The Big One: A brew-tiful place

LOCATION: San Antonio, Texas
COMPANY: Clean Scapes

The Pearl Brewery is a former brewery turned multiuse development with apartments, restaurants, retailers, a hotel and public spaces along the northern edge of downtown San Antonio. Clean Scapes performs a porter service there six days a week, mows weekly and hand trims plantings throughout the week.

Teams serve the property early in the morning and on lower-volume days to miss crowds. They use Husquvarna battery-powered handheld equipment and will deploy a Stihl battery-powered blower this year.

“When we started it, there wasn’t any seasonal color out there,” says Richie Bartek, account manager with Clean Scapes. “They wanted to make it brighter, so we suggested making pockets of color.”

Foot traffic is a challenge for the site, which could host nearly 14,000 people a week pre-COVID-19 for concerts, farmer’s markets and other events. Bartek says visitors cut through the landscaping and damaged plants. Clean Scapes installed artificial turf in high-traffic areas and used tank feet as barricades to protect beds from damage.

“When it was a brewery, they had the big vats, and the jacks that held the tanks were a foot tall to 3 feet tall,” Bartek says. “We put chains on them and looped to kind of make it a fence to try to direct people out of those beds in around corners.”

The project earned Clean Scapes a Gold Award from the National Association of Landscape Professionals’ Awards of Excellence program.

(Photo: Clean Scapes)

The Pearl Brewery, founded in 1881, is home to a multiuse development, including apartments, restaurants, retailers, public spaces and more. Hotel Emma is the site of the original Pearl’s brewhouse.

(Photo: Clean Scapes)

Beer cisterns collect and store rainwater to supplement irrigation of the low-water-use landscape.

(Photo: Clean Scapes)

Clean Scapes performs daily porter services at the site.

(Photo: Clean Scapes)

The Pearl hosts four public spaces, one of which, Partiko, is shown here. Partiko is home to a weekly farmers market, an ongoing musical series, a holiday market and more. Clean Scapes installed artificial turf to cut down on the wear of this popular space.

(Photo: Clean Scapes)

The Silos in front of Hotel Emma are a focal point of The Pearl. Trumpet vine highlights the property, giving it a consistent, vintage feel.

(Photo: Clean Scapes)

Before the pandemic, the Pearl hosted more than 14,000 people a week through a variety of activities and attractions.

(Photo: Clean Scapes)

Clean Scapes helped the client add more color to flower beds, including the main entry to Hotel Emma at The Pearl.

(Photo: Clean Scapes)

The client seeks an overgrown and native look, which contributes to the narrative and history of the property. Crews hand prune many of the plantings to maintain that natural look.

(Photo: Clean Scapes)

Native and low-maintenance plants highlight the plantings around The Pearl.

(Photo: Clean Scapes)

This lush courtyard is another of the three public spaces at The Pearl, aptly named The Plaza. Visitors and residents often use this space to meet for coffee under the Chinquapin oak trees or host outdoor yoga sessions on the artificial turf.