Fertilizer, water and commitment — this is Rolando Bertini’s simple but effective key to making passersby stop in their footsteps to check out his expansive blooming backyard in Redwood City.
Near Stafford Park lies a 1930s home with a beautiful lawn trimmed with blooming plants, but when the brown gate in the driveway is propped open, lucky walkers can get a glimpse of a wooden fence covered almost entirely in pink, red and white impatiens flowers.
“Why would I want to see the wood?” Bertini laughed.
Bertini, who will turn 90 years old next spring, grew up in a small town in Italy watching his mother upkeep a fantastic garden that caught the attention of the entire town. The local priest often borrowed her plants during Christmas time for ceremonial altars.
“It’s in his blood,” his wife, Joanne Bertini said. “He knows what plant to put where, what it needs, what it’s going to end up being.”
“I don’t have a gardener. I have him,” she said.
The yard is filled with well over 60 large potted plants — many of which block their garage where a car hasn’t parked for years — and each are watered consistently by Rolando Bertini’s hand every other day.
Although the couple’s use of well water and inconsistent pump flow is part of the reason they’ve never opted for an automatic irrigation system, the main reason is that Rolando enjoys the routine, the commitment.
“I enjoy,” Rolando Bertini said. “For my age, I can’t complain.”
Joanne Bertini, 83, said she can tell her husband’s time spent in the garden — it takes about 1 1/2 hours to water everything — is meditative.
“I don’t play golf,” Rolando Bertini joked.
During the summer months, lavender, daisies, petunias and begonias — which are a highlight in the garden — paint the backyard in colors. A 6-foot-tall pair of lilies, one white and one red, reach above all the others and leave visitors in awe of how large they’ve grown. Even the potted impatiens plants grow taller than in most other gardens, Rolando Bertini said.
Once it gets colder, he’ll swap out the petunias and impatiens for daffodils and marigolds to change up the color.
“We love flowers,” Joanne Bertini said. “He has this thing about putting flowers in and enjoying them now. Don’t wait to bring them to the casket. Use them and enjoy them.”
The couple’s neighbors often remark on how beautiful their efforts are, asking how they’re able to maintain the space.
“It is really beautiful, and you don’t see so many people, especially a retired person, that are putting in the time and effort,” Joanne Bertini said.
Before he retired 15 years ago, Rolando Bertini worked for Columbus Craft Meats, founded as the San Francisco Sausage Company, where he rose through the ranks thanks to his dedicated work ethic.
The couple met in Italy, when 18-year-old Joanne was on a trip to meet her extended relatives. During her stay, she met Rolando and fell in love. When she had to return to the U.S. to begin college, Rolando promised he would find her again.
“She left in September 1960. I came here December 1960. We married in August 1961,” Rolando Bertini said with a smile.
Just about to celebrate their 64th anniversary, the couple often spends their afternoons in their backyard, reveling in the beauty. They don’t travel much anymore, but the effort to make their home beautiful keeps them similarly amazed.
“Especially in the afternoon, it’s a little windy. I sit out here and all the flowers make you happy,” Rolando Bertini said. “Unless there’s a soccer game.”
Joanne Bertini said her husband’s commitment and consistency has kept the two going after all these years.
“Fertilizer and water, fertilizer and water,” he said.
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