Only a 15-minute drive up north from the UC Berkeley campus lies an oasis in the midst of the Bay Area urban sprawl. Blake Garden, located in Kensington, California, serves as an educational garden as well as a public space for the community to enjoy and decompress. Once you step foot through the metal gate entrance you are instantly immersed in a botanical paradise. You become engulfed by the smells of fresh soil, herbs, and tree bark, along with the sounds of flowing creek water, birds chirping, and bees buzzing. Within the garden walls, there are different themed sections: a vegetable, flower, and herb patch; a California native plant pollinator garden; an Australian hollow; a Mediterranean garden; a redwood canyon; and a formal garden. This 10.5-acre UC Berkeley College of Environmental Design property is famed for its remarkable collection of plants, which was curated by the Blake family from 1922 to 1962 and further developed by the Department of Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning (LAEP) since its incorporation in 1957.

Kendra Hauser, a staff member in the Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning department at UC Berkeley, is a full-time horticulturist at Blake Garden. Hauser maintains the garden’s collections, manages volunteer work, and partners with UC Berkeley staff and students to offer educational opportunities. Before beginning her journey at Blake Garden, Hauser worked in the landscape, horticulture, and teaching fields at the California Academy of Sciences museum and the San Francisco Botanical Garden within Golden Gate Park. Speaking about her time at the California Academy of Sciences, Hauser says “That was my first job where I really worked at a garden that was focused on education, learning, and inspiring stewardship. So that’s when I really fell in love with these teaching garden spaces.” After her department at the San Francisco Botanical Garden was brought to a standstill due to the pandemic, Hauser was offered the opportunity to work at Blake Garden, where she has been ever since.

As well as the Berkeley community, what makes Blake Garden a truly special space to Hauser is that it is a place to relax, learn, work, and enjoy. “For me particularly, I live in a very urban part of San Francisco, it’s been over 15 years since I’ve had a yard and so having spaces like Blake Garden is a chance to get out in nature and use these gardens in so many different ways” she reflects. “Recreationally it’s really important for physical health and also mental health.” This is relatable to many residents of the Bay Area. Being a student at UC Berkeley often entails living in a cramped dorm room or an apartment with no personal outdoor space, therefore, places like Blake Garden, especially those free of cost, are an important outlet to make use of. Hauser adds, “I’ve gotten feedback from students who have said that volunteering here is a really nice break from the school work.” Visitors and student volunteers here are given the chance to not only enjoy the garden recreationally but also to engage on a deeper level and form a deeper connection by learning about different landscape practices. Blake Garden is more than accommodating to not just UC Berkeley students but to city residents as well. Groups are encouraged to utilize the outdoor sanctuary that Blake Garden provides. At the garden, you may encounter a Friday morning dance group, painters that illustrate the beautiful scenery, class field trips that visit from other nearby schools, or owners taking their dogs for a leisurely stroll. It’s clear that Blake Garden has created a welcoming environment for all types of people.

It has become increasingly important that modern landscapes adapt to sustainable practices, Blake Garden has done well at this. “There’s a huge emphasis overall in the garden of thinking about plants that are resilient and adaptable to climate change,” Hauser said. Currently, the garden has made it a priority to conserve water by using a majority of drought-tolerant and low-water plants. By using these plants, Blake Garden is tapping into a method of fire mitigation made particularly important by the garden’s location in the drought-prone state of California. Composting and reusing garden materials are another two practices this garden does an appreciable job of doing. The majority of plant waste is composted on-site and excess tree debris is used within new landscape designs that can be found throughout the garden. For instance, a dead tree that had fallen in the winter storms is now in the process of being repurposed into several stump seats for visitors to enjoy. Habitat-based gardening is also a sustainable approach Blake Garden uses. When planning, planting, and caring for areas of the garden, Hauser explains that maintaining and promoting ecosystem diversity is a top priority. This is created by using a diverse collection of plants that provide different habitats in addition to building overall biodiversity. As Blake Garden leads by example, it is crucial that any new green spaces that are designed today must be suitable for their specific climates and use the least amount of new resources possible.

Green spaces can always be appreciated within urban areas. Can the Bay Area be doing more in terms of providing free and natural spaces to be enjoyed by the public? According to Hauser, there’s always room for improvement. “My neighborhood that I live in, specifically, doesn’t have as many accesses to open space so it’s harder for people … especially for residents who don’t have a car to access open spaces. I still feel like there are areas in the Bay Area where we could make open spaces, public gardens, and teaching gardens more available.” This has become a prevalent issue within most urban communities. 

There is not necessarily a lack of green spaces within these areas, but more so a lack of easy access for city residents to get to them. Solutions such as the wider implementation of rooftop gardens could solve this problem. Rooftop gardens may be situated on top of residential or commercial buildings and are a great option for creating more green spaces without clearing new land for them. This can also solve the problem of accessibility as these can be placed in buildings throughout all neighborhoods. They provide plenty of other benefits such as reducing city temperatures, reducing energy use, and sustainable stormwater management. Another option to address the problem of accessibility to green spaces is issuing new city mandates that would require having an outdoor green space within every certain distance of a neighborhood to ensure there is equal coverage. While these are both ambitious and initially expensive goals, even beginning to go down this path can allow more urban communities to enjoy the benefits of spaces like UC Berkeley’s Blake Garden. Free, local, sustainable, and easy-access greenspaces are the ways to go. Being able to effortlessly enjoy these spaces is good for the mind, body, and soul of a community.