Friday, April 23, 2010

The Last Garden On Maui



I never did get around to showing you the last garden I designed and installed before leaving the islands for the mountain tops of North Carolina. It deserved special attention and the time never seemed to present itself.

Here is variegated shell ginger with red ti, asparagus fern and the trunk of a dracaena.



My visit in March 2010 was three months shy of three years since I last saw this garden. Three years amounts to a mature garden on Maui. Much had grown big. A few things had been changed because the original plants did not survive or had proved to be more work than desired.



This cliff like hillside was the last section planted after construction was completed after a very long litigious delay. Flame vine and asparagus fern are used as groundcovers. On the right the blue flowered shrub plumbago covers a large chunk of the hill.

On the left an offspring of my beloved Buttercup Tree grows tall and strong.



The pool area was the first part of the garden planted. One main idea was to have plants that don't shed leaves into the pool. The bromeliads had done so well, the entire bed was recently completely dug up, thinned and replanted. Hundreds upon hundreds of bromeliads were given or thrown away. Stuff grows fast on Maui.



You don't need flowers to have year round color in the tropics.



On the other side of the house an alcove between wings is used to create a cool green jungle scene that is seen from inside the glass walled hallways.



The Agave attenuata had just recently bloomed. I was told the flower spikes framed the entry stairs to the front door perfectly during the holiday season. Sadly the main plant dies after blooming, but they produce many keikis and a healthy clump can re-bloom in no time.



The Ponytail Palm, Beaucarnea recurvata had lost its main trunk, but had re-sprouted profusely. This could make for a much more interesting multi-trunked specimen in time.



That's pretty dramatic. What can you plant in a 18 inch diameter hole between garage doors. I think I made a wise choice.



I refused to allow a grass block driveway on this slope. We compromised and left grass ovals. Even those were a pain on such a steep driveway. It's all cement now.



Aloha Maui. It was time to move on. My time there was over. Thank you for all the blessings over many wonderful years.



My first garden for a client in North Carolina is being born.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the trip down your own memory land, Christopher. It seems that garden has matured well. Was that the big pile of rocks mentioned in earlier posts to the left in some of the photos? Onward to your first from scrath NC garden. Say Hi to Obama for us! :-)
Frances

Anonymous said...

Wow I love the rocks in that garden! The garden showed the fertile imagination I have noticed in your posts. Can't wait to see what the NC one will look like!

bev

Lisa at Greenbow said...

Amazing to me. It is like looking at another planet.

Rosina Brown said...

Beautiful!! You did an amazing job!! I know you're excited about creating a garden for someone in NC!

Siria said...

Hi Cristopher! I think you saved the best for last! What a gorgeous garden. Can't wait to see the NC garden you are creating!

Gail said...

What a great garden and juxtaposition~ Last garden designed in H and a new garden in NC...gail

Christopher C. NC said...

Frances yes the rocks in the left bottom corner was the big Pile O' Rocks. They store the landscape rubbish next to it before removal and I didn't want to show that. Just think if the Obama's were out for a scenic drive, I could stop them and give Mrs. O a tour of the roadside vegetable garden and ask how hers is doing. I might need a BBQ shack to lure them in though.

Bev my first NC design install job is a basic foundation planting after a remodel. Nothing fancy.

Lisa people often acted like gardens on Maui were ruled by forces from a different planet.

Thanks Rosina. I'm sure the big commission full project will come along at some point heer in NC.

Siria you give the clients what they want. Just no bougainvillea or grass block driveways were allowed. And he kept slipping in more areca palms than I would have liked, but those palms do the desired job quick.

Gail starting this new garden did conjure up the last Maui garden.

Lola said...

That was a fantastic garden, Christopher. It looked to me as it was maintenance free or almost so. I imagine most of the gardens that you did brought back fond memories for you. You can tell when a gardener loves what he does.

Sheralyn at ParadiseFoundinMaui.com said...

Wow! What a beautiful garden! It's amazing to see how fast everything matured there!

I love to garden, but since we have cold winters here, it takes a looong time for things to really fill in. I've always thought gardening in a tropical place like Maui must be heavenly!