Stop and smell the freshly cut grass!

Together with community partners, Public Works is transforming the beloved 2-mile-long greenbelt that connects Golden Gate Park and Lake Merced. Follow our story here.

Hello District 4 residents, property owners, merchants and visitors!

During these waning days of summer, as I walk Sunset Boulevard, I’m in awe of the bright orange California poppies framing the pathways along the greenbelt. I’m inspired by people of all abilities enjoying the brisk Ocean Beach breeze along dirt and paved sidewalks.

I'm pleased to see native California Monarch butterflies, which are rare and on their migratory route, flutter from shrub to shrub under towering Monterey pine and cypress trees.

August 28, 2025

But if I’m to be honest, what strikes the senses most keenly is the scent of freshly mowed grass. I love it because San Francisco Public Works gardeners have been out weekly trimming tall grasses and creating tidy edges along pathways, making the understory more accessible to residents and visitors of District 4.

In this issue of the Sunset Greenbelt Connection, we’re pleased to report on our partnership with the California Native Plant Society Yerba Buena Chapter. Bob Hall, a Sunset Boulevard park steward and active member of the nonprofit organization, is working to re-introduce native wildflowers and attract fauna such as the monarchs back to these former sand dunes, part and parcel of Public Works Master Plan for the boulevard.

Come along as our cement masons demolish and repave key sections of sidewalk used by runners and walkers, as our plumbers move block by block up and down the greenbelt repairing and replacing antiquated irrigation, and − yes − turning on those sprinklers so we can water the grasses, plants and trees during the dryer, warm-weather months. Look above in the branches of those cypress and pine trees as our arborists methodically prune the stately behemoths for safety, habitat preservation and aesthetics.

Please enjoy the latest issue. We'd love to hear your feedback!

In partnership,

Carla Short

Director, San Francisco Public Works

Maintenance Manager Field Notes

August 22

Gardeners are mowing, line trimming and litter picking on Sunset Boulevard between Santiago and Ortega streets.

The Plumbing Shop is working on two quick-coupling valves between Pacheco and Ortega streets. I found a valve broken and capped. I'm scratching my head as to why we continue to find this type of damage. We'll continue to make repairs and put the word out to our government partners at the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission and San Francisco Recreation and Parks to let us know if a valve is damaged so we can respond and make the repair right away.

We tested the sprinklers between Yorba and Ulloa streets.

Success! Last Saturday, I got a call from the Plumbing Shop that water was leaking out of a vault on Quintara Street. I called landscape manager Doug Reed and asked the gardener on duty to shut off the water for the remainder of the weekend. On Monday, we checked it out. The pipe outside the vault was rusted out at the fitting. The pipes are getting too old to handle the water pressure.

Slowly but surely, we will update the system.

Gilbert Fragoso Jr.

Maintenance Manager

Sunset Boulevard

"Keeping the Sunset greenbelt safe and beautiful brings new and exciting challenges every day."

— Sabrina Soto

Acting Landscape Supervisor for Sunset Boulevard

The varied maintenance work along Sunset Boulevard ranges from landscaping and plumbing to reconciling budgets, planning new irrigation initiatives, pruning trees, and considering impacts on wildlife. Gardner Sabrina Soto, Public Works' new acting landscape supervisor for the greenbelt, above, shared some of her favorite photos of the crews at work in August. The next issue of the newsletter will include a profile on Soto.

VOLUNTEER SPOTLIGHT

Park Stewards Join Bureau of Urban Forestry Crews in Beautifying the Sunset Boulevard Greenbelt

California Native Plant Society and San Francisco Public Works welcome volunteers to join greening and cleaning efforts in District 4

Bureau of Urban Forestry Landscape shop crew members were joined in August by park steward Bob Hall and his wife Janis Rodda watering and hand weeding California native wildflower gardens along the two-mile-long Sunset Boulevard greenway maintained by San Francisco Public Works.

Hall’s work is in tandem with our landscape crew’s mowing, line trimming and pruning grasses and shrubs along Sunset Boulevard. Our cement masons, arborists and integrated pest management crews are also out maintaining sidewalks and trees and mitigating invasive flora (such as foxtail weeds) and fauna (such as gophers) to make the greenbelt as accessible, safe and enjoyable for the public as possible.

San Francisco Public Works is grateful for Hall and Rodda’s volunteer efforts with the California Native Plant Society Yerba Buena Chapter.

California Native Plant Society Yerba Buena Chapter member Janis Rodda waters wildflowers introduced by volunteers to balance the ecosystem and restore native habitat along the Sunset Boulevards greenbelt.

