Wow! That is a fabulous piece of property. I really like the shot of the front entrance with the birches and ornamental tree. I think I might see some tropicals on the right side, but they don't stick out that much to me. They seem to blend in and contribute to the overall lushness (this might change when at the site). I think it seems appropriate to the location and does a good job of grounding the house in its setting. But I would be interested to hear others' opinions on this.

The backyard in general seems a little too 'done' to me, and the tropicals that I can see (a couple of yucca or agave along the back wall and on the slope - I don't see the palms or bananas) probably contribute to that. There are many somewhat randomly placed shrubs (not in a bad way, but to create an impression of naturalness), but then they are pruned a bit too perfectly. When you look at the shot of the whole rear slope, everything is separated and has sharply defined edges, rather than growing into each other. To me the genus loci of the site calls for something more naturalistic (and it is probably my own personal taste as well.) In this case, I would probably move the tropicals somewhere else and let the whole landscape grow out a bit, maybe simplifying the plantings a bit as well. I also agree with woodyoak that maybe the tropicals could be grouped together in one spot. I might put them close to the house, though, rather than framing the view, as the house is the most 'man-made' element and the landscape becomes gradually more natural from there.

Yeah, now that I look at those photos more carefully, they really don't show any of the tropicals. And those pics must have been taken some time ago as the landscape is much fuller - there is NO bare ground to be seen!! It is either not visible because the shrubs have grown together or there is groundcover covering the surface. With the exception of the beach....which is imported sand.....we don't have many sandy beaches in this area :-) And with the exception of some boxwood balls, nothing is really very carefully pruned. I normally would not favor the boxwood balls but they mimic some carved granite spheres sited nearby and I really like the juxtaposition of the organic balls contrasting with the non-organic balls!!

If I can provide some context to the tropicals......there are a handful of 20' or so palms planted behind where the photo showing the pond boardwalk is taken from. They are planted in front of a screening wall of tall timber bamboo but this is surrounded by both dawn and coast redwoods. To me, these look hugely out of place. There is a another, single tall palm located close to the front entry (just to the right) behind the 100 year old witch hazel (you can just barely see it peeking above the witch hazel if you enlarge that one - photo #2). I think it looks ridiculous there! And finally there is a grouping of hardy bananas and a couple of smaller palms along the side of the house behind a collection of evergreen shrubs, mostly rhodies. Rhodies and bananas together???? I just don't get it.

btw, no yuccas or agaves :-) There are a couple of NZ flax (phormiums) but these don't register to me as tropical and I don't find them at all jarring.

Personally, I think the house is a bit over the top but that's more an expression of my personal taste. That wine cellar is bigger than my entire living space!!

To me the jarring aspect is the array of built elements - bridges, walkways, steps, etc - that together with the diversity of plantings add up to a miniature golf course or - sorry - disneyland quality. There are too many foci shouting for equal attention and not a unified design.

I didn't see any of the accused outsider plants so can't comment on those. If and when I see them I will probably give more weight to how they are used rather than what they are. Sometimes, "out of place" things can be used in an effective way.

In general, while I'm sure anyone IN the space would be delighted to be there, there's quite a bit of landscaping that seems in conflict with a goal of providing the maximum awesome setting for the house, the overall look being a bit cluttered. If the picture of the front entrance were taken when leaves were on the tree, I think the overall effect of the grandness of the home front would be vastly diminished. In spite of the seemingly negative comments (that's what I'm here for) I'd be happy to move in on Saturday!

To the last two remarks, just let me say that you can't really appreciate the scale of the property from the photos. This is a huge landscape - the planted gardens are nearly 4 acres in total and you can't even see the house from a majority of them. The driveway is nearly a 1/4 mile in length. Think of a botanical garden with various quite large and spacious garden rooms, each with a slightly different but connected theme and their own focal point. Or not. This is not your average landscaped yard :-)

I don't really mind any negative comments. It's not my place :-) And I'm not at all sure I would approach the mission in the same manner. And to offer a contrary opinion, I think the house needs toning down - it is also enormous and very much in your face - and I believe the landscape immediately adjacent to the house does this to good effect. The house seems less glaringly "grand" behind a somewhat lacy foliar screen. The beachfront side is even more imposing and overwhelming as it has far less 'scaping to soften it. But you can't really see it from that perspective unless on a boat out on the water. Or from the drone's eye view of the photos. Actually viewing the property from a strolling perspective, the structure really needs the landscape to ground it and bring it down to a human scale - otherwise it is just this enormous wood and glass fortress.

