Henry Soto:
Remembering A Landscape Pioneer

© 2000 Wendy Dager

Everyone who knew him says that Henry Soto was a guy who got things done.

Often, his accomplishments were achieved through unconventional means. And occasionally, there were mishaps, like the time he convinced the City of Los Angeles to build several public parks over dump sites. Fifty years ago, who knew that the methane gas emitted by the landfills would eventually kill all the parks plants?

Still, Henry Soto is probably better known for all the good things he did; in particular, working with Bailey Justice to establish the California Landscape Contractors Association. With Soto as the Southern California coordinator, and Justice at the north end of the state, the two men built up an organization that is now headquartered in Sacramento. While formally incorporated in 1952, the CLCA first met as an association in 1937, with Soto at the helm as the president of its Los Angeles chapter.

He was a talker, said Robert Sapien, landscape contractor, and former president of the CLCA. He should've been a preacher.

Sapien, a member of the CLCA for 40 years, jokes that, at age 75, hes the only guy who actually remembers Soto, who died more than a decade ago.

Henry was a California native of Spanish descent, said Sapien. After his funeral in San Pedro (California), he was buried in the family plot in Kingman, Arizona - a land grant there from the Spanish days.

Before there was a CLCA, says Sapien, there were just a handful of contractors who were responsible for the majority of landscaping jobs during California's huge growth period just after World War II.

Henry was one of the first big contractors in landscaping, said Sapien. He was a very progressive thinker. He wanted the industry to get more recognition.

That determination is what led other landscape contractors to follow in Henry Sotos footsteps.

"Basically, Henry was very innovative in helping the industry in his time, and is responsible for a lot of the success we have today in the contracting industry," said Bert CeDillos, fellow landscaper and former CLCA president. "He put in the palms at the Los Angeles International Airport and he did the first segment of the Harbor Freeway. He was probably the largest landscape contractor for this area. He was also politically savvy. He got involved with the county board of supervisors to pursue a lot for the industry. And he did a lot of good."

But like anyone who is politically active, he had a few detractors, including those who questioned his tactics - such as the time he employed beasts of burden to win a big job.

It was the 1950s, and the city of Santa Monica wanted to develop and beautify the area. They asked contractors to bid on the planting of palm trees near scenic Pacific Coast Highway.

"I heard the story twice," said Paul Albright. "Once from another landscaper, and once from Henry himself. It was a job for the city park in front of the Santa Monica pier. They wanted to plant palm trees along the sea wall. They asked for bids, and, at that time, most of the contracting industry was general contractors. All these other guys planned to bring the palms in with cranes from the top of the sea wall. It was a costly and dangerous job, because you couldn't get too close to the edge or the weight of the machines could break the cliff and you'd end up in the ocean."

"So, rather than figure this heavy equipment cost in his bid, Henry used pack mules and their handlers from tourist locations like Yosemite," said Albright. "The palm trees were delivered on flatbed trucks at the bottom of the cliff, and the mules took them up the steep incline to the holes that were hand-dug into the cliff."

The mules were much cheaper to use than expensive cranes, so Henry won the bid, at a tremendous profit. The other contractors, however, were none too pleased with Soto's ability to outfox them.

"Nearly every contractor that loses a job feels that the winner is cheating," said Albright. "And, in some cases, low bid contracting (see LEAF-let May/June 2000) is there to allow the contractor to come up with innovative ways to do a project."

Henry Soto, ground-breaking landscape pioneer, would probably agree.

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