By Julie Chai
In the Bay Area, where a multitude of cultures merge, most locals are familiar with the concept of fusion which involves blending several different parts together to create a unified whole. The region is home to some of the finest fusion restaurants, many talented musicians who combine a range of musical styles and a slew of cross-cultural festivals. One Los Altos resident, Jim Denz, has embraced the concept of fusion and taken it into yet another environment - his garden.
Denz took over his parents’ garden when he was 8 years old and has tended it ever since. Initially, Denz’s garden was fairly ordinary with a deodar cedar, Hollywood juniper and several olive trees framing a lawn that dominated the yard. Under his care, the garden has evolved to include carpet roses, ivy, manicured boxwood, ferns, a Japanese maple, several vines, fruit trees, cacti and 35 species of palms. A focal point of the current garden is a Mexican fan palm that Denz bought for 49 cents in 1970 when nurseries still sold plants in tin cans.
Breaking ground in garden design
Rather than conforming to a single garden style, Denz blends a variety of styles, including English country, tropical and Japanese to create a unique look, simultaneously eclectic and harmonious.
A lifelong artist, Denz said, “When it comes to garden design, I don’t really have a particular style. I just like to plant different things and see what grows.”
While many of the plants in Denz’s garden aren’t generally seen together in deliberate landscape designs, the overall scheme is pulled together by a unifying force: Denz’s eagerness to try new things.
“I like to go against the grain and grow plants that people typically don’t see in this area,” Denz said.
A tropical plant enthusiast, Denz owns The Palm Doctor, a business focused on installing and rejuvenating palm trees in local landscapes. Part of what fuels Denz’s horticultural experimentation is the Bay Area’s temperate climate.
“Living here, you don’t have to put everything away and shut down until spring,” Denz said. “In this climate, you can grow practically anything.”
Blooming where planted
Many of the plants in Denz’s garden are volunteers, meaning he did not plant them intentionally.
Instead, their seeds arrived by way of the wind, a traveling bird or a burrowing squirrel. Denz is passionate about plants, and rather than removing the volunteers, he allows them to grow and watches many of them flourish.
Last year, instead of tossing a mass of unwanted windmill palm seedlings into the compost pile, he carefully plucked and potted them, and promptly sold them on eBay, an online auction site.
Denz proves that glorious gardens need not follow prescribed design principles. For those who want to follow in his footsteps, he advises budding gardeners to get to know the cultural needs of the plants they want to grow and examine the microclimates in their yards.
Other than that, he said that people should let their imaginations guide them.
“I don’t recommend relying on books too much because the information they contain is so general,” Denz said. “If you like something, try it.”
What’s next for Denz? “I’ve got a couple of coconuts sprouted - I also want to try to grow bananas,” he said.
For further information, call 961-7072.
