JOHN McLaren 
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• Of his many outstanding contributions to horticulture, 
Dr. John McLaren is best known as the creator of San 
Francisco's famed Golden Gate Park. Called to the job by 
General Hammond in 1887, he has given this "garden by 
the western sea" a parent's loving care from the incep¬ 
tion of his first plan through fifty-two intervening years 
of improvement and refinement. In the long list of pro¬ 
jects which comprise this 1000-acre wonderland wrested 
from rolling sand dunes each succeeding development 
shows the touch of his skillful hand. Today's new fuchsia 
gardens are as much his own as were the first plantings 
of Monterey Pine and Cypress when work started 52 
years ago in the Panhandle section. 
It has been my privilege to hear Dr. McLaren recount 
the fascinating story of Golden Gate Park's beginnings, 
to listen as he spoke of solving problems insurmountable 
to a less purposeful man. Moving sand was his founda¬ 
tion ... to tie it down he planted European Beach Grass 
and Seaside Bent. Strong winds and loose sandy soil at 
first discouraged the use of many desirable materials, 
so he set out tenacious trees . . . Leptospermum, Cypress, 
Pine, and the Acacias latifolia and lo pant ha, among 
others. When these first plantings offered sufficient shel¬ 
ter he introduced the oaks, now a familiar part of Park 
landscape. In turn as each problem arose a sound work¬ 
able solution was found, until today Golden Gate Park 
is known for the exceptional quality of its horticulture, 
exemplified by America's finest stand of rhododendrons. 
No park may lay claim to greater beauty than this one, 
and none is so completely integrated with its locale. 
Those of us who find new pleasure in each recurring visit 
owe a full measure of gratitude to this man ... to his 
courage, his foresight, his ability and rich fund of ex¬ 
perience for each of these traits has contributed to our 
enrichment . . . but above all, to his innate love of things 
that grow. 
To walk among the trees and flowers of his Park, to 
see thousands from all walks of life . . . and especially 
children made happier by the fruits of his labor, has 
been ample reward to John McLaren. 
In our Exposition year when the eyes of the world are 
focused on California Horticulture, this book is respect¬ 
fully dedicated to California's foremost horticulturist. 
Dr. John McLaren, humanitarian. 
(Left) Four generations of the Roeding 
family have been friends of Dr. McLaren . . . 
Frederick Christian Roeding, George C. 
Roeding, George C. Roeding Jr., and as 
shown here, the fourth generation as repre¬ 
sented by Bruce, Jerry, and Sandy Roeding. 
