walkway or whitewash the greenhouse

Never hauled a half ton boulder, or bucket carried 20 yards of decomposed granite

Never had to clean the gunk out of the fingernails or take a wood splinter out of the hand

Never had sore knees and a pulled back and the shoulders a wreck

Never never never never

Then they design , in the top down style

Of all things, a garden

And you wonder why why why why why why why why why

Who what how who what how who what how

A gardener, a person, takes care of a garden

A gardener must have plant knowledge, site knowledge, and knowledge of oneself

In the garden – the planner and the doer are one, human and design work in harmony

At the end of the day

In the garden, we are sitting around, tools have been put away, hands are washed

We are enjoying the fish tail fronds lit up by pink red orange clouds

While a big white waxing moon smiles in the blue sky

Good designs

My friend Dave, AKA party boy, is one of the most dedicated surfers I know.  He asked me why I did not write “surfing” down as one of my hobbies in a short autobiographical statement.  Thought about it and came up with this poem essay.  Okay here we go!

Surfing is not a hobby
A hobby is something you do on the side
You have work, career, vocation
Then you have a hobby
A hobby to pass the time
Make new friends
Learn something new
In a hobby you can become an amateur, an expert
Rock collecting, video gaming, gardening, woodworking
Hobbies are fun when you are young and forming an identity
Hobbies are a pleasure when you are old and retired
Surfing
Surfing is not a hobby
Surfing is the main frame, not the sideline

Surfing is not a sport
Well, it is for some people
Heard it will be in the Olympics one day soon
Surfers participate in contests on a circuit
Collect prize money and trophies
Kisses and bouquets from bikini ladies
Judges and scores, penalties and infractions
Whistles and time limits
Money on the line
Rankings
To bring in the fans the followers the viewers
Championship finals with
Consistent standards and perfect waves to match opponents
One against another
Winners and loooooooosers
A sport like golf or tennis or cycling or gymnastics
The sport of surfing
I don’t know the sport of surfing
Its players
Its drama and rivalries
Its excitement
Sorry I am out of it
Like somebody who has not heard of the Superbowl
Or somebody who doesn’t know what MLB stands for
Its like you start a conversation about Wayne Gretzky or Martina Navratilova and I am like who?
Sorry I don’t follow the sport of surfing
But I honor
Maui of Polynesia
Tafa’i of Tahiti
Duke Paoa Kahinu Mokoe Hulikohola Kahanamoku from Hawaii
And our Lady of Black’s Beach

Surfing is not a lifestyle
I don’t even know what this means
It is something sold in magazines and advertisements?
Is it the hair and clothes?
Blond and baggy
Casual and comfortable and beyond cool?
Or is it the transport?
What happened to the wood panel doors and VW vans?
Is it now the Jeep and the Subaru?
Is the lifestyle the gnarly all out parties?
The look of care free surf all day
Surfing rules
Surfing is more important than anything else
Attitude?
Maybe…
What is the surfing lifestyle?!
Somebody who knows please explain it to me
Surfers I know have a diversity of lifestyles
Off the top of my head there’s
Hare Krishna surfer
Mad shitter surfer
Venture capitalist surfer
Pyramid dweller surfer
Pharmacist dealer surfer
Sailor surfer
Navy seals surfer
Cable car driver surfer
And that is just the men
Then there is
Black surfer
Guitarist surfer
Brain surgeon surfer
Activist Latina surfer
Got surfers tumbling out of pickup trucks
They got so many lifestyles
In and of itself
Surfing is not a lifestyle

Surfing is not religion
Some say that nature is holy ground
The temple of trees
The mosques of mountain peaks
The church of winding rivers
The synagogue of serpentine wildflowers
The shrine of the alkaline lake
The cathedral of desert sands
The pagoda of lava tubes
The monastery of the sea
This may be true
But most religions have creeds and beliefs
Rituals and codes of behavior
Creation stories and fancy costumes
Crusades and martyrs
Holy wars and peace bringers
Surfing does not have these elements
Surfing don’t care if you are evil and cruel
Surfing don’t care if you are a repentant killer
Surfing don’t care if you are full of compassion
Surfing don’t care if you do good deeds for the needy
Surfing is not religion
Nope, surfing is not like going to church
For sure it is not like a day of chanting at the temple
Sorry no go

Surfing is basically an unproductive activity
That is to say, there are few material gains at the end of a session
You go to work, you bring home some cash and bacon
You go to the workshop, you emerge with a turned bowl or a welded frame
You go fishing, you come home with a catfish and crabs
You go hunting, you come home with a few legs and antlers
You go to war, you come back with medals, and free college tuition
You go surfing, you come back with nothing
You come back with a wet suit, a wet pair of booties, a drippy nose
Nobody saw you go
Nobody saw you come back, they are all still sleeping
Totally unproductive, but not a waste of time…
Surfing is…
Well,
I love surfing
Surfing is great
Surfing brings great smiles
Surfing is like sunshine

