To help you decide which of the 21 gardens to visit, read the garden descriptions, listed in no particular order, below. On the day of the tour, ticket purchasers will receive a map and several possible itineraries. Cross reference the gardens’ names to the map to find your way to your favorites.
Purpose: To relax outside, To provide native habitat for wildlife, To create art. Features: City Views. Style: Eclectic, Informal, Sunny.
Purpose: To relax outside, To provide native habitat for wildlife, To educate others. Features: Flower bed(s), Entertainment space(s), Unique terracing. Style: Eclectic, Rustic, Lush. Notes: This garden arose from previously unusable space; walk through a magical gate and visit us to see how we created beauty, community space, and art from what some consider waste.
Purpose: To relax outside, To create art, To educate others. Features: Flower bed(s), Small space garden, excellent roses. Style: Informal, Sunny, Shady. Notes: My garden is a central part of my life, never far from my mind.
Purpose: To entertain, To relax outside, To grow food, To provide native habitat for wildlife, To create art, To provide play space for kids, To educate others. Features: Vegetable bed(s), Fruit tree(s), Native plants. Style: Eclectic, Rustic, Lush. Notes: The Room 8 Band will be playing in the garden! Come see live music and how a garden and the arts can work together to build community. Community members will also be hosting a potluck the day of the tour.
Purpose: To relax outside, To create art, To spend time with family. Features: Water feature(s), Unique hardscaping, Small space garden. Style: Formal, Shady, Peaceful. Notes: Oasis in the city.
Purpose: To relax outside, To provide native habitat for wildlife, To create art. Features: Waterwise design, Small space garden, Native plants. Style: Drought tolerant, Rustic, Natural. Notes: A special place for communing with nature.
Purpose: To entertain, To relax outside, To provide native habitat for wildlife. Features: City views, Flower bed(s), Unique hardscaping. Style: Modern, Rustic, Natural.
Purpose: To entertain, To relax outside, To provide native habitat for wildlife. Features: City views, Flower bed(s), Entertainment space(s). Style: Eclectic, Informal, Lush.
Purpose: To entertain, To relax outside. Features: Water feature(s), Fruit tree(s), Entertainment space(s). Style: Craftsman’s cottage garden. Notes: Follow the path all the way to the back
Purpose: To entertain, To relax outside, To grow food. Features: Fruit tree(s), Entertainment space(s), Native plants. Style: Informal, Rustic, Natural. Notes: Roses taken from Golden Gate Park cuttings, multiple fruit trees, and a smattering of natives.
Purpose: To entertain, To relax outside, To spend time with family. Features: Water feature(s), Entertainment space(s), Unique hardscaping. Style: Modern, elegant, minimalist.
Purpose: To provide native habitat for wildlife, To create art, To educate others. Features: City views, Sculpture, Native plants. Style: Modern, Drought tolerant, Community maintained. Notes: The Goettingen Community Garden and Steps to Wisdom is an over a decade-long collaboration among neighbors and friends in San Francisco’s Portola District—dedicated to cultivating community, greening the neighborhood, and creating a safe, welcoming space for all to enjoy and reflect.
Purpose: To relax outside, To grow food, To provide native habitat for wildlife. Features: Unique hardscaping, Unique terracing, Small space garden. Style: Productive, Informal, Shady. Notes: if you think the space you have is too small for gardening, see this garden for ideas.
Purpose: To provide native habitat for wildlife, To create art, To educate others. Features: City views, Unique hardscaping, Native plants. Style: Eclectic, Drought tolerant, Informal. Notes: A right of way garden slope featuring indigenous plants for pollinators next to a who’s who pollinator mural.
Purpose: To entertain, To relax outside, To educate others. Features: Unique hardscaping, Small space garden, parking spot garden. Style: Eclectic, Informal, Temporary. Notes: Reclaim the street garden.
Purpose: To entertain, To create art, To grow food. Features: City views, Vegetable bed(s), Fruit tree(s). Style: Productive, Rustic, Lush. Notes: A garden for nerds: food plants, unique varieties, important natives, a sense of humor.
Purpose: To provide native habitat for wildlife, To educate others, To relax outside. Features: Unique landscaping, Growing fruits and vegetable, Public gathering spaces. Style: Drought Tolerant, Eclectic, Natural. Notes: The award winning six block long Visitacion Valley Greenway is an outdoor classroom artfully designed as a public pedestrian thoroughfare that is a lush green respite providing sun or shade as desired.
Purpose: To relax outside, To provide native habitat for wildlife, To provide play space for kids. Features: Fruit tree(s), Unique hardscaping, Native plants, 50 ft. slide and small animal barn. Style: Sunny, Shady, Natural. Notes: The San Francisco School’s Adventure Playground is a garden oasis designed for teaching, exploration, socializing and play.
Purpose: To provide native habitat for wildlife, To educate others, To relax outside. Features: Waterwise design, Native plants, Unique landscaping. Style: Drought Tolerant, Rustic, Natural. Notes: The McLaren Park Native Plant Garden is an outdoor classroom made without any hardscape, which was designed to promote wildlife biodiversity and has a nature play area for children.
Purpose: To entertain, To provide native habitat for wildlife, To educate others. Features: City views, Sculpture, Native plants. Style: Eclectic, Natural, Wild. Notes: Otherwordly.
Purpose: To grow food, To provide native habitat for wildlife, To educate others. Features: Water feature(s), Fruit tree(s), Native plants. Style: Productive, Drought tolerant, Loved. Notes: Educational, student run, community space.
Portola Garden Tour 