My dishwasher threatens a work stoppage. I have a repair warranty. If I lose my phone, I have insurance. If my car is crushed, I have coverage.
I’m not aware of any warranty or insurance that covers and reimburses everyday plant calamities. When pricey trees, shrubs or perennials die or create havoc, you pay to remove and replace the problem plants. Ouch.
My friend Sue Watkins has bought, fixed up and sold more homes than just about anyone else. The daughter of a local developer, Watkins loves a challenge and enjoys remodeling.
I met Watkins in 1995 when she bought and remodeled the Tudor home—once owned by her grandfather—next door to us on 33rd Street facing McKinley Park.
Before her move to East Sac, she lived in a 1950s Fair Oaks home she bought from the original owners. She remodeled the kitchen and kept most of the design intact. “I loved the neighbors, the neighborhood and the easy access to Fair Oaks Village,” she says.
When she sold the home three years later, she never imagined returning. But after many years and several life and home changes, including a move to Bodega Bay and Sebastopol, she longed for Fair Oaks.
Wind and sunlight allowed grandma to dry clothes on an outdoor line. Passive solar architectural principles were used by ancient cultures to warm and shade homes thousands of years ago.
Today, housetraining the elements of weather stirs a dust devil of options for gardens. Wind and the sun deliver clean, renewable energy for gardening tools and decorative outdoor products. Some are utilitarian, others save energy. Many are simply art.
As gift-giving season approaches, neighborhood nurseries and home centers stock a variety of jaw-dropping options powered by nature and created by clever minds. And you thought sun was for tanning, and wind for flying kites?
Robert Puleo and Dan Gentry purchased their San Antonio Way home from the original owner in 2018. It was built in 1923.
Puleo went to school with the owner’s granddaughter. The couple bought the home from her grandmother, who was born in the house. When new, it was the only residence on the street.
Stone is not fragrant. It doesn’t bloom or sway in the breeze. Bees and butterflies treat it like a flyover state, settling on flowers. It’s not plucked and tucked in a vase, and rarely photographed. Moss and lichens find it, but gardeners too often ignore it. Yet it commands that other indispensable garden design group, hardscape.
Hardscape is any structure or feature unrelated to plants. Gardens stir conversations about trees, shrubs, perennials and grasses. Stone, should you look beyond plants, is stacked, mortared and set into patios, pathways, retaining walls, water features and dry stream beds, or placed for decorative purposes. Stone serves garden whims and fundamental needs.
