Beech tree forest with flowers on forest floor - 1
  • The Backstory
  • Finding Free Trees to Plant
  • Determine Which Trees are Native
  • Learn From the Locals
  • Select Trees to Propagate
  • Methods to Create Your Forest
    1. Gather and Scatter
    1. Sticks in the Ground
    1. Berry Stratification
    1. Save Ill-Fated Saplings

Teo Spengler is a master gardener and a docent at the San Francisco Botanical Garden, where she hosts public tours. She has studied horticulture and written about nature, trees, plants, and gardening for more than two decades, following a career as an attorney and legal writer. Her extended family includes some 30 houseplants and hundreds of outdoor plants, including 250 trees, which are her main passion. Spengler currently splits her life between San Francisco and the French Basque Country, though she was raised in Alaska, giving her experience of gardening in a range of climates.