Before and after shots of the gardens designed by Dan Glasner at the General’s Daughter Restaurant at 400 W. Spain St. Submitted photo
Sonoma landscape contractor Dan Glasner of Franciscan Landscaping was probably the most surprised person in the room when he recently found out he had won the California Landscape Contractors Association (CLCA) first-place award for the second year in a row.
And both awards were for work he created for Jim and Bettie Hall, owners of The General’s Daughter restaurant in Sonoma, among other enterprises.
Glasner grew up with the best in landscaping. His father, Bob Glasner, started the original Franciscan Landscaping in 1968 and worked with the great Thomas Church, who designed gardens throughout San Francisco’s Pacific Heights, Presidio and Seacliff neighborhoods, Marin, the peninsula and way beyond.
Dan Glasner began by working with his dad on Thomas Church gardens, many of which he recently went back to photograph for design and emotional memory. Dan’s mother, Pat Glasner, was the first woman licensed as a landscape contractor in California. Both senior Glasners are now 83 and living happily ever after in Cotati.
Glasner spent time as an Army cook from 1981 until 1984, then came back to San Francisco and worked some more with his dad at Franciscan Landscaping.
During one of his more adventurous periods, Glasner worked for 15 years as a private yacht captain for Ernie Gabiati – owner of Gallo Salami – on his “Papa Gallo,” reportedly the biggest yacht on San Francisco Bay at the time.
“Then I ran ferries during the day and ran San Francisco Spirit big dinner cruise boats with 700 passengers and 15 crew members at night. When Elise and I had the girls and moved here, I knew it was time to get real,” said Glasner.
Together the Glasners are turning the old Riboni family home on Riverside Drive into an oasis of updates and a sublime refuge from the busy world, from which they make across-the-road ventures to a secret Sonoma Creek beach – complete with fishing – except, of course, during this dry year.
The Glasners improve their surroundings slowly, as their budget allows, just as most of us do. With their own hands they have torn out walls, expanded rooms, and created outdoor rooms without structure – for sitting, playing, dining, relaxing and who knows what else!
Dan built a meditative fishpond, surrounded by “rocks” he formed from leftover cement, including a “stone” he sculpted to cover and disguise the pond or pool’s filter cover. Water circulates through a fall, while fish waste and algae are collected in a tank and used in the garden.
Elise said, “Dan went through his orchid period, his maple period and now his hanging basket period.” Dan chimes in with his crusade to install hanging baskets of flowers from Sonoma Plaza lampposts, a theme both the Jolly Green Goddess and Epicurious have championed since my service as chair of the Sonoma Community Services Commission.
All of Dan Glasner’s “periods” show up in their garden. Beyond the fishpond, they are slowly creating a woman-shaped concrete patio – the formation developed from the interplay of cement and gravel.
Around the back of one wing of the house, Dan led me into a small, divinely peaceful redwood grove, for which he made a long, tall dining table last weekend. Everything is tall here, because both Dan and Elise are tall. Even a collector’s bike leaning against a redwood tree is tall. Your Jolly Green Goddess is not tall, but I was very comfortable.
Leaving no stone unturned, Dan served glasses of his own wine, which is a blend of Napa and Sonoma grapes. Soon Jim and Bettie Hall stopped by for a glass of wine and the impending surprise Dan was about to give them: a replica of the new CLCA 2007 first-place plaque he had just won in the “Medium Commercial Installation” category, which he garnered for the new landscaping at their General’s Daughter restaurant on West Spain Street in Sonoma.
I must add to Glasner’s accolades the Jolly Green Goddess’s Green Thumb Award for this garden. Go by and take a look at the drought-resistant desert plants, ornamental grasses and even yucca plants. What you might notice is the openness of the landscape, achieved by removing old shrubs that basically hid the classic Victorian, which was lived in and cherished for so many years by the Scheiblich family, then restored and turned into The General’s Daughter restaurant by Suzanne Brangham, and later purchased by the Halls.
Believe it or not, the new oval sign is six feet across, with The General’s Daughter in script illuminated with 23-karat gold leaf, designed by Glasner and carved by Econoline. “I got the deep carving and gold-leaf inspiration from Ernie Gabiati’s classic old yacht,” Glasner reminisced.
Glasner is currently designing and installing a new patio off the deck of the restaurant, where chef Preston Dishman and crew will serve appetizers and drinks in a casual atmosphere (with no dinner pressure) and encourage people to just hang out and relax.
Glasner drives a tastefully small, dark-green truck with his hereditary “Franciscan Landscaping” sign on the door, but cherishes the 1952 GMC truck he acquired. It is the closest vehicle he has seen to his father’s old workhorse, in which Dan rode for so many years on Thomas Church projects.
If you are interested in learning more about planting beautiful drought-resistant plants or even redesigning your entire garden, contact Dan Glasner directly at 707.484.7071 or Elise Glasner at 707.484.8779.
Other gardening
snippets:
Sonoma Garden Park, located on Seventh Street East on property left to the City of Sonoma by the late Pauline Bond, needs volunteers this Saturday, July 28. Those who show up will get to help install “TerraPave” to build an ADA-compliant wheelchair pathway that will extend to the Garden Park’s Native Plant Nursery. For more information on how you might help call 707.996.0712, ext. 120. Regular summer hours are Wednesday, Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Sonoma Master Gardener Training Program now has applications available for anyone wanting to learn, and help others learn, all about gardening in their 2008 Master Gardener Training Class.
Students will receive about 100 hours of instruction in plant science and horticulture through the University of California Cooperative Extension. We now have approximately 35 Master Gardeners in Sonoma Valley.
Classes take place Mondays and Wednesdays from 12:30. until 5 p.m., from January 16 through April 16 at the 4-H Center in Rohnert Park.
You can pick up an application at the Master Gardeners’ tables at either the Oakmont or Sonoma Farmers Markets, at the Master Gardeners’ Sonoma Resource Center at 18772 Eighth St. E. (707.938.0127), or by downloading it at http://groups.ucanr.org/sonomamg/.
Get down. Get dirty.
Send garden snippets to khill@sonomasun.com.
