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Wednesday, November 16, 2011

A GOOD IDEA GONE WRONG

Sometimes a landscaper doesn't quite get it right. I came across this landscaping in a commercial area just south of the river. Compare this with this mornings foliage follow up by Pam, Digging.


Striking columnar planters and in the right setting they would be an eye catcher but what went wrong here? I see they have placed a spotlight on the feature, planted it with agaves and then walked away and forgotten about it.


The second mistake was surrounding the feature with grass. Oh, yes, they water and mow the grass but forget about the succulents.


Looks like the plants in this shorted column are faring a little better.


Maybe they should have planted the column with these!



 I really like these metal agaves and cactus, but they do have to be in the right setting.

13 comments:

Gail said...

Jenny, They are just terrible and you're so right, they could be marvelous. I love the metal cactus! gail

Pam/Digging said...

Oh dear, that didn't turn out how they envisioned, I'm sure. And I like metal cactus as an accent, but when so many are substituted for real plants...hm, I don't think that works either. Too bad.

Thanks for the link though.

khaki said...

Those metal cactus are neat - I like those. How bizarre that they go and take care of everything else and neglected the two columns. What a waste. I like the concept though (in the right place, not so much at my house) but very sad to see that. So easily prevented too.

Linda/patchwork said...

That's really quite sad. Looks like they're wasting a lot of good plants.

I do like the metal cacti....in moderation, though.

scottweberpdx said...

Eek...yeah, it may bee too much. I agree with Pam about the metal plants...place them among REAL plants and they are a striking statement. Place a bunch of them in "planters" alone and you sort of get the idea they don't really like living plants at all!

Tim said...

The only metal cactus I really like are the ones on top of the archway over the Hike and Bike trail near the Holly Street power plant. I like how it takes a moment to figure out if there's really a prickly pear on top of the arch. Otherwise, I don't really see the point. Prickly pear grows fantastically here.

danger garden said...

Oh my, such possibility! Those columns could have been so cool. And this just amps up my desire for a big metal agave (or 3...you know, spread around the garden). Fun (sad/possibly inspiring) post!

Daphne Richards said...

Yikes!

Alan said...

Normal agave are scary enough -- but metal ones? They even recreated the jagged, sawblade edges! Not even looking at the aesthetics of it, this seems like a really bad idea.

Anonymous said...

Agree- there are a lot of shapes and materials vying for attention here.
I’ve been there, and what I DO like is the rooftop garden; it's visible from the parking lot- it can be seen in the background of your second photo, Jenny. The solid fig vine on the walls meeting up with the crown of paddle cactus along the roof edge does wonders for the building’s ho-hum architecture.

Desert Dweller said...

Gag me with a pitchfork! I see medians and landscapes with metal cacti, agaves, etc and I just do not get it, except as an isolated sculpture.

Caroline said...

I almost feel like someone should go rescue those succulents in the tower planters. Sad.

greggo said...

that's just wrong-Al Gore