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Historical Nursery Site

This site maintains rich historical and horticultural significance as the oldest existing independent retail nursery on this part of the Central Coast. The nursery’s new emphasis is to showcase useful and responsible California-friendly plants that are water-conserving and perform well in the garden with minimal maintenance.

At Sage Eco-Gardens & Nursery, we take great pride in our nursery’s local heritage. In addition to our new water-conserving display gardens, we will continue to offer nostalgic garden gems revered by long-time local customers: delicate and elegant Tuberous Begonias, colorful Camellias, alluring Hydrangeas and eclectic non-invasive Bamboo varieties.

Thank you for your continued and generous support of this unique historical nursery.

1956 – 1967 The Garden Craft Shop
1967 – 2008 Sheltered Acre Nursery
2008 – present Sage Eco-Gardens & Nursery

Please enjoy our sustainable landscape display gardens and showrooms custom designed, constructed and maintained by our professional landscape services division: Sage Ecological Landscapes (www.sagelandscapes.net). Our water-wise gardens showcase a few garden-worthy plants found in the Earth’s five idyllic Mediterranean-type climates: Australian, California Native, Chilean, Mediterranean and South African. We hope our gardens offer a tranquil retreat and enrich inspiration as an outdoor art medium, evoking all of the senses.

Please consult with our friendly and knowledgeable nursery staff, as they are available to help all novice, hobbyist and professional gardeners alike to be blissfully successful.

Sage Ecological Landscapes would like to extend special gratitude and acknowledgement to our generous vendors’ donations and consignments that helped make these display gardens possible:

Air Vol Block – Concrete pavers.
1 Suburban Road, San Luis Obispo. 543-131

4Art City Studios
(Paul Lindhard and friends)– Natural stone art fountains.
Ventura Studio, Ventura. 653-6380. artcity@artcitystudios.com

Roy Burch Concrete Contractor
Custom concrete curved seat wall cap.
Los Osos. 528-7845 www.royburch.com

Central Coast Landscape Products
Soil amendments, cobble and bark mulch.
445 Prado Road, San Luis Obispo. 595 3478

FX Illuminare landscape lights
Low- voltage landscape lighting
Website: www.fxl.com

SB Stone – Natural stone
4558 Broad Street, San Luis Obispo. 547-1980

Copy Spot & More – Signs
2122 9th Street, Los Osos. 528-8769

The Pond Place
Pond and pondless water features
207 Higuera Street, San Luis Obispo. 543-2236

Chad Cotton

Email: chad@sagelandscapes.net

Job title and description: Nursery Manager

Work experiences: Most recently BSA LifeStructures, Landscape Architect Intern, Cambria Nursery, Landscape Division Manager, previously I’ve consulted on, designed for, installed and maintained landscapes and gardens of many dynamic ambitions for many incredible people.

Education: Master Landscape Architecture, ABD, Ball State University, Muncie, Indiana, BS Environmental Horticultural Science, Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, California

What I enjoy most about landscape creation: People and plants and the places that bring them both together. Ornamental grasses, minimalist design, sustainable suburbia, architectural plant material, turning the common into conversation.

Personal hobbies and interests: Surfing, snowboarding, bicycles, art, nature, good food and good company.

Phyllis Martin

Email: ecogarden@sagelandscapes.net

Job title and description: Nursery Professional. The main focus of my position is customer assistance and working with our staff to ensure knowledgeable help for all your gardening needs. We are truly blessed in having the ability of providing a numerous variety of plant material that is available to us through some of the best local growers in the Central Coast. My goal is providing ecological materials, products and knowledge to help you create and care for your garden with the best sustainable methods possible.

Work experiences: I’ve enjoyed working as a landscape designer for a few years in Orange County. I spent some time in Monterey working in a garden shop, then caretaking in Big Sur for a number of years. Childcare in my home in Los Osos before working at Sheltered Acre for 17 years maintaining the nursery.

Education: My early education: Claremont High School, Citrus Collage in Azusa, Cal Poly Pomona and Saddleback Collage in Orange County, which has a great department where I discovered horticulture and soaked up all of their extensive courses, along with landscape architecture.

What I enjoy most about this nursery: Working with a group of talented and positive people with which I share a common goal to share knowledge with our clients. Building an enjoyable environment that is suitable to each customer and their individual needs, then seeing their appreciation, is very satisfying.

Personal hobbies and interests: I love nurturing my own environment in the garden and home with ongoing crafts and improvements. I also enjoy traveling, camping, hiking, fishing, cooking, exploring and sharing these experiences with family and friends. It makes life very gratifying.

Randy Carrera

Email: ecogarden@sagelandscapes.net

Job title: Horticulturalist

Work experience: Cal Poly’s Leaning Pine Arboretum and Student Nursery Manager for Cal Poly’s Perennial Project. Production assistant at renowned Santa Barbara wholesale nursery.

Education: Bachelor’s of Science in Environmental Horticulture Science from Cal Poly, IPM internship at Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania.

What I enjoy most about horticulture: Learning about the marvelous diversity of plant life and their relationship to the environments in which they come from.

Personal hobbies and interest: Growing and collecting cacti and succulents, hiking, reading, and expanding my horticultural library.