George Sanford

Steven Marx

English 134

October 15, 2004

Leaning Pine Doing Fine

On a grey Thursday morning in October I walked out to the Leaning Pine Arboretum. I walked briskly in the early morning air, eager to make my appointment with manager Chris Wassenburg. When I arrived he was sitting in the drivers seat of a golf cart at the entrance to the arboretum drinking a Red Bull. After I introduced myself he invited me go on a short ride to a place that he needed to work on. Tools bumped in the back as we sped along a gravel lain path, passing all sorts of trees and plants on either side. We stopped at a place where he was currently constructing some sort of terrace with native serpentine boulders. When we got out he leaned on a shovel and listened as I asked him questions about the arboretum. As he talked he pointed out things that needed to be done. A weed here and there that needed to be cut, a bit of path that needed to be raked. The Arboretum is a beautiful example of a new concept of gardening

The Leaning Pine Arboretum was started in 1989 by Environmental Horticulture professor Thomas Elsroth. It features plants from all over California, Australia, South Africa, Chile and the Mediterranean Basin. The similar climates of these five areas make it possible for plants from there to survive in San Luis Obispo. These plants require less watering and labor then non-Mediterranean plants because they are already adapted to the climate. The climates that these plants come from yield similar species of insects, reducing the need for pesticide because the plants are adapted to them already. These factors drastically reduce the amount of labor and money needed to keep the garden going. However, the arboretum requires five dedicated gardeners to each spend ten hours a week maintaining it. One can see the evidence of their dedication in the well-raked pathways, the absence of weeds, and the finely pruned hedges.

I noticed as I was talking to Chris that the plants in the arboretum sit on top of mulch-covered mounds. He said they were there to help the plants survive in the native diablo soil that makes up the foundation of the garden. Diablo soil is bad for planting because it expands and contracts greatly with changes of temperature. The continuous cycle of expansion and contraction drains moisture away from the roots of the plants. Chris scraped away a section of mulch on one of the mounds to reveal the cracked clay surface underneath. The mounds allow the water to drain away and the mulch covering makes it able to retain its shape when the soil expands and contracts.

In the years that Chris spent working in the Arboretum he came to understand the benefits of gardening with plants of similar climates. Not just benefits to humans, but to the local environment as well. Introducing poisonous pesticides into an environment can cause harm to local wildlife populations, but because the plants do not need pesticides there is no danger. The plants in the arboretum do not require much more water then what they receive in a year’s rainfall, making them extremely water efficient. In this modern day when it is popular to water your plants a lot, this is an extremely efficient alternative. I was amazed at how few sprinklers are in the arboretum. Supporters of this style of gardening consider the Leaning Pine Arboretum proof that this method works better.

I went back to the arboretum myself a week ago so that I could get to know it better through my own observations. I walked the though the five gardens, looking at the mélange of plants spread out before me, all categorized and arranged for visual appeal. It made me think of visiting to the Japanese Tea Garden in San Francisco once when I was young. I sat at one of the benches underneath a redwood tree and listened to the wind pass through its branches. I stayed there daydreaming for a while before continuing on my exploration. I noticed the tentacle-like branches of a lilac bush, and I pulled a tiny bit off the end so that I could smell its sweet fragrance. A little squirrel sat nibbling on some sort of morsel by the base of a nearby tree, reminding me that I myself had not eaten in quite a while. I left to go get something to eat, realizing that I was calmer after spending time in the arboretum then before.

Every time I came to the arboretum, it astounded me how well plants from all around the globe fit in with the local scenery. The arboretum stands as proof that gardening with plants of the same climate type is better for the environment and costs less to the consumer. Some people consider its collection of Mediterranean plants dull and boring to look at. I think that these people expect to see a collection of exotic plants like ferns and Hawaiian flowers that appeal more to their tastes. The arboretum may not fit their expectations, but it celebrates the beauty of the climate we live in. After walking through the arboretum, I discovered that these plants possess beauty truly unique to themselves.