Surfing is a paddle out
Through territory that is turbulent and chaotic
The ocean she is a good boxer
Don’t know how much power
A wave hits you with
Even the little ones hit you
Hard enough
The big ones square on your head
The big ones rumbled shut
The big ones whitewater thundering skyward with a bounce
Hard enough
You got to face them straight on
Not to the side
Not half assed
Not thinking of anything else
Straight on and push through
No matter how many come at you
Be persistent, be consistent
Push on through
Go under the wave
Go over the wave
Go through the wedge face of the wave tugging and pulling
Push on through
She is strong
She falls over with the circular motion of a three thousand mile long storm
She hauls with her a spinning density of about a thousand kilos per cubic meter
Push on through
Once in a while you never make it out to the outside where the waves are breaking
The shore pound was too heavy
Spacing interval between waves was too close
One after another after another
Two three big set waves land right on top of you
The curl the sucking action the big slam all right on top of you
You are all jarred stars are circling
Mind disoriented breathing is difficult gasp for air in the foam
Then you turn around and retreat to the beach
Try again paddle out at another section
Try again paddle out at a gurgling rip
And if nothing, go home that’s it for the day
Surfing is a paddle out
If you are lucky and she is kind
And you push on through
Then you are outside hahahahaha
Outside where the lines are stacking up
Peaceful and still
Bottle nosers are cruising in twos and threes with babies
Dorsal fins torn and etched with lines
The ocean heaves and sighs
Gently
Up and down
Up and down

Surfing is timing the wave
Some spots the surf zone is rock steady
A reefy point that breaks at the same place with precision and accuracy
Beach breaks where I surf at are shifty
The peaks are here then there here then over there
So hunt them down
They are not coming to you
Spot and stalk on the lookout
If you hang out around the raised bumps on the inside closer to shore
You might get hammered when the monster set waves march in
Be alert, watch the indicators, watch for dark lines
Scan where the straight line of the sea meets the edge of the sky
Be ready to go go go go go go
You have one flash one opening one cloudburst of rain gap
To get into position
One moment to go
Hesitate – its over
If you are not committed – missed it
If you don’t give it your all – the ride leaves without you
Surfing is timing the wave
Line up properly on the cusp
Not too inside, not too outside
Don’t aim for the wave that closes all at once
No peel just a heavy metal steel warehouse door banging shut
If you judged wrong the depths will stare up at you
The darkened rim, the watery bowels
Too late to pull back
Over the falls you go
A pebble in the sea
A grain of sand on the shore
Turning and tumbling smooth and round
Maytag frigidaire whirlpool
Game over
Go back to paddle out
Surfing is timing the wave

Surfing is the ride
You are standing amidst a liquid light tube shining
Center stage of iridescent blue green beams
Shimmering reflecting rainbow solar rays
The mother the sea she is the audience
She is clapping and laughing hurrah hurrah hurrah
Surfing is the ride
Surfing is being swept up in a moving energy vortex
Water is coming up and around
Water is hurdling down whipping in a curve
You are holding tight onto a magnetic spot of flow
Staying where the attraction is strong
All relaxed and happy
With no great effort
Surfing is the ride
Surfing is at the crux of two worlds
Balancing in a sluggish churning medium
In dynamic changing motion
Surfing is the meeting of gas and liquid
States of matter
Thick bars turning to sliding sluices to fat drips to crystalline spray to
Air wisping in eddies through
A juicy circle a moist tube a fluid ring
Bending and sloping into a spitting ellipse
Surfing is the ride
It is a feeling of contentment
A feeling that the world is perfect
An emotion that is filled to the high tide line
With infinity and awe
Surfing is the ride
This feeling this state this presence of mind
Carries over
Drips and sprays
Slams and gushes and explodes
Pumps sloshes and pounds
Into all other realms
Of day to day life
Surfing is the right sized wrench with good positive fit
Turning and turning in circles in barrels
Surfing is the razor sharp shiny metal bevel of a broad head arrow
Little bits of shaved metal from the file misting out the back of a wave
Surfing is the set of three pyrometric cones bent over in the the white heat of the kiln
One outside incoming, one middles about to break, and one bent to left on the inside
Surfing is a fern frond curling into the sun
Spiraling in a round drizzle atop your head
Surfing is the family gathered all around in harmony
Old folks and young’uns, cousins and siblings
All are present
Whales, stripers, halibuts, terns, cormorants, grebes, otters, seals, porpoises
Everybody is different
Everybody is here, cheerfully doing their own thing
Surfing is a ride
Life is a ride
Life is a short ride

Surfing is the moments and hours after you exit the water
Nobody knows where you have been
Nobody even cares
But you know
And you are glowin glowing
Like you got caught in a nuclear radiation meltdown
You are filled with the stoke the fuel the fire the water
The joy
Of this earth of this blue planet spinning on its axis
There it is
Surfing is life
Life is surfing
You are the car that slips through the yellow light
Surfing
You are the last bite of bibimbap Korean barbecue beef at the bottom of the bowl
Surfing
The seeds you planted two weeks ago germinated and are showing their first leaves
Surfing
Its three in the morning and the mockingbird is still singing in the moonlight
Surfing
A little kid gives you a big hug
Surfing
Your wife asks, even though she already knows the answer:
“Where have you been!?!?!?!”
At Sloat
“How was it?”
About 2-3
“Any dolphins? Barrels?”
There were three dolphins out, but no barrels, kinda sloppy
“That’s it?”
Thats it…
She knows where you’ve been
You have been
In the embrace of a fertile mother
Caressed by a saline companion
In a brawl with a liquid beast
Getting pummeled by hydraulic hammers
In a glistening tunnel of salty wet love
Catching the splendid light dancing across the rolling canal
In silver sheets, in pulled threads, in flashing mirrors
Surfing is life
Life is surfing
Surfing is the moments and hours
In between visits to the sea

 

Big thank you to the BMC Book Club for writing and literary help!