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When the pandemic forced people indoors, many bought plants to spruce up their living spaces. A married couple from Berkeley went one better: They bought a 3-acre nursery.
But not just any nursery.
Stitched between rolling apple orchards and redwood forests in rural Sonoma County is the Western Hills Gardens, a world-renowned pocket of horticultural history. Founded in 1959 as one of the region’s first nurseries, it became a model for display gardens everywhere.
“At one time, this was the mecca for old landscapers,” said Dick Miner, a retired microbiologist at UC San Francisco who leads Western Hills’ composting regimen as a volunteer. “It’s such a special place.”
The property is known in part for its hundreds of exotic plant species, densely packed and artfully arranged into a thriving botanical cornucopia.
“Some of the most