Sunday, August 1, 2010

California Re-Cap (Part 2 of 2)

All the images in this posting are from the Getty Center which I visited on Wednesday, July 21st (my first day of arrival in the City of Angels) . I was given a wonderful tour of the grounds by Michael, the Director of Horticulture for the facility. The architecture of the buildings, layout of the grounds and overall visual impact of this campus is truly amazing. Built in 1997, this campus houses the Getty Foundation, Getty Research Institute, Getty Conservation Institute, the J. Paul Getty Trust and the Museum. Michael and I walked around for a good two hours and talked about the gardens and the facility. His badge got me in to some top secret areas in the museum and his enthusiasm for his job is quite apparent. To describe all the work that this facility accomodates would be difficult so check out their website (www.getty.edu/) or the Wikepedia site is quite informative. Regardless, the landscape, though very contrived, was quite impressive and I couldn't believe the amount of detail involved with their maintenance. Michael mentioned that they will even get up in an allee' of sycamores and pull off every other leaf to create the right dappling of summer shade that the garden designer emphasizes. Wow. The images of trimmed, curvilinear shrubs surrounded by water in many of the shots below are a centerpiece of the largest garden. These are 400 azaleas representing three colors that are a solid mass in March. The entire experience was fun and a special thanks to Michael for his valuable time.

















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