CLIENT: University of California San Francisco
PARTNERS: Rotary Club of San Francisco, Gardeners Guild

The University of California has been developing a long range plan for their upper campus reserve on Mt. Sutro. The campus reserve consists of an expansive exotic Eucalyptus forest and a few vestigial patches of native plants along the slopes of Mt. Sutro. The University seeks to improve the exotic forest health and restore and enhance the remaining native plant communities. Through a generous grant from the Rotary Club of San Francisco, the University was able to jump start their plan by installing a 2-acre native plant demonstration garden on the Summit of Mt. Sutro in the footprint of an old military communications facility.

Over half of the plants installed at Mt. Sutro Native Plant Garden are genetically local to San Francisco.

Shelterbelt assisted the University planning and public outreach departments in installing a 2 acre native plant demonstration garden complete with wildflower meadows and oak groves on the summit of Mt. Sutro. Working with University planners, Shelterbelt helped develop a planting palette suitable for the challenging site. The garden would include four native perennial grass meadows, four zones of native shrubs and several groves of trees totally over 60 species. Over half the plants installed at the site would be genetically local to San Francisco! The garden was planted almost entirely with volunteer labor. Shelterbelt helped organize two massive volunteer events by preparing the work site, laying out the plants and leading volunteers on Saturday workdays. Shelterbelt staff then followed up each volunteer event by replacing and adjusting plants as necessary.