I’d been paying more attention to downtown San Diego’s large plants like jacarandas and palms. Lately, my eyes have been drifting lower. As I started a walk to the Post Office, I observed the planters outside an apartment building filled with succulents and drought-tolerant plants. Later, I was captivated by greenery that surrounded the Invigatorium’s outdoor seating area.
These plants are easy to overlook as you do errands, but if you start paying attention, you may realize – like I did – just how much these little patches of green change the experience of walking through a city.
A little green goes a long way. Downtown San Diego is a landscape dominated by things built by humans: concrete sidewalks, asphalt streets, glass towers and parking structures. Against that backdrop, even a planter can stand out, and a few blocks can provide a surprising lesson in what plants do to a built environment.
Going back to the Invigatorium, a restaurant/coffee shop in San Diego’s East Village–it offers outdoor seating enveloped in greenery. The plants around this area create a lush little retreat alongside a city street.
The contrast is part of what makes it so noticeable. Step outside the greenery and you’re immediately back among buildings, sidewalks and traffic. Within it, plants create a sense of separation without actually leaving the city.
While none of these things turns downtown into a forest, they collectively soften it and add texture, shade and color to streets dominated by concrete.
When you don’t have a backyard. There’s another reason I’ve been thinking about all of this lately. A friend recently moved into a home in Escondido with citrus and avocado trees. I found myself envious of her backyard. While I love the walkability of living downtown, apartment life means my private outdoor space is considerably smaller than a yard.
A serendipitous meeting, however, changed my perspective of how to greenify my small patio. I met Patty Berg of The Wishing Tree Company, a San Diego-area business that delivers living trees–some of which are designed to grow in containers on patios and other small outdoor spaces. The idea immediately appealed to me.
Berg started The Wishing Tree Company after seeing the reactions she received when gifting trees.
“I needed a wedding gift, a baby gift, a housewarming gift and a gift for my real estate clients, all very important people in my life,” Berg said. “They all reacted the same way — completely surprised and delighted.”
But something else happened as those gifts grew.
“As time went by, I saw how the trees had deepened those relationships,” Berg said. “We say we help people make deeper connections through the magic of trees.”
Unlike a bouquet of flowers that eventually gets tossed away, a living tree has the potential to become part of someone’s life. Berg points to the symbolism and folklore associated with different trees, but also to something much more tangible: “the real gifts of fruit, flowers, fragrance, shade and even oxygen.”
The nature between destinations. Because of this, I’ve started thinking about downtown’s planters differently. They represent nature squeezed into whatever spaces we’ve left available: a tree grows from a cutout in a sidewalk; succulents occupy a narrow strip between an apartment building and the street; someone several stories above the sidewalk tends to plants on a balcony.
While none of these things turns downtown into a forest, they collectively soften it and add texture, shade and color to streets dominated by concrete. They provide tiny opportunities to notice something living while we’re walking to all the places we’re supposed to be. SDSun
Award-winning columnist Deanna Ratnikova is the creator of The GO Deck – grab a deck today and be inspired to Get Outdoors and GO on new adventures.
