Seen and Noted

I regularly follow the great gardening blog “GardenRant”, which is always full of curious, useful and interesting information.  Things that you wouldn’t know about otherwise.  Checking up on it today, I see that author Amy Stewart (one of the founders of the blog) posted about UCLA selling off its Japanese garden.  Yes, actually.

Apparently the university is in need of funds, so it got permission to divest itself of a Japanese garden that was donated to it in 1965. Upkeep costs in the neighborhood of $150K annually, and only gets a couple thousand visitors in a year. Now, everyone understands all too well that everything gets costlier by the day in this country. But selling it off?  Really?  I find it hard to believe that there isn’t a horticulture program somewhere in the general vicinity. Even if UCLA doesn’t have one of their own, surely one of the affiliates like UC Davis would have one.  I see on the Web that UCLA does have an extension program for horticulture.  The students could assume the upkeep as a practicum if nothing else. What – no Master Gardeners that could take the project on?  What about a local bonsai society? Admittedly, I don’t have any knowledge about what’s gone on behind the scenes, but it just seems like an exceedingly odd way to raise funds.  And how is it that a school like UCLA is so hard up for funds?  I imagine a year there costs a pretty penny.

At any rate, the garden apparently will be listed with Coldwell Banker out there, and will be available to anyone with a few million bucks to throw around.  Well, there’s a new accessory for the insanely wealthy – your own, ready-made Japanese garden. Second homes, yachts and island retreats will soon become passe’.