Green With Office Envy: 9,000 Trees Will (Eventually) Shade Apple's New Cupertino HQ
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Green With Office Envy: 9,000 Trees Will (Eventually) Shade Apple's New Cupertino HQ

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The Apple doesn't fall far from the trees.

In the coming weeks, around 12,000 Apple employees will move into the company's brand new, well-rounded campus in Cupertino. As they walk from the gargantuan parking lots toward their high-tech new digs, they may find it irresistible not to stop and take notice of the 175-acre campus' burgeoning tree population.


As UpOut reports, Apple plans to surround the "Spaceship" with 9,000 trees (many of them apple trees, ahem)—that's nearly one tree for every resident employee. The majestic verdure was all part of Steve Jobs' vision for what he predicted would be "the best office building in the world"—one that would have, among its many splendors, a tree line spanning around 80 percent of the campus' landscape. Jobs outlined his green dream in a proposal to the Cupertino City Council:


It will incorporate both young and mature trees, and native and drought tolerant plants that will thrive in Santa Clara County with minimal water consumption. The increase in permeable surfaces will promote natural drainage and improve water quality in Calabazas Creek. The thoughtful and extensive landscaping will recall Cupertino's pre-agricultural and agricultural past.


But, planting a luxe urban forest is challenging, even for Apple—it seems there are only so many trees to go around. As Quartz and The Chronicle have reported, Apple is said to have sourced (hoarded?) so many trees that San Francisco's Transbay Transit project can't get hold of the greenery it needs to fulfill its own leafy plans.

Not an Apple employee? Take a break from your San Francisco office to unearth your own hidden urban garden in the Financial District.

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