Historic pics of Sequoia Gardens

2 Feb '08 8:15 pm

I've worked solidly for 19 days, with only 1 day off last Sunday, sometimes at school for 16 hours. Who says teaching is a half-day job Shocked

But it was all a great success, and today I can relax! I've finally found the pictures I scanned two years ago, and so I start this new diary: glimpses of the early days. They will only be of interest to those of you who have got to know my garden over the last two years!

This first pic shows the house still under construction. Most of the trees across the dam from my house are 6 months old. You can see the reeds marking them, preventing the undergrowth from swamping them. Dead centre is the big Pin Oak, with the English Oak silhouetted on the right and the maple that turns yellow early in the season with its marker reed next to it.

Across the dam the large pine which masked the view from the Rondel to the Carpet Garden hides most of the Meadow. It broke in a storm 5 years later. (see forums.mooseyscountrygarden.com/garden1011.html ) To the right of my house the 5 or 6 pines which where cut down in the late 90s because I was scared of storm damage to my house. For a year I lived with the naked house before the Cottage Garden started to evolve in this area.

Also across the dam, and to the left of the meadow is the area where the liquodambers and Japanese maple that make my most dramatic autumn statement now stand. With some imagination you can make out the stem of the large tree-fern, transplanted there when the dam was built 20 odd years earlier, around which I planted the liquodambers in order to shade it. It is difficult to believe that that mature view of today did not exist at all 18 years ago!

The opposite view, from the house, is perhaps even more amazing. The pines in the forest where the arboretum now is, were lovely, but you have to strain to see ANY of the trees that now dominate this view. It is mostly still the wild scrub. To the left the path angling up between the flowering cherries (each in a chicken mesh protector) can just be made out. This is the path that caused the bridge to be built as it is more than ten years later.

In the view of the Big House there is no sign of a garden yet, other than the lawn which Phineas undertook to complete down to the dam before the house was finished. One can imagine these slopes as potato fields 40 years earlier. However the position of the Upper and Lower Rosemary Borders can be made out, and the two large Pin Oaks at the top end of the dam are showing. The seat is today under the less visible one, just showing itself on the very left of the long pile of pine branch cuttings. The azaleas on the near bank – today a solid mass – are showing some colour.

2 Feb '08 9:51 pm

... and still the garden is in its infancy!

3 Feb '08 2:17 am

Dear Jack,

How exciting it was to see these early photos of Sequoia Gardens. It is hard to imagine that it has been less than 20 years since those first photos were made when looking at some of your most recent photos. It is hard for me to remember what my own property looked like when we first moved here ten years ago. I should go back and find some of my earliest photos to remind me how far I have come.

You, your father and Phineas are to be commended for your vision and the dedication to creating this beautiful garden out of bush and potato fields. How happy it must make you to see the progress you have made. Of course, as a true gardener, I know that you often look around and see only what still needs doing. From our perspective, nothing is needed to perfect this lovely garden. Give yourself a big pat on the back and bask in the glory of a job well done.

3 Feb '08 5:11 am

I have happily followed your instructions! It has been a lovely day, with three long walks with the dogs - they don't know what's hit them! (And some photos I will post tonight!)

3 Feb '08 7:22 pm

What adventure! Not many of us these days get to head off into the bush, dam a stream, plant trees, build a house and go on to build an amazing garden on an estate-scale. It must make you very proud, and better than that, you get to be there year after year watching the dramatic passage of the seasons and the gradual yet stunning changes over time. It would be a pleasure to see any other early photos that turn up.

My dogs are very jealous of your dog's bonanza. This makes two days in a row without a walk due to rain. I feel a little guilty for taking the short lull in the rain this morning to go to the botanical garden in San Francisco today for the first plant sale of the year. By the time we got back the showers were full on again, but I came away with two new plants and a handful of garden magazines from their library. Tomorrow we've got to get them outside for a walk.

3 Feb '08 8:15 pm

How interesting to see these lovely captures of the 'pioneer days' of Sequoia Gardens, Jack! And, to picture it with the magnificence and grandeur of its present state through all that I've seen from your postings, it leaves me speechless as to the mammoth task undertaken - incredibly amazing! Bravo, Jack! Bravo, your Dad! And, bravo to Phineas and all who have laboured at Sequoia Farm!!
Thanks for sharing! Very Happy

Historic pics of Sequoia Gardens

Historic pics of Sequoia Gardens

Three years on...

How swift the passage of time

Thanks Faith!

Faith puts it very well, Jack.