COACH Pat Dye’s
Japanese Maples By Katie Jackson; Photos by Darryl Gates
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t began as a fascination. It became a passion. It is now a garden that honors the beauty and charm of Japanese maples. Quail Hollow Gardens, which was carved out of a privet- and honeysuckle-covered hillside at Crooked Oaks plantation in Macon County, sprang from the vision of former Auburn football coach and long-time Japanese maple devotee Pat Dye. The gardens, says Dye, are his “dream come true.” Dye first became enamored of Japanese maples in 1981 when a landscaper planted one at Dye’s house in Auburn. Dye so adored that “gorgeous” tree that, when he moved from the Auburn house years later, he considered digging up the tree and taking it with him. Though he resisted the urge to move it, he remains captivated by its spell, so much so that he still stops by his former yard to check on the tree’s growth and well-being. Fully smitten with Japanese maples, Dye began collecting them and was intrigued by the diversity of leaf patterns and color, bark and growth habits that abound among these remarkable trees. Each tree, says Dye, has its own personality, and new personalities are constantly being added to Dye’s collection. In February 2009, work began on a home for the collection as Dye, his partner in life and in business Nancy McDonald, and their small but dedicated staff set to work turning that jungle-like hillside into Quail Hollow Gardens. Today, the hillside is home to some 100 Japanese maple cultivars that share the landscape with cedars, oaks, poplars, bay trees and other botanical beauties, all planted around a 250-yard water feature
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| OCTOBER 2010 | Alabama Living