Aitken has worked on an eclectic array of projects, from Gilroy Gardens to the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk.
Karen Aitken
By Kelly Barbazette
Kelly Barbazette
More than 40 years ago, Karen Aitken followed her heart, veering off a path leading to medical school and forging a new one rooted in her love of gardening.
“I had what I thought was an epiphany and it really was because I’ve been really happy doing what I’m doing for the past 40-something years,” Aitken, 65, said.
A landscape architect, Aitken founded Karen Aitken & Associates in 1983 as a landscape architecture and design firm. Today, a team of 11 designers collaborate with her. She has worked on an eclectic array of projects, from Gilroy Gardens to the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk.
I had the pleasure of chatting with Aitken recently about her diverse career, which wouldn’t have happened if she stuck to her pre-med major at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Born and raised in the San Fernando Valley, Aitken said she grew up enjoying gardening with her dad, who was a doctor. Aitken thought she’d follow in his footsteps, but after starting college, she quickly learned that it wasn’t the right fit for her.
“I remember that distinct moment when I was in college years ago throwing down my art history book and saying, ‘I want to be a landscape architect.’ And I’ve loved it for the past 40-some years.”
She transferred to Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo, where she graduated in 1980 with a Bachelor of Science degree in landscape architecture, combining two of her loves.
“It’s more science than art. It’s both of those things. It’s an outlet for my love of science as well as an artistic outlet. They are both going on every day.”
She had a few landscaping jobs in San Fernando Valley before moving to Gilroy, where she started working with Michael Bonfante to help develop the landscape master plan for his 600-acre Hecker Pass park, known today as Gilroy Gardens. The park began as a place for employees of Nob Hill and their families to enjoy. The Bonfante family owned the Gilroy-based supermarket chain until selling it to Raley’s in 1997. The park has evolved into a horticultural theme park beloved by local families.
Aitken worked on the park from its earliest beginnings in the early 1980s.
“That was the best time of my life working on that park design,” she recalled.
She remembers doing everything from helping design the landscaping and selecting all of the trees and plants, to choosing the color of the rides.
“It was a collaboration between myself and the architect and Michael,” she said.
Over the years, Aitken has put her mark on thousands of landscape projects in the Bay Area, designing residential projects and a variety of commercial properties. These include Syngenta Seeds Floral Display Gardens (formerly Goldsmith Seeds), Gilroy Paseo, landscape renovations at Gavilan College and St. Louise Hospital, Las Animas and Christmas Hill Parks, Cinnabar Golf Course in San Jose, Great America, and the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk.
But the most cherished part of her job happens far away from a parcel of land.
“My favorite part of my job is sitting quietly and designing a garden in the morning with my cup of coffee,” she said.
Whether designing someone’s tiny patio garden or a vast landscape project, the client and what they will enjoy is the first factor Aitken considers. She finds inspiration in traveling.
“Everywhere you look you’re getting inspiration. I do love to travel. I’m really missing that,” she said.
While her family teases her that she works all the time, Aitken said she feels called to answer the needs of clients.
“You would think it’s such a peaceful, relaxing business. I have a high-stress job in a way because people always have deadlines,” she said.
Typically, she juggles dozens of projects — and the necessary permits — ranging from jobs at hotels to apartment complexes from Salinas to South San Francisco.
Her sister, Pamela Jones, has been her business partner for the past six years and helps manage projects. While Aitken has had her office in various locations, including in downtown Gilroy, she’s worked for the past six years from her home office, which has gradually become paperless as design work shifted from drawing board to computer.
Aitken is currently working on a project in Soquel on a 130-acre farm, mixing the uses of row crops and orchards with livestock. The microbes of animal waste are the fertilizer for the crops. She’s also designing the home farms in Hollister and Salinas as well as a ranch in Castro Valley.
“What keeps me going is there’s such a diversity of work I get to do. The tiny patio garden down the road and these ranches I get to work on, and an industrial park in Salinas,” she said.
Despite shut-downs during the pandemic, Aitken said she’s never worked harder than these past few years. But while the work flow is steady, the outcomes are slower to harvest. A landscape design project needs constant tending and tweaking.
“It takes many years to see the fruit of my labors,” Aitken said.
She and her husband Eugene, who have been married for 26 years, have a son Lucas, 25.
When asked what advice she would give to other women pursuing their goals, she said to believe in yourself and know you can do it.
“It’s all about perseverance and sticking that goal in front of your face every day,” she said. “It sounds so cliché, but if you can find your passion then just go for it.”
Kelly Barbazette, a former journalist for Bay Area newspapers, is a freelance writer. She lives in Gilroy with her husband and two daughters. She can be reached at [email protected].
