Once Vacant and “Rather Unlovely” Pasadena Lot Transformed into Treasured Arlington Garden
Friday, January 21, 2011 at 8:26PM By Chris Bertrand of Mountain Views News
C.Bertrand@MtnviewsNews.com
Back in 1962, one of the largest homes on the west coast was razed; the lot graded out and left to accumulate weeds for four decades. In the interim, the homesite was acquired by CalTrans for a section of freeway never built. Left in limbo for forty plus years, Pasadena City Council member Steve Madison asked for “development ideas” from the public, early in the last decade.
New Arlington Drive residents in 2002, Betty and Charles Mc Kenney, fondly known as Kicker, volunteered that year to be part of the committee to decide the future of the land. “We knew what we DIDN’T want right away,” said Betty. “No new buildings. The garden idea evolved.”
And so did the Mc Kenneys’ involvement. “When we’re not out here in the garden, we’re back at the condo figuring out how to fund and expand it,” chuckled Charles. “It takes $40-50,000 every year, just to maintain, prune and irrigate the site. We solicit donations and support from organizations and individuals… We even sell marmalade made at E. Waldo Ward from our orange orchard here. Every little bit helps. Our next batch will be ready sometime in March. Check our website for details.”
Today, Arlington Garden, located at Pasadena Avenue and Arlington Drive, is a tranquil 3 acre jewel with over 800 Mediterranean and drought tolerant plants. The gently sloping plot, a demonstration site for low water usage landscape, sits amidst the urban environment of Huntington Hospital, the bustling retail of Old Pasadena and the hundreds of “Millionaires’ Row” condos along Orange Grove and its tributary streets. The city now holds a lease on the garden land from the state until 2018.”
Mayita Dinos, deemed Best Xeriscaper (drought tolerant landscaping) in Los Angeles Magazine’s Best of LA, designed the master plan of Arlington Garden into 25 outdoor “rooms”, such as the Butterfly Garden, Citrus Grove, the Arroyo, the Succulent Garden, the Amphitheater, the Mediterranean allee of olives and cypress, the Vernal Pool, the bocce ball court, the Oak Grove with complementary underplantings of dry summer tolerant narcissus, gooseberries, golden currant, wildflowers, huechera (coral bells), hummingbird sage and ceanothus.
The garden has its bits of quirkiness that imbue a bit of light hearted humor into the garden. “A friend decided we needed a “fairy door” and one appeared at the bottom of one of our trees at Christmas this year," said Betty. Near the newly installed fairy door is a mysterious water feature, inviting mystified query as to its source.
“AG is being built ‘room by room’ as funding becomes available," Dinos commented, “The Arlington Garden has been championed by the City of Pasadena from the beginning. In particular, I think we can count Mayor Bill Bogaard and Councilman Steve Madison among the many fans of the AG; if it weren’t for their stalwart support, it wouldn’t be here. They really ‘get’ what this garden means to the community of people, birds, insects, and native plants of Pasadena!”
“Betty and Kicker McKenney, along with many friends, have created a unique and wonderful new park in southwest Pasadena,” reflected Mayor Bill Bogaard. “I hope it gains more and more support and continues as a great resource for the community.”
Often, progress and growth in the garden comes from donations in kind and volunteer labor. We have a friend of the garden, Ken Colburn, who builds all the Adirondack style seating here in the garden. A stone, seven circuit classical labyrinth was installed by a cadre of sophomores at Mayfield Senior School nearby. The students there volunteer yearly at the gardens. Charles commented, “Last fall, we had a huge mound of stones piled next to our labyrinth room. The Mayfield students created a bucket brigade and had the labyrinth built in just a few hours. It was great.”
Marco Barrantes of La Loma Development Company has partnered with AG in repurposing old concrete removed from construction sites. The gently sloping site needs retaining walls to level planting beds at various locations, so it’s a win-win. “It keeps the concrete out of the landfill and it helps us continue to build the garden,” reflected Charles. “Another friend of the garden donated a fountain we used as hardscape for a succulent display.”
“We received 21 crape myrtles from Yoko Ono’s project at One Colorado recently,” said Betty as she pointed out the semicircular arrangement of the myrtles. “The trees were installed as a ‘Wish Tree’ memorial (a Japanese tradition) for Ono’s husband, John Lennon, for people to attach their written wishes. Other yearly memorials have been installed in Tokyo and Sao Paolo. Afterward, the 90,000 wishes were sent to an island off Reykjavik, Iceland, per Ono’s request.”
The garden is maintained and supported by the non-profit group Arlington Garden in Pasadena with generous help from local residents, Pasadena Beautiful Foundation, the Parks and Natural Resources Division of the Pasadena Public Works Department and Pasadena Water and Power.
A work day is planned for Martin Luther King Day this Monday. “Two years ago, we had 70 volunteers cleaning up the garden on MLK day, this national day of service. Now we need it again. Volunteers are needed to clean and weed the garden on Monday, January 17th, between 8 a.m.-3 p.m. For more information, to donate or volunteer, visit our website at http://ArlingtonGardenInPasadena.org/ or RSVP for the cleanup day by sending an email to ArlingtonGarden@Mac.com
Referred to in April 2010 general plan meetings as “rather unlovely” in its former unkempt and weedy state, the Arlington Garden is now a place of tranquility and refuge from the city, where, as a student visitor saw it,” I like the garden because I can hear my thoughts here.”