Together with Public Works − and other community partners such as Climate Action Now! − the group is implementing elements of the Public Works Sunset Master Plan, a major goal of which is to gradually reduce non-native plant species and encourage a resurgence of native flora and fauna along the Sunset Boulevard greenbelt.

In just a few years since the garden restoration effort began, Hall said he’s seen positive results. "We’re removing vexing foxtail grass; meanwhile, Pink-flowering currant, Santa Cruz Island Ironwood trees, Nuttall's woodpeckers, white-crowned Sparrows and west coast lady butterflies are returning to feed and propagate among the greenway’s native ecosystems," Hall said.

Bees of many colors − including the nonaggressive, metallic green sweat bee − are making a comeback along Sunset Boulevard thanks to the efforts of California Native Plant Society Yerba Buena Chapter members who are working with San Francisco Public Works and District 4 neighbors to add more native flora to the greenbelt.

"The woodpecker and the bumblebees' return is a sign of progress," Hall said, as he looked overhead to the tat-tat-tat of the bird's beak on a tree; meanwhile, at his feet below, two plump black and yellow pollinators flitted from flower to flower gathering the feast for their hive. "They're crucial to have."

To learn more about becoming a Sunset Boulevard park steward or joining the California Native Plant Society’s monthly garden cleanups along the greenbelt, please email volunteer@sfdpw.org.

Read About the Sunset Boulevard Master Plan

The invasive foxtail weed is an unwelcome visitor for dogs who enjoy running through the tall grasses along Sunset Boulevard. The foxtail seed heads with sharp, barbed tips can become lodged into a dog or cat's skin, ears, nose, and eyes, causing serious injury, pain, infection, and potentially life-threatening internal damage. Together with volunteers from the California Native Plant Society Yerba Buena Chapter, San Francisco Public Works gardeners are removing the vexing weeds so the greenbelt is safer for all to enjoy.

Sunset Boulevard park steward Bob Hall, above, dons work gloves as he prepares to remove weeds and water by hand at a wildflower meadow at Taraval Street and 36th Avenue. Stewards encourage planting only California native wildflowers, shrubs and trees along Sunset Boulevard to allow indigenous flora to propagate unimpeded by nonnative species.

Cement Masons Restore Safety, Functionality and Access Along Sunset Boulevard Sidewalks

Bureau of Urban Forestry cement mason Orestes Cardenas applies finishing touches to a sidewalk repaving project on the 1200-1300 blocks of 36th Avenue along the Sunset Boulevard greenbelt.

Bureau of Urban Forestry Cement shop crew members worked on Sunset Boulevard to make the sidewalks safer for residents, merchants and visitors who use the pathway for walking, jogging, cycling, rollerblading and dog walking.

The crew is pictured working near the two-mile greenbelt − at 36th Avenue between Lincoln Way and Irving Street − leveling and smoothing newly poured sections of pavement that over the years have raised and sunken and cracked under the pressure of tree root growth and due to weather impacts and the normal aging process.

Team lead Jay T. Ford, above left, said some parts of the path had ruptured into peaks two-and-a-half inches tall, creating tripping hazards. By the time Ford and his crew finished leveling and texturing the new surface, it was smooth strolling.

Ford applauded the crew which included cement masons Cardenas, John Duenas, Michael Bradley, above; Dane Fagalnifin, Andrew Molina and Scotty Washington; laborers Solomon Guillory and Soledad Martinez, below; operating engineer Tino Tuilata and drivers Andre Harris and Art Budd.

The repaving project is part of San Francisco Public Works’ ongoing efforts to green, clean and maintain the Sunset Boulevard greenbelt between Lake Merced and Golden Gate Park.

Learn More About the Bureau of Urban Forestry

SAVE THE DATE

Greening Day at Sunset Boulevard Gardens

Hosted by the California Native Plant Society Yerba Buena Chapter

Sept. 14, 10 a.m., Sunset Boulevard/Taraval Street/36th Avenue

San Francisco Public Works needs your help keeping our native gardens beautiful and free of weeds. Our goal is to build habitat and promote biodiversity with local native plants, which will support local pollinators and wildlife in a corridor that connects Lake Merced and Golden Gate Park.

Volunteers will meet at 36th Avenue and Taraval Street.

To learn more about the workday, please click here:

https://www.mobilize.us/sanfrancisco/event/554627/

You may also visit sfpublicworks.org/volunteer to find out about all of our volunteer opportunities.

Do you have something Sunset Greenbelt Connection-worthy? Let our editors know what you'd like to see. If you're receiving this newsletter as a forward from one of your neighbors, we'd be delighted to add you to our subscriber list. Drop us a line at sunsetnewsletter@sfdpw.org.

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