Two marriages & a garden
September 5, 2004 | 12:00am
Two days after the Cojuangco-Zini wedding, we were invited to lunch by Peter and Coy Holmes, a couple who had transplanted themselves to Tuscany almost 30 years ago. Peter is an old Asia hand, having lived and worked in Hong Kong when his father was with the British colonial administration. An oenologist by profession, he had a small wine importing business in London but got out of it when he received an offer to work for Hyatt, which was just opening its international division. It was during a stint in Manila that he met Coy Jalbuena, who eventually became his wife. Shortly after getting married, they moved to Tuscany and Peter took on an entirely different profession – that of landscape architect. And so the saga of their marriage – and their garden – started.
Peter had a friend who had just bought some property in the hills outside of Florence and invited the couple to buy into the property with him, which they did. The property which the Holmeses bought is located in the smalltown of Monterspertoli, which is about a 30 to 40 minute drive from Florence by autostrada, depending on the traffic. Get off the autostrada and you are transported into another world – a rustic world entered through a road that wends its way through vineyards, fields of grain, the occasional country house, a church, a dirt road, and a hill. Atop this hill lies the Holmeses ’ homestead.
When they first set foot on the property, it was only accessible by 12 kms. of dirt road. The dirt road has since dwindled to less than a kilometer and it is now considerably easier to get to the property.
There are three main structures on the property, all of them old. The Holmes house was built in 1750 (although some of the structures on the property go back to the 8th century). Their house encompasses about 5,000 square feet. When the Holmeses first set foot on the property, the houses were a ruin, having been abandoned since the Second World War. They started restoration when they bought the property in 1978 and have been restoring the house and landscaping the property over the last 26 years.
"The government had put its usual heavy hand into the countryside and changed centuries-old traditions that enabled landowners without much liquidity to keep the peasants working to everyone’s mutual satisfaction. One stroke of the bureaucratic pen and overnight half the farm houses emptied as ancient agricultural families up-staked and moved into the cities to work in factories. To be replaced by peasants like us eventually. We got the house restored up to the point where we could move in. After that, the uphill struggle to tame and develop everything began and will no doubt continue long after we have turned to dust."
Peter and Coy call their property Verdigliana. It has 20 acres of land situated among the vineyards of Chianti; 15 acres are forested, one acre is planted to olive trees, and four acres are devoted to the family’s garden. Peter is a well-known landscape architect and has large commissions all over Europe. It is only natural then that his home and, even more importantly his garden, would be a reflection of his career and, probably without realizing it, his marriage.
The garden that Peter has created for his home is planted with more than 400 varieties of ornamental trees and shrubs. "I wouldn’t describe our garden in any terms that you might expect. Among gardeners terms like ‘an English garden’ are meaningless. While there are certain accepted classifications – such as Italianate, Renaissance, French, English – they tend to be used by non-gardeners who don’t really understand what they mean anyway. Suffice it to say that ours in a completely dry garden which means no artificial irrigation after a plant has become established, which is after the first year. This is hard gardening, but is much more real than gardens sustained by elaborate irrigation systems. It means that plants have to be started small and have to support the severe climate of this area, which is more continental than Mediterranean. We have been down to minus 27C and up to over 50C! Every year is a variation on that. What would define the way I have created this garden and, what actually makes this sort of garden recognizable as one of mine is the way plants are used, rather than the types of plants. As a garden designer working in most climatic zones, each area has to be treated differently, although the principles remain the same. A large northern chateau, for example, would tend to lend itself to a certain amount of formality around the building itself. It should be remembered that the buildings, if there are any, influence the way a garden will be designed and developed to a very considerable extent. I have tried to create something that in the long term will be as labor-free as possible. As you know, Coy and I do everything ourselves, and considering how much of the time I am away and the size of the garden, I feel that we have succeeded quite well in this area. (Coy might not be quite so convinced, so just take my word for it). A common question that we are asked is how many gardeners we employ and the answer, none, is believed with difficulty.
Animals in the area include wild boar, deer, porcupines and to a lesser extent rabbits. Hares are around and in the early days we had a regular problem with adders – small but rather poisonous, killing about 4-5 each year early on. There are fewer now. Our adopted bird is the hoopoe, something that looks rather like an old fashioned soda siphon gone a bit wrong and dressed in pink and black. Pheasant abound. Green woodpeckers are slowly returning as are birds in general, having been nearly exterminated by the indiscriminate wholesale slaughter by out-of-control city hunters. When we first arrived, there were virtually no small birds at all.
"Of course the garden here is very much our own personal one, but being a professional landscape architect, I try to practice the things that I preach. With regard to trying out ideas here, of course I do in the areas where it is feasible – largely concerning the resistance of plants to drought, heat, cold, heavy clay and light sand (our other type of soil), as well as other practical aspects such as different ways of planting, mulching, soil preparation etc. I never try things at total random, in as far as that which I try, I have a fairly good idea will succeed. What is of interest to me in these fields is the degree of success. And, of course, as far as my professional work goes, there’s no room for much experimentation and none whatsoever for guesswork."
If one changes a few words here and there, it sounds like Peter is talking about raising a child (or, for that matter, how to make a marriage work) doesn’t it? The attention to detail, the quality time required, the fact that there are no substitutes for the real thing, the acceptance of certain unchanging principles, the hard work, the protectiveness, the nurturing, the letting go when the time comes – isn’t this what it is like to raise children?
