Facets of the desert
REGARDING “Desert Deconstruction” [March 27], the article on minimalist Palm Springs gardens: The harsh criticism in Ann Japenga’s story incorrectly characterizes these landscapes. Most Palm Springs tract homes never had the lush landscape to which she refers.
Our home is one of those featured. We have wildlife visiting our garden on a regular basis. For Japenga to say, “It wasn’t supposed to be this way,” or that we are “ripping out lush old yards” is complete bunk.
We started three years ago with a quarter lot covered with crushed parking lot gravel and a weed-filled grass “lawn” left from previous owners -- hardly native, lush or hospitable for critters. Now we have agave, barrel cactus, native grasses, rocky areas, palo verde trees and native Washingtonia filifera palms -- and wildlife. Does Japenga prefer petunias, green grass and Midwestern shrubs?
This article’s criticism of the modern, minimalist landscapes in Palm Springs skews the facts, reflects a lack of understanding of what existed and demonstrates ignorance of what the new landscapes are achieving in terms of creating havens for wildlife in the older, urbanized neighborhoods of Palm Springs.
Ken Lyon
Palm Springs
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THANK you for showing us the distorted view of modernist architecture’s place in the landscape. The people who rip out beautiful gardens obviously think nature is a nuisance, and they miss the whole point of their home’s design. They no longer have a relationship with nature; they have a soulless plot of land with a house in the middle of it.
Sidney Higgins
Los Angeles
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THE desert often appears to the unknowing eye as a wasteland, so I loved learning about architect Albert Frey and his reverence for nature. I especially appreciated the emphasis on Frey’s love for the natural world as a consequence of his intimate knowledge of the habitat and the creatures that make the desert their home.
It was heartening to read that at least some people who have adopted the sterile, ultramodern landscape style would not have employed this extreme model if they had realized that wildlife depend upon natural environments to survive, particularly in a world as unforgiving as the desert.
In the spirit of sharing such knowledge with your readers, I offer the information that the “orange orioles” that Japenga writes of are hooded orioles (Icterus cucullatus), a species that is especially common around palms.
Clarann Levakis
La Palma