Evolving to Preserve and Grow

Filoli Center puts a different twist on the old saying: The only thing constant is change. Since appearing 22 years ago in Walker Talk, Volume 6, this historic country estate, located in Woodside, California, has evolved to ensure its preservation. At the same time, it has expanded its role as a place for the public to learn more about and enjoy early 20th century cultural traditions and natural history.
What hasn’t changed over the years is the magnificent beauty of the 654-acre property that includes 16 acres of formal gardens and a 43-room mansion, both of which are open to the public for self-guided and guided tours. There’s still approximately four acres of turf to mow once a week during the growing season as well, a task that’s charged to the estate’s Walker Mower and a Honda push mower. Two of 14 horticulturists, Justin Brown and David Shippy, share mowing duties on Mondays when the house and gardens are closed to the public.

Filoli Center garden supervisor, Kate Nowell, poses with the director of property operations, Alex Fernandez.

Garden Attractions
The grounds and gardens highlight the Filoli estate, and both fall under the care of garden supervisor, Kate Nowell. “In addition to our full-time staff, we have hundreds of volunteers who come daily to help us with a variety of maintenance tasks,” said Nowell. “They sign in and usually work for a couple of hours. Even though many have been volunteering for 20 years or more, the program requires a fair amount of coordination.”

Among changes, she mentioned the recent drought that put an emphasis on making water management even more efficient and using turf that is more drought-tolerant. Her staff also restored an eight-acre orchard that provided the estate’s original owners, the Bourn family, with dessert fruit. Today, the apples, pears, plums, oranges, figs and nectarines, to name but a few varieties, help support local soup kitchens. The fruit is also made into cider and jam in time for the Harvest Festival, or to be sold in the retail shop and enjoyed by guests at estate events.

Holding corporate events is something relatively new for Filoli. Operating hours were extended, too, and this is the first year for the grounds and mansion to be open year-round.

David Shippy (left) and Justin Brown share mowing duties every Monday.

The additional activity is creating a few challenges for the garden staff. “One of the biggest challenges is also one of the favorite things we do, which is to interact with the public,” noted Nowell. “We are constantly being asked to identify flowers or quizzed about what we are doing. At the same time, we need to stay on task to complete our work. It forces us to be even more efficient.”

She continued, “One example is time spent mowing. In addition to using our Walker Mower and a Honda rotary, we used to double-cut the turf with small reel mowers and a Locke mower to give it an even more manicured look. The staff doesn’t have time to employ the reels today and the difference in cut is barely noticeable.”

This is the estate’s second Walker Mower. The first one, the one in Walker Talk, Volume 6, still runs, but is used primarily for areas in need of turf restoration. “It’s a durable machine,” added 11-year Filoli veteran, Shippy, something even Brown, who’s been at Filoli just over a year, also observed. “We have a lot of equipment, but not much of it is new,” he added. “That makes sense, though. Preservation extends beyond the gardens and mansion.”

Big Picture
In 1995, Alex Fernandez was finishing up his first year as Filoli’s assistant garden superintendent. Today, he is director of property operations. “Back then, we didn’t have the visitor’s center and café, nor did we have a formal educational component,” Fernandez explained. “Now, Filoli offers many educational classes, ranging from courses in garden design, floral arrangement and summer pruning to drawing plants and the history of botanical art.