Stephen Hewett's family has been living in Southern Marin since the early 1960s. He attended Tam High in Mill Valley and graduated from Sonoma State, spent a short time working with his family in Des Moines, Iowa, then returned to California to begin his landscaping career in 1970.

Since then he has designed and installed gardens around Marin, including Tiburon, Belvedere, Mill Valley, Kentfield, Ross, Corte Madera and San Anselmo (where he grafted five different types of apples onto an existing old apple tree). He has built hardscapes and landscapes for residents of Monterey and Carmel and has exhibited at The San Francisco Chronicle Landscape Garden Show.

Because of his years in California and his attention to detail, Steve understands Northern California's microclimates and what is likely to grow in what area. Of course, he knows both the common names and the Latin names.

When he is not working in gardens, he is an avid fisherman, which explains the photo to the right with Steve in the middle . . . In June of 2007, Steve set the record for catching the largest Salmon off of Duxbury Reef just beyond the Golden Gate Bridge. These fish were so large, the Marin Independent Journal stopped by to take photos of the fishermen struggling to hold these prize catches up for display. (Is that boat named "Heaven?")

He loves dogs and has shown Norwegian Elkhounds through the years; he flew to Norway to bring his late dog Zephyr to the U.S.; Zephyr was one of the few black Elkhounds in the United States. (Left, Zephyr is seen happily playing in a lawn that desperately needs mowing—this is NOT Steve's lawn; while Zephyr was enchanted with the five-inch-long tendrils of grass, Steve vacillated between enjoying her antics/happiness and being quite offended by the out-of-control growth.) Steve has been published in various Elkhound publications and continues to write about the splendid breed.

Steve has one lovely daughter and has been turning his own 7,000 square foot plot of land into a sanctuary of beauty, including edible plants, for his family, friends and any birds on that flyway.

He is a long-time member of Community Congregational Church in Tiburon and can quote chapter and verse from many sections of the Bible, both Old and New Testaments, although he will not do so unless invited (or sufficiently challenged).

In addition to having a stunning garden should you work with Steve, you will be entertained by his wit.