Casey Allen

Maintenance Manager - Co-Owner "The Green Gardener"

Casey Allen, a long-time gardener and native San Franciscan, has worked with the local flora for over ten years. By bicycling to job-sites, avoiding gas tools and toxic pesticides, and of course planting natives, he promotes truly green gardening. He is part-owner and co-founder of San Francisco Landscapes and lives in the City with his son near the Bayview Hill natural area, an intact grassland ecosystem.

Casey completed the City College of SF Horticultural Program in 1996. In 2004 he studied with the SF Recreation and Parks Department to become a San Francisco Naturalist and The Garden for the Environment's Get-up program to become a Garden and Compost Educator. In 2007 Casey completed the Permaculture Design Certification program through the San Francisco Botanical Gardens and completed a week long Permaculture Teachers Training intensive in Big Sur.

Currently, Casey is involved in teaching several workshops, working on the CNPS's San Francisco Native Gardens Tour and has just completed the 2008 Bay-Friendly Landscaping 6-week Qualification Program. He also contributes his time to various local community projects such as the Visitation Valley Elementary School Garden Project, Alemany Farm and he is President and co-founder of Native Spaces, a non-profit that promotes Native Plants in the built environment. He was also recently named the Sierra Club's Volunteer of the Month for March 2009.

Articles on Casey:
Sierra Club Volunteer of the Month, March 2009
Brief bio at Garden for the Environment

Brett Stephens

Project Coordinator - Co-Owner "The Garden Artist"

Brett Stephens is an artist and nature lover from Texas. Growing up near the industrial area around the Houston ship channel inspired him to dedicate his work towards creating a greener environment. In 1995 Brett discovered the beauty of the Bay Area and decided to relocate. He has since been immersed in learning about this very unique Franciscan bioregion, and using his gifts to help preserve its diversity.

Brett’s early work is manifested in drawings, paintings, and sculptures of his protracted observations of plants and animals. His love of art and nature were combined when he began designing landscapes in college. His interest in gardening grew with more volunteer work in gardening groups, community gardens, and the City College of San Francisco Environmental Horticulture program. He has worked in the nursery field, with licensed landscape contractors, as well as his own part time business, The Garden Artist. Brett has over a decade of experience as a professional landscaper specializing in irrigation, ponds and water features. Brett is also a Certified Permaculture Designer and co-owner and co-founder of San Francisco Landscapes.

Presently, Brett volunteers weekly at The Alemany Farm. He is also on the board of directors of Native Spaces, a non-profit that promotes native plants in the built environment. His other projects include myco and bio remediation, aquaponics, and teaching greywater and rainwater catchment workshops.

Aaron Marquardsen

Landscaper

Aaron studied psychology at the University of Minnesota, and worked for a local non-profit training parents and educators of children with Autism. While working with a family with chemical sensitivities, he began to realize the overwhelming toxicity of our environment and the need to support organic local produce.

After a few years in the Autism field, Aaron moved to New Mexico where he spent his time mentoring ‘at risk’ youth, xeriscaping (low-water gardening in the high desert), building with adobe, making music, and enjoying the many trails and hot springs around Santa Fe.

In 2007 Aaron moved to San Francisco with his future wife. He recently completed his Permaculture design certification at Regenerative Design Institute in Bolinas. He has been working with SF Landscapes to provide intelligently-designed gardens. He loves knowing that he has a part in providing food and habitat to the local species of Bees, Butterflies, Birds, etc. He also continues to teach children with Autism and volunteers at Alemany Farm where he is learning to grow delicious organic fruit and veggies.

Sara Mossman

Landscape Maintenance

Sara joins San Francisco Landscapes with a passion for connecting people with plants and place. Drawing upon certifications in permaculture, landscape horticulture, and feng shui, she fosters environments that are supportive to life and well-being. During the past ten years, Sara’s work has focused on communicating environmental sustainability to diverse audiences, including multi-national corporations, and raising community awareness through eco-events. While working for Sillapere, a san-francisco-based design firm, Sara led the drive towards becoming a recognized industry leader in green event design and sustainable business practices, while honing her own creative style and spatial solutions.

Sara’s extensive travels have informed her approach to good living, a light-footprint, clever design, and an expanded view of what is possible--incorporating diverse wisdom from off-the-grid villages in the south pacific islands to the sophisticated artistic history of Italy. These days she can be found happily growing food and native plants in backyard gardens in San Francisco and Marin County.

Gabriel Golden

Office Manager

Gabriel Golden is the administrative and operational manager at SF Landscapes. He has a long history as an Office Manager for small companies. As an enthusiastic lay permaculturist, he is very excited to be with this firm. He lives in San Francisco by the Pacific Ocean, in an apartment with a balcony which faces directly North and gets about 5 months of usable sunlight per year.

His outside interests (other than gardening) include model railroads, experimental photography, and electronic music.