After a delicious lunch personally prepared by Peter and Coy, warmed by the lazy Tuscan sun and by the bonhomie around me, I sat and watched the Holmeses and the newlyweds for whom our lunch had been organized. I was witnessing a snapshot of two marriages: one that was just beginning and one that has weathered the many challenges that life brings and has survived intact. The newlyweds had only to study the Holmeses’ garden to understand what it takes to make a marriage work and raise a family: patience, determination, grit, compromise, and, most of all, love.
Peter had a friend who had just bought some property in the hills outside of Florence and invited the couple to buy into the property with him, which they did. The property which the Holmeses bought is located in the smalltown of Monterspertoli, which is about a 30 to 40 minute drive from Florence by autostrada, depending on the traffic. Get off the autostrada and you are transported into another world – a rustic world entered through a road that wends its way through vineyards, fields of grain, the occasional country house, a church, a dirt road, and a hill. Atop this hill lies the Holmeses ’ homestead.
When they first set foot on the property, it was only accessible by 12 kms. of dirt road. The dirt road has since dwindled to less than a kilometer and it is now considerably easier to get to the property.
There are three main structures on the property, all of them old. The Holmes house was built in 1750 (although some of the structures on the property go back to the 8th century). Their house encompasses about 5,000 square feet. When the Holmeses first set foot on the property, the houses were a ruin, having been abandoned since the Second World War. They started restoration when they bought the property in 1978 and have been restoring the house and landscaping the property over the last 26 years.
"The government had put its usual heavy hand into the countryside and changed centuries-old traditions that enabled landowners without much liquidity to keep the peasants working to everyone’s mutual satisfaction. One stroke of the bureaucratic pen and overnight half the farm houses emptied as ancient agricultural families up-staked and moved into the cities to work in factories. To be replaced by peasants like us eventually. We got the house restored up to the point where we could move in. After that, the uphill struggle to tame and develop everything began and will no doubt continue long after we have turned to dust."
Peter and Coy call their property Verdigliana. It has 20 acres of land situated among the vineyards of Chianti; 15 acres are forested, one acre is planted to olive trees, and four acres are devoted to the family’s garden. Peter is a well-known landscape architect and has large commissions all over Europe. It is only natural then that his home and, even more importantly his garden, would be a reflection of his career and, probably without realizing it, his marriage.
The garden that Peter has created for his home is planted with more than 400 varieties of ornamental trees and shrubs. "I wouldn’t describe our garden in any terms that you might expect. Among gardeners terms like ‘an English garden’ are meaningless. While there are certain accepted classifications – such as Italianate, Renaissance, French, English – they tend to be used by non-gardeners who don’t really understand what they mean anyway. Suffice it to say that ours in a completely dry garden which means no artificial irrigation after a plant has become established, which is after the first year. This is hard gardening, but is much more real than gardens sustained by elaborate irrigation systems. It means that plants have to be started small and have to support the severe climate of this area, which is more continental than Mediterranean. We have been down to minus 27C and up to over 50C! Every year is a variation on that. What would define the way I have created this garden and, what actually makes this sort of garden recognizable as one of mine is the way plants are used, rather than the types of plants. As a garden designer working in most climatic zones, each area has to be treated differently, although the principles remain the same. A large northern chateau, for example, would tend to lend itself to a certain amount of formality around the building itself. It should be remembered that the buildings, if there are any, influence the way a garden will be designed and developed to a very considerable extent. I have tried to create something that in the long term will be as labor-free as possible. As you know, Coy and I do everything ourselves, and considering how much of the time I am away and the size of the garden, I feel that we have succeeded quite well in this area. (Coy might not be quite so convinced, so just take my word for it). A common question that we are asked is how many gardeners we employ and the answer, none, is believed with difficulty.
Animals in the area include wild boar, deer, porcupines and to a lesser extent rabbits. Hares are around and in the early days we had a regular problem with adders – small but rather poisonous, killing about 4-5 each year early on. There are fewer now. Our adopted bird is the hoopoe, something that looks rather like an old fashioned soda siphon gone a bit wrong and dressed in pink and black. Pheasant abound. Green woodpeckers are slowly returning as are birds in general, having been nearly exterminated by the indiscriminate wholesale slaughter by out-of-control city hunters. When we first arrived, there were virtually no small birds at all.
"Of course the garden here is very much our own personal one, but being a professional landscape architect, I try to practice the things that I preach. With regard to trying out ideas here, of course I do in the areas where it is feasible – largely concerning the resistance of plants to drought, heat, cold, heavy clay and light sand (our other type of soil), as well as other practical aspects such as different ways of planting, mulching, soil preparation etc. I never try things at total random, in as far as that which I try, I have a fairly good idea will succeed. What is of interest to me in these fields is the degree of success. And, of course, as far as my professional work goes, there’s no room for much experimentation and none whatsoever for guesswork."
If one changes a few words here and there, it sounds like Peter is talking about raising a child (or, for that matter, how to make a marriage work) doesn’t it? The attention to detail, the quality time required, the fact that there are no substitutes for the real thing, the acceptance of certain unchanging principles, the hard work, the protectiveness, the nurturing, the letting go when the time comes – isn’t this what it is like to raise children?
After a delicious lunch personally prepared by Peter and Coy, warmed by the lazy Tuscan sun and by the bonhomie around me, I sat and watched the Holmeses and the newlyweds for whom our lunch had been organized. I was witnessing a snapshot of two marriages: one that was just beginning and one that has weathered the many challenges that life brings and has survived intact. The newlyweds had only to study the Holmeses’ garden to understand what it takes to make a marriage work and raise a family: patience, determination, grit, compromise, and, most of all, love.
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