By Ken Ige, Star-Bulletin
Richard Fassler waters the colorful garden he developed
on public property in his lower Manoa neighborhood.
IF you're driving up McKinley Street between Damon Street and Haena Drive in the late afternoon, you will likely see a hose stretching across the road. At the action end is Richard Fassler, watering the colorful garden he developed and maintains on public property. The other end is connected to a faucet in the Fasslers' garden 100 yards away. Fassler pays the water bill, the neighborhood enjoys the flowers. Nobody is sure who the land belongs to since both the city and the state have denied ownership. Harvest of
community prideThe strip of garden, 60 feet long and about 5 feet wide, four years ago was a patch of weeds where cars parked and dripped oil onto the dry dirt. And now it's the pride of the neighborhood. Fassler suggests that other areas could support similar gardens.
"It would be a good project for a retiree," he said. "But I do this, and I'm working." He is in the aquaculture division of the state's Department of Land and Natural Resources. "I've always been interested in growing things since my hippie days. Back in the '60s, I grew organic tomatoes for a health food store. I had to bag every one of them, and then I sold them for 90 cents a pound."
For a long time after the Fassler and his wife moved into the lower Manoa neighborhood, the stretch of weeds and parked cars around the corner from them was an annoyance, but not much more, just as similar eyesores spot most Honolulu neighborhoods. But a peculiar set of circumstances was responsible for the renewal of the little garden.
Fassler explains. "It was in late January, 1993, on what was supposed to be a quiet night on Rocky Hill. It was about 3:30 in the morning when we were awakened by a raw egg hitting the side of the house. We could hear someone running through our yard and then laughter as four or five people ran down the street. We thought it might be a gang fight -- we were pretty wary in those days because of the serial rapist of Manoa. We didn't know who they were, so we called the police.
"It was complete chaos for the next hour as the police flushed out about 20 youngsters who were hiding in bushes and garages."
It turned out to be pretty innocent. It was the night before the opening of the Punahou Carnival, and juniors and seniors were involved in some traditional uproar that had gotten out of hand. The police called their parents who dealt with the kids on their own.
"But that wasn't the end of it. The dean of Punahou's upper school called me and asked what the students could do to make amends. That's when I thought of the garden. The kids worked for two weeks clearing the weeds and moving rocks. It was hard work, and I was satisfied that they had paid their dues," Fassler said.
The next move was to plant. "From the beginning, I knew that it was in a highly visible place and I knew it had to be attractive to passers-by. I consulted with other members of the Neighborhood Watch, and we decided that we couldn't parcel out pieces to various people as they do in the community gardens. If people raised whatever they liked, we'd have cucumbers creeping over bougainvillea. We needed a plan and one leader."
The Neighborhood Watch developed a loose plan, and Fassler became the leader. There was no budget . Plants were donated from nearby gardens, or occasionally a stranger would anonymously leave a plant at the curb, "like a stray kitten," he said.
"I tried various plants and found that I did best with things that came from lower Manoa gardens. If they thrived there, they'd thrive here. I wanted an old-fashioned garden that would be in keeping with the neighborhood. I wanted lots of color and a mix of planting."
One of the most successful plants, one that he recommends for Honolulu gardens, is cosmos. A native of Mexico, it has bright green divided leaves and daisylike flowers in yellow or pink. They self-seed, so propagation is easy, and grow well in full sun. They flower all year, adding brightness to the garden.
Fassler said that the sunflowers originally were picked as soon as they blossomed, but no more. This he attributes partially to a community sense of pride and partially to his "Wanted" posters. A woman who was caught harvesting from the garden was photographed in the act by a neighbor and the photograph was enlarged into posters that Fassler nailed to the three trees. The poor woman apologized and promised to repent if he would remove the posters. He did, and she never came back.
Most of the planting is in flowers, but there are also some vegetables, including papayas, passion fruit and arugula, or rocket lettuce. Arugula, Fassler says, is easy to grow and is an upscale addition to any salad. He has three small plots, one seeded, one with juvenile plants and the third is ready to harvest. He buys the seeds, about 20,000 of them, he said, for $4 from the Burpee catalog. The crop can be harvested in less than a month.
The arugula is planted in patches, but otherwise the planting is random. It all fits together because of the way he has arranged the colors against the deep gray of the retaining wall behind the garden. "It's a fantastic wall," he said. "We looked for plants that are light colored, particularly white, yellow, pink and orange. We've also tried to plant interesting foliage like croton. Altogether, we have more than 40 different plants."
The narrow garden is unified by a border of alyssum, with tiny clusters of white flowers. Alyssum, like many of the plants in the garden, is a favorite of haku lei makers, and Fassler does not discourage their picking a few flowers here and there. "Don't leave bald spots and don't strip the garden, but there are a lot of flowers here for people to enjoy."
And remember, most of the neighbors are in the Neighborhood Watch program and have cameras. You surely don't want your photograph tacked up on a tree, and Fassler'll do it. He would rather that visitors from other neighborhoods pick up on his idea and start their own gardens, however. He's around to answer questions many evenings after work when he's watering. Just look for the hose.
Gardening Calendar
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