Trees of San Francisco - Palms and Plans at Project Artaud

Friends of the Urban Forest invites you to a walking tour in the northeast Mission led by Jason Dewees, horticulturist at Flora Grubb Gardens and author of Designing with Palms (Timber Press, 2018). Jason has been a longtime volunteer with the San Francisco Botanical Garden and Conservatory of Flowers and has advised public and private clients on trees and planting design. Along with longtime FUF volunteer and board member, Mike Sullivan, and former editor of Pacific Horticulture, Richard Turner, Jason has been creating self-guided #Covidtreetours on sidewalks in neighborhoods across the city since early in the pandemic.

Our meeting place, Project Artaud, is a pioneering "multi-generational colony of artists, craftspeople, and educators" living and working in a 100,000-square-foot former factory. The community was founded in 1971. Resident artist and facilities manager, Benjy Young, has been planting rare palms and street trees around the compound since the early 1980s, resulting in…