News from the Garden

Issue 35 I October 2025

Intention and possibility.

This time of year, as we relish the fading light, honor ancestors, and ward off monsters, we also seek guidance, clarity, and comfort. We celebrate the harvest, the colorful foliage, and deepening connections to the spiritual realm. 

It’s a wonderful time to wander the paths of Western Hills, listen to the leaves crunch, sink into a chair, or gaze at the trees—all 750 of them!

We’re humbled to steward this land cultivated by a long line of people who embraced risk and trusted fate. People who created the space for enjoyment, learning, and respite. And people who supported this effort with money, time, skills, and other resources.

Since we purchased the garden in September 2021, we have met so many remarkable people—gardeners, teachers, creatives, horticultural experts and beginners, locals and visitors from near and far. Together, we’ve built partnerships; hosted creative, educational, and healing programs; and opened the gates wider for the public to experience.

Artists and thinkers have come to stay, creating work that feeds the garden in return. Students have dug into compost and curiosity. College interns have learned the rhythms of horticultural stewardship. Volunteers have given their time and hearts, leaving their care imprinted in every corner.

We are gaining momentum. The number of day visitors, volunteers, and donors have tripled in the last year alone. And our memberships have doubled over the same period. We are getting closer to a sustainable model for operations, and with your help, we are certain we can get there. 

We’re ready to grow.

In 2026, we plan to move forward with a number of exciting priorities:

• strengthening our staff, systems, and infrastructure

• expanding our partnerships with schools and other organizations 

• catching up on long-deferred maintenance on the largest and oldest of our trees

• securing official arboretum status 

• improving water catchment and retention 

• finalizing our master plan and working toward a new ADA bathroom

These strategic investments (and so many more) will ensure that Western Hills remains a sanctuary and living classroom for generations to come.

This newsletter serves as our year-end appeal for community support—an invitation to help Western Hills Garden continue to flourish.

Your gift, of any size, plants something real and lasting. And whether you make a donation, become a member, or introduce us to someone who might share our vision, you cultivate possibility with intention. 

If you are able, consider a recurring contribution to help us with year-to-year stability. Your commitment will help Western Hills grow deeper roots and wider branches. 

With appreciation to you and hope for the season ahead. Come visit us soon.

Prefer to give to something specific?

We understand that some people prefer their charitable contributions go directly to support a project or program. In response, we have set up a donation campaign through our auction platform, Betterworld. You can choose to support a few key targeted giving opportunities including our summer internships program, our water tank fund, and our project-based artist residency pilot.

Justin’s Hort Report.

Western Hills was built on horticultural experimentation and the sharing of plant knowledge and we're continuing that work today. Last weekend, Michael Alliger taught our first "Intro to Aesthetic Pruning" class. It was a sold out affair, and Michael brought his expertise, thoughtfulness, and good humor in explaining the what, where, and whys of pruning. There have been multiple requests for more horticultural classes like this, so stay tuned for new offerings in the spring. Last week, Nicole Schlumberger from Santa Rosa Junior College brought over her Plant Identification class to study several of our rare trees. It feels good to combine the beauty and magic of being at Western Hills with the purposefulness of an educational experience.

As for experimentation, it seems to never end. In a couple of beds I've had volunteers cut back some spent sunflowers and bamboo, and left the cuttings in place on the ground to decompose on their own. This "chop and drop" method is used regularly in permaculture, but will it work in an ornamental setting? We shall see...  And in just a couple weeks our Horticulture Advisory Committee will reconvene at the garden to give their advice on rehabilitating three areas of the garden: the Australian section, the Natives Mound, and the Rock Garden. I can't wait to see what they come up with. My shovel is ready!

As you've read above, this past year has seen a lot of growth at the garden. But just wait for next year!

Program updates.

Founders letters. A simple exhibit.

As part of my recent plant collection inventory and mapping work here at Western Hills, I delved into the archives of garden founders Lester Hawkins and Marshall Olbrich. Remarkably, neither gentleman had a prior background in botany or horticulture and were in their 40s when they settled here. Through the trial and error of homesteading, they began to research and ask around: "What climate-appropriate plants could we grow here?"

Their correspondences dating back to the early 1960s reveal deep connections to a global network of professional horticulturalists and plant enthusiasts beginning with the California Horticultural Society and including the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, the West Australian Wildflower Society, and the Botanical Society of South Africa, among many others. The subsequent seed and cutting exchanges reflect the curiosity and generosity of the times, and established Western Hills as a mecca for rare plants.

I hope you enjoy reading a sample of these letters as much as I have.

– Kat Gritt
Living Collections Coordinator at Western Hills

Shout outs.

Western Hills Garden is a proud member of the Occidental Community Council. This all-volunteer group has helped meet the needs of town for over 40 years and provides a forum for community members to get engaged with addressing local opportunities and challenges.

In 2022, the Council led a community-driven action planning process focused on quality of life in the downtown area related to parking, lighting, trash collection, landscaping and community gathering spaces. Several key priorities were identified and action groups have pushed these forward.

Over the past month, the leadership of the Council hosted a series of follow-up meetings to align and refresh the organization’s direction and build a strategic focus for the future around community engagement, business improvements, and the activation of our community center.

Learn more on the Council’s website, which also is a hub of information for both locals and visitors about what’s happening in the area. Check it out!