ABSTRACT
To Peter Berg the image of plants pushing up through cracks in concrete is a metaphor for the greening of the city. But to the City of San Francisco, the weeds that grew tall in the sidewalk cracks next to Berg’s house were deemed an unsightly nuisance, and he was issued a ticket and told to repair the sidewalk. This order presented Berg with a dilemma, which he solved with characteristic trickster ingenuity. This piece, published in Growing Native Newsletter (1991), is a transcript of a tour that Berg led of his sidewalk garden. This article points out the ecological folly of ordinances that prohibit the use of native plants for landscaping, while revealing Berg’s wily tenacity and sharing his love of wild nature—wherever it may take root. The biographical note reads, “Peter Berg is a founder of the bioregional concept who keeps trying to bring the country into the city.”
