Specimen Brush

For those of you who didn’t read the New York Times on Monday, there was no landscaping meeting on Brokeback Manor this weekend. It was cancelled. I was hoping to come back and write on and on about this new found knowledge of dirt and foliage, but it didn’t happen. If you want to get some idea of where my fantasies were running, take a look at the new book by John Saladino, “The Villa”. This is an inspiration for everyone, a pictorial essay on his home in Santa Barbara. Okay, it might be a bit of a stretch from my house to John’s house, but given time…

Perhaps my great great great grand children will enjoy a lush verdant view from the steel and glass French doors, assuming they will be ready by their life time (still no doors from contractor Mitch). Of course the odds are better having doors than grand children, but that’s another issue. Always the eternal optimist, Mitch is telling me that I will be in by June; I think it’s more likely a fall move-in. If I were building a pool I would be more upset but fall is my favorite season so that’s okay.

You can see the valley below is still relatively natural, and likewise the grounds surrounding the house (could you get more natural?).  I know the brush would not be exactly called specimen brush (at least it’s indigenous), and I’m sure the landscape designer would suggest a scorched earth approach, but I don’t want to be too harsh. Maybe a few placed trees and hedges would go along way to hide these non-specimens. Ivy covered walls on the house is the only given. I probably won’t be writing a book on the gardens of Brokeback Manor but, given time and a few dollars, maybe it will appear on next year’s garden tour.