Philip’s Garden Blog

“Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again. It seemed to me I stood by the iron gate leading to the drive,
and for a while I could not enter, for the way was barred to me. There was a padlock and chain upon the gate.
I called in my dream to the Lodge-Keeper, and had no answer, and peering through the rusted spokes of the
gate I saw that the lodge was uninhabited.” 
Exerpt: “Rebecca” by Daphne du Maurier

My brother Patrick  used to live on the street located below Tanglewood, a large uninhabited estate 
which revealed itself in tantalizing glimpses. One of the oldest homes in Sausalito, CA, Tanglewood was built in the
1870’s by a sea captain in a “Hong Kong Colonial” style. Pyramidal shaped roofs sheltered sweeping verandas which
took in heady views of the Sausalito harbor, Richardson Bay, and Belvedare island beyond. Exotic plantings collected
from the captain’s travels graced the property.

Neglected for years, In 1994  the estate was deeded to the University of Califonia Botanic Garden at Berkeley. 
 A kind of fantastic wilderness emerged with  flowering shubs popular in the 19th century assuming mad
proportions and the whole cloaked in verdure; a romantic place of moonlight and shadows. 

 Tanglewood, now leased as a private property by the botanic garden, is beginning to be restored.
I visited the garden last weekend on a tour sponsered by the Sausalito Women’s Club.

In the entrance garden shaded by large California oaks (Quercus agrifolia), alum root or coral bells Heuchera sanguinea,
and the Channel Islands native heuchera maxima, are planted with Geranium pratense “Mrs. Kendall Clark”.
California oaks do not like to be overwatered, and the selection of these perennial species, some native, enables the
garden to be relatively drought tolerant. 
All bloom in dappled shade and yet maintain that unique
atmosphere that is Tanglewood:  a wild garden of secrets and enchantment. 

Once it was called the Porciuncula river, and its meandering path from its sources in the mountains which
flank the San Fernando valley, through the Glendale Narrows and on to Long Beach where it meets the sea
provided water and sustenence for the many Gabrielino Indian villages on its changing banks.  Rapid urbanization
of Los Angeles in the first quarter of the 20th century and a series of devastating floods in the 1930’s prompted
the Army Corps of Engineers to transform the river into the concrete lined “Los Angeles Flood Control Channel”. 
The river truly lost its identity in more ways than its name.

In 1986, a non profit organization, Friends of the Los Angeles River, was founded. Its mission statement
“To Protect and restore the natural and historic heritage of the Los Angeles River and its riparian habitat through
inclusive planning, education and wise stewardship”.

Recently, Rick Magnus and Ron Harrison gave me a tour of a section where the riverbed no longer has concrete.

Noise from the Interstate Highway 5 which paralles this section is masked by the river which is now allowed
to flow naturally. Water percolates into the mud riverbed, replenishing the aquifers.

 Large carp are a delight to The Atwater fishing club, with a catch and release program

This May 17th is an opportunity to participate in a cleanup of the river’s banks and learn more about
its ecology. For further resources and information, contact the Friends of the Los Angeles River
http://www.folar.org/