Name: Jim Kumiega
Location: SoMa, San Francisco
The entrance to Jim Kumiega's garden is down a long dark hallway from the street. At first to creep down a tunnel like this in SoMa feels like a bad idea, but then before long the tunnel ends in the most enchanting courtyard garden, a small concrete plot bounded by four adjacent buildings, none of which are visible through a lush, rippling canopy of bamboo and vines.
The marvels of this garden are too many to name (but we'll try), and perhaps its most amazing feature is this: Nothing is actually planted in the ground.
A mature container garden is a true rarity. So often, renters plant container gardens as temporary solutions, focusing on annuals they can shift in and out of pots. But Jim, the resident "display genius" at Flora Grubb Gardens, began planting the shared courtyard below his rental apartment in 1995, and as neighbors have come and gone, he's nurtured the garden lovingly ever since.
Given the obvious creativity of the design, it's no surprise that not all of the containers in Jim's garden are pots. An old piano, left behind by the bike messengers who once had an office in the front building, sprouts bromeliads from its broken-down keyboard. On the seat of a little wrought-iron chair, greenery springs up around a concrete cushion.
Even tucked in among the buildings, the garden gets ample sunlight, most of it reflected off the surrounding walls, but it also has many opportune pockets of cool shade. With these conditions, the space is ideal for growing tropicals, including some rare orchid species, a towering Bird of Paradise, and a feathery and prehistoric-looking tree fern. Stanhopia tigridia orchids, which bloom out of the bottoms of the plants, dangle overhead from an elaborate rope-and-pulley system (see above photo).
Jim also grows several unusual species of begonia, which were in gorgeous color when we visited.
Click here to view a full slideshow tour of Jim's garden. And if you're inspired, why not start one of your own? Even if you don't plan to nurture it for fifteen years, there are many ways to make a paradise out of a small concrete plot, if that's the extent of your outdoor space. Try these posts for more tips and inspiration from Apartment Therapy:
• How To: Start a Container Garden
• Tips for Container Gardening
• Inspiration: 8 Simple Container Gardens
• Look! Garden Ballroom on a Houseboat Roof
(Images: Susie Nadler)
© 2009 Apartment Therapy
A stunningly gorgeous secret garden. Absolutely enchanting. Thank you!
view mirandabee's profile
All the lush tropicals in pots remind me of my Taiwanese grandmother's container garden, which is on the roof of her house. She grows bamboo and jasmine and orchids...right in the middle of the city. It makes me happy to see a similar oasis of beauty here.
view UdonNoodles's profile
Just beautiful!!!! I wish I could do something like that. That explains the great displays and talent you see at Flora Grubb Gardens.
view LoriSF's profile
OUTSTANDING!
view #9's profile
What a beautiful space. The variety and maturity of the plantings are incredible. In no way negative- because clearly it is a passion- but I do wonder how much time is spent with maintenance and if there is any form of irrigation system in place? Inspiring.
view Sphillips's profile
WOW!
view adiaphane's profile
Nice. Should inspire an "AT Greenthumb Garden" perhaps?!
I would love to see a new Apartment Therapy division strictly devoted to plants/garden/nature. Yes!
view ilovebc's profile
Amazing!!!
view faith's profile
Ooh, I am definitely inspired to better populate my little balcony with more greenery, and colour.
view C'est Claire's profile
I love your garden. There is nothing better than a secret garden to relax and enjoy the peace and quiet from the hussle and bussle of the city.
view latinwaterpolo's profile
wow. i am in awe. this is the kind of thing i'm trying to acheive with my container garden, but i have much less space. i am incredibly envious of all that vertical space too!
view KimberlyM's profile
Why can't the rest of the world be more like Jim's garden? Spectacular!
view Lucy Love's profile
Thanks for an unusual tour--love that you did the outside this time. And this is a spectacular outdoor space. So many ideas!
view kelleyk's profile
A Note from the Gardener... Thanks for all the comments. This garden has always been used by alot of folks, daily and for parties etc. I am glad more people are getting to see it. It is very low maintenance now that it is established and I water by hand once a week. I also have a hose with sprinkler heads on it up the south wall that runs for 1 minute every morning. I started counting plants after the posting and got to 300 half-way through the space.
I am always fine tuning the layout, changing plants and getting new ones. I can't help myself. The reality is after 15 years I am more likely to remove something than to add it. My priorities are the plants and how people feel when they are in the garden. These dictate the design as much as I do.
I just discovered/heard a new resident. I now have a tree frog chirping every night. It's like living in the country.
view Jimmy K's profile
I agree with ilovebc, I would love to see a garden/porch/outdoor section of AT!
view marybinary's profile