Photo: Diane Edwardson, June 26, 2008. This is what more than 40 years of growth looks like. (Click on photo to enlarge.)
The ultimate guerrilla garden on the Red Car Property grows in the canyon between Corralitas and Lake View, just south of Rose Scharlin Pre-School. Around 1960, a neighbor entered into a lease agreement with a now-dead owner of the Red Car Property to plant and maintain the section of Red Car Property behind their house.
The canyon was created when the trolley tracks were removed in 1955 and countless tons of earth removed to build the nearby freeways. The canyon floor was up to 16 feet higher prior to soil removal.
As seen from Corralitas, the canyon is a solid mass of green and often a primary source of concern during fire season. In March, for the first time in perhaps decades, the trees were trimmed and thinned out. It is still a magical place the children at Rose Scharlin refer to as "the forest." It is proof of what is possible in rehabilitating the landscape of the Red Car Property.
