Blake Garden is a 10 1/2 acre landscape laboratory and public garden located at 70 Rincon Road in Kensington; it stretches downhill to Highgate Road, where there is another gate. The garden is a teaching facility for the Department of Landscape Architecture and Environment Planning at the University of California, Berkeley. The garden is open to the public on WEEKDAYS, 8:00 until 4:30; it is closed on weekends and University holidays. It is always free, there is plenty of free parking, and quiet picnics and well-behaved on-leash dogs are allowed as long as everything is packed out. The entrance road to the garden’s upper parking lot, where the cache is hidden, also continues on to the Carmelite Monastery; their section of the road is NOT open to the public. The parking area is also where large amounts of pine mulch are frequently stored, providing the geocacher with lovely aromas while searching for this magnetic nano. Inside the garden, there are a few picnic tables; also bathrooms and a water faucet are available at the office/greenhouse.
Blake House and Garden were deeded to the Landscape Architecture Department in 1957 by Anson and Anita Blake, and title passed to the University in 1962. Five years later, Blake House became the UC President's official residence, and was so until 2009. The siting of Blake house, which is no longer in use and not open to the public, is integral to the garden's design, as it shelters the formal garden from the strong prevailing winds off the Golden Gate. The grounds were designed by Mabel Symmes, who graduated from the University's Landscape Architecture Department in 1914, and show great sensitivity to the site. Much of her original plan can still be seen in the design of the formal gardens, with their hidden statues and pagoda pool, the grotto, which was inspired by an Italian villa, and the long koi-filled reflecting pool, which was part of a system to take advantage of underground water. A cool redwood grove is planted alongside a natural pooling stream in the canyon on the north side of the garden. On the south side another section has been restored to a native wetland by UC students, volunteers and Blake Garden staff. The wetland now provides habitat to a community of Pacific chorus frogs and area birds.
Other parts of the garden include the Mediterranean garden on the western side of house, showcasing drought-tolerant plants from the world’s Mediterranean climates; a giant rock outcrop, best seen from the bottom of the garden; the Cottage Garden, full of flowers, vegetables and herbs, plus a scarecrow in a Cal T-shirt; the Square, with its water lily-filled pond, and beds brimming with low-water perennials; the Event Lawn and surrounding beds, which are examples of water-smart gardening, and, everywhere, wandering paths.
The garden is home to nearly 1500 plant species, over fifty bird species, as well as raccoons, frogs, salamanders, and the occasional fox. The garden is all organic with many sustainable practices including four kinds of composting, rainwater harvesting and hives of honeybees. The garden is different with every visit, as seasonal plantings and student projects change. For more information, visit: http://blakegarden.ced.berkeley.edu/education
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