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Announcer: This is a Getty
podcast.

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[Theme music begins]

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Lilit Sadoyan: Hi, I’m
Lilit Sadoyan, the host of

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OMMM: Our Museum Mindfulness

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Meditation podcast, Getty’s
first video podcast.

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Welcome to this
deeper dive, where we

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explore the themes of our
weekly episodes with experts

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in everything from paintings

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conservation to
mountain climbing.

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Brian Houck: The planning,
the technical aspects are

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ego-filled, um, exercises, and

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then yet, gardeners
tend to approach this

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as a soulful activity.

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Sadoyan: This week, we did
a flowing water meditation

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inspired by Robert Irwin’s

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Central Garden at
the Getty Center.

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I spoke with Brian Houck,
Getty’s Director of

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Grounds and Gardens, to get
his unique perspectives on

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the Central Garden and his

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philosophies on gardening.

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Now let’s dive in.

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Hi, Brian.

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Thank you so much
for joining us today.

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Houck: Hi, Lilit.

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It’s good to be here.

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Thanks for talking to me.

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Sadoyan: Brian, in the flowing
water meditation episode of

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this podcast, we focused on

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Robert Irwin’s Central Garden
here at the Getty Center.

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I know that Robert Irwin was

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very intentional about the
flow of water in the garden.

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So could you please
tell us a little

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bit more about that?

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Houck: The water is
a principal feature.

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So as you walk down
through the stream, you

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cross the water
in four locations.

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There are four bridges.

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He arranged these very large

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boulders very specifically.

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Um, he had great
fun placing them.

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So the sound of the water

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cascading over the rocks would
be different in each location.

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And as you move through the
stream, and then you sort of

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approach the bowl section,

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there’s a waterfall, and then
that opens up into a very sort

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of tranquil pond at the azalea

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maze.

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So the water carries you
through the entire experience

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and changes if you’re

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looking for that
kind of feature.

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Sadoyan: So you mentioned
flowers, and I know that the

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Central Garden is a living

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work of art.

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Not only does it have that
sort of stream that runs

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through it, but its natural

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elements are also
constantly changing.

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Could you please speak
about the work that

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goes into maintaining a garden
of this scale and of this scope?

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Houck: This garden
is completely unique.

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Uh, I’ve not seen any
other garden designed

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like it.

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The perennial beds
are very deep.

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There are two of them that
flank either side of the

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stream.

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You not only see them from
the front, you see them

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from the back, you see

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them from the side.

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And so managing the blooming
and the care of all of these

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perennials according to their
season throughout the entire

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length of this garden is really

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quite a trick for
the crew to do.

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Sadoyan: And how do you
all keep it so visually

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appealing all the time?

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Houck: Thank you
for saying that.

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[laughs] That is—the
difficult thing that we do.

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It’s a lot of documentation,
it’s a lot of scheduling, it’s

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a lot of adjusting to whatever

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climate is happening
at that time.

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Gardeners live, you know,
six, 12 months in advance,

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and so we’re always working
to plan, plant at the right

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time, and it–it requires us

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gathering the right materials,
knowing exactly when to

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put them in the ground, and

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coordinating when
they might bloom.

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So I’m glad, very glad
to hear that you think

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we’re achieving our goals.

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Sadoyan: Definitely.

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Um, and what about the
flexibility and the

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adaptability that goes

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into being responsive to the
changing seasons and adapting

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to different types of plants

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that have various
requirements, keeping them

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all alive and thriving?

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Houck: Well, if you’ve ever been
around a group of gardeners,

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all they do is talk about

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the weather.

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So, “Oh, it’s a warm winter.
Oh, it’s a cool winter.

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Oh, we have a lot of rain.

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We don’t have a little rain.”
So we’re all focused on what

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is exactly changing for what we

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believe to be a normal cycle.

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Um, and of course, plants
don’t read the books.They don’t

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know what they’re
supposed to do.

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So we’re always observing,
taking that in, and trying

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to adjust.

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We have some tricks that we
can do, a little water—little

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more water, a little

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less water, a little
more fertilizer, a

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little less fertilizer.

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It’s a challenge.

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Sadoyan: Definitely.

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Um, remaining adaptable
and flexible, um,

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it seems to me would

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be the–the beauty of the
practice of, um, gardening.

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And so on a more philosophical
level, how do you as a

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gardener and plant expert
approach impermanence in nature?

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Houck: Yeah.

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Well, it is something
that we grapple with

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in an existential way.

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The—you know, 

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the planning, the technical 
aspects

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are ego-filled, um,
exercises, and then yet

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gardeners tend to approach
this as a soulful activity.

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So if you stay, pardon the pun,

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rooted in that mindset, it
helps you get through those

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moments when something didn’t
occur as you expected it to.

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For example, we have ranunculus
bulbs, and they have roots

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that we call fingers that

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point down, and if the fingers
don’t get planted down or

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get up or sideways, the

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ranunculus is not gonna grow.

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Sadoyan: Mm.

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Houck: So part of our challenge
is to work with all of the

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crew to have the diligence in

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every moment of care, so
when you’re planting 3–400

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ranunculus bulbs, each one of

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them is set correctly.

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And the depth is important,
because if soil gets

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on top of that bulb,
then it’s likely to rot

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out.

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There’s a lot of care.

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Sadoyan: Fascinating.

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And I can tell you really
care for the garden.

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Do you have a favorite 

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flower or plant or
feature of the Central Garden?

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Houck: It’s very difficult
for me to say I have

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a favorite flower.

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Typically, I have a
favorite flower of the week.

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[laughs] Um, they
change quite a bit.

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But

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one of my favorites down
there is the Brugmansia.

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It’s sometimes
called the Angel’s Trumpet.

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It is a poisonous plant, so
when you hear the angel’s

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trumpet, that’s not a

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good thing.

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Um, but it also is a
highly fragrant bell-shaped

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flower, and the smell only

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comes out at night because
it’s bat pollinated.

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So it’s attracting its friend,
you know, for pollination.

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Sadoyan: Well, that’s
fascinating, and I hope that our

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listeners and viewers can come

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and enjoy the beauty
and the intimacy of the

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Central Garden in person.

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Thank you so much, Brian, 

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for joining us today.

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Houck: Thank you.

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It’s been my pleasure.

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[Theme music begins]

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Sadoyan: To find the related
meditation and see images,

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transcripts, and additional

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resources, visit our website
at getty dot edu slash ommm.

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That’s O-M-M-M.

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This episode was produced by
Zoe Goldman and Gideon Brower.

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Mixing and sound

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design by Jaime Roque.

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Christopher Sprinkle
is executive producer.

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[Music fades]