The Leather Oaks Garden -- 2001 Tour Photos

This Page Updated on January 12th, 2008

So you want to go on the Pond Tour, eh??

Early September was always the climax of the garden season down here, and that's not even considering my chromatically vivid attire. You might guess (correctly) that my gear on the actual date was a mite less colorful -- merely olive green, in fact -- but just as rubbery!
Join me, as did some six dozen pond enthusiasts, and enter now into a magic garden, where shadows and a myriad of leafy greens blend and tease the eyes.
If you can keep your eyes off the Acuba, those are Ranger Forester Boots, I'm wearing. The remainder of the outfit is red latex from a variety of suppliers.

The shade is so deep in this area that the lawn envisioned by the Landscape designer was never viable. I decided that since it looked like a marsh, it might as well have the plants to go with it.
A couple of visits to the wetlands behind the house for "selected plantings," and the native ferns and shrubs have embraced the area heartily!

See, I told you there was a path through here >> I just mowed it a couple of days ago!
Look sharp now, because I think we're approaching an important personality. . . .

Ah, Hello Neptune!! These guys are just passing through!
How're things on your knoll, not too droll, eh?

Strolling West from Neptune's Knoll. When I bought this place in 1993, there were almost no plants other than the trees, and I removed 6 to 8 pines to encourage the oaks to fill out more.
The handsome Sago Palm ahead on our left is a pup (fist-sized when transplanted) from a huge parent in the southwest corner of the lot. (There was a great photo of the parent on the 1994 Page.) Beyond the Sago is the path we'll follow to Rubber Creek.

Even though we've been following Rubber Creek for a goodly distance, it's been so embraced by vegetation that catching a glimpse can be a challenge.
Diver's Deep is one place where there's always some activity, though. Imagine that miniature rubbermen are diving for sponges or pearls. Since spotting fish swimming in "The Deep", I've rethought that to maybe spear fishermen!

Finally, we glimpse the Leather Oaks pond!
Situated just feet from the NorthWest corner of the lot, the pond is in shade more than sun. Several bales of Chinese bamboo were harvested to open the view up for the Pond Tour!

The Piping Boy flutes over the deepest corner of the pond.
Off his left shoulder, you can just make out the biological filter at the right edge of the photo. It gurgles most satisfyingly, besides keeping the pond water fresher!

One last over-the-shoulder view of the pond, before we continue our search for the Rubber Creek headwaters.

Web Extra ! ! !

We just discovered four never before published photos taken the previous Spring! The occasion was the construction of the Leather Oaks Tower Room. It turned out to be a very neat vantage point for pond and garden photos. Check it out if you like, by clicking the link on the photo at left. We'll wait here for you.

Ah, I think we're approaching our destination! That must be the Bridge Over Lake Orin up ahead!
{Orin, wasn't he the straw boss on the Season's Nursery team?}

Lake Orin is famous for the exotic range of its flora and fauna.
Look!! Is that a Spitting Frog I see amidst the ferns and aspidistra??!!

We're above Lake Orin now, and I think I see Fazzio Falls. Guess there's no white water rafters out today, the stream flow is so low.

     Golly! The vegetation's getting tough up in here.
     And, can't you just make out Season's Springs, the headwaters of our Rubber Creek?
      Yeah ! ! The musical gurgle of two pump-fed outlets is unmistakable!

     No it's not an oil rig, but The Leather Oaks Memorial Bell Tower.   Until September 28, 1998, there was a two-foot diameter pine right there.
     When Hurricane Georges broke the tree at about waist height, I was rudely awakened by the upper trunk falling 4 feet into the attic of my house.
     Well, the tree was removed and the house repaired, but then came the question, what to put in its place? My landscaping friend, Mark was adamant that "something" had to replace it, or his artfully designed stream had lost its point. This tower was my "Engineering Solution".
      The "Bell" was salvaged from an abandoned washer in the woods behind my house.