As others have noted, the tropical plants cannot really be seen in these photos, but I have a general dislike for inappropriate plants. From the photos, I dislike the boxwood -- both orbs and neatly pruned edging. If the new homeowners truly love them, I'd say they serve a purpose, but otherwise they add an uptight quality that doesn't fit. As for the structures, I'd have to see how they work in a broader context -- I would lean toward just one, but with plants growing in around them and as the wood ages, they might work -- I wouldn't rush to get rid of them, but I wouldnt like such elements to stand out as they do in these photos. As a native Oregonian, I love Pacific Rim gardens -- towering firs with understories of small, deciduous trees and large shrubs, with gravel and fir needle pathways and a minimum of lawns. My preference is toward a much wilder look, but that would hardly fit the house.There are many elements in this landscape that work beautifully, but over time I would want to edit the more civilized and encourage the natural, playing up the sense of place.

What a stunning setting. Funny, I was just noticing some smaller palms in a landscape around a restaurant here last night and wondered why, as I do every time I see them used. I can appreciate the contrasting shapes and textures from so many of our softly shaped plants, but they look like someone transplanted from CA was just missing their more tropical plants. It's always odd and jarring to me to see them used here. Plus, they are often marginally hearty, so why risk that when there are so many completely gorgeous things that grow well here and won't be killed or maimed by an unusual cold snap.

Judging from the interior, in particular the bedrooms and baths, I pick up on a yearning for Indonesia or perhaps Sri Lanka, which may be a connection expressed with the palms and bananas. Just as the buyers will paint and furnish the interior to their own liking, so may they do with the landscape. The only palm I picked up on was the single Trachycarpus near the entry, buried as it is among other plants, I think you are a wee bit oversensitive to the issue. And very tall Trachycarpus can be seen in Tokyo, fronting an ancient temple, no less, so it doesn't seem so out of place to me. (Edit: In fact the ubiquitous Japanese scrub brush, the tawashi, is made from the palm's fibers.) Don't be concerned about the bananas -- winter may kill them. And if they return, well... good for them, but it will be up to the owners to decide to keep or replace. Maybe the sellers moved to Bali or Hawaii.

Fashion, whether in clothing, home décor, or gardens, is a personal expression. The seller's expression is apparently more exuberant and experimental than your own. No harm, no foul. Some people will forever wear a black turtleneck and jeans, while someone else will never shed the aloha shirt, shorts, and flipflops, while another will reinvent his/her look every season like a chameleon. Joy to your family members for their new acquisition and all they do to make the home their own personal expression.

The previous owners moved only a few miles away but across Puget Sound. So no Bali or Indonesia in their future unless on vacation :-) And the bananas are also about 20' tall and not at all fazed by the very mild winters we have in this area. If they go, it's by intent!

Just to provide a little more context, my family members that have purchased this property know sweet FA about gardening, which is why they had me come ID all the plants. They wouldn't know a Japanese maple from a dogwood!! The new owner was concerned about the lack of native plants - why I am not sure, as there are plenty of west coast natives on the property although primarily as backdrop. And many of our local natives are not very suitable for a cultivated, landscaped garden, as they are rather messy, weedy looking plants that only look appropriate in the woods were they are commonly found. Once that was explained, he was less concerned.

Actually, HE is the one that wants to be rid of the palms and bananas and I think you might have deduced I tend to agree with him :-) Beyond that, no radical changes in the landscape will be taking place. The bulk of the landscape was created by an extremely well-respected and accomplished local team of designers with a continental reputation and I am hesitant to tread on their professional toes :-))

I hope they have money for staff. A place like this can go downhill very fast without routine (and knowledgeable) maintenance. It's worth living with the existing garden for awhile to be sure he wants the palms removed. 20' tall palms like that take many, many years to reach that height, and are expensive to install -- encourage the nephew to be respectful of their age and donate them to another garden if he really wants to remove them. --That's if they are Trachycarpus, with the fibrous trunk. If the palms are Washingtonia, no mercy required.

Geeze, buying 4 landscaped acres and knowing FA about caring for it, would be a daunting task indeed. I hope he has the time and means . . . otherwise all bets are off for everything.

What would I do? I would convince them to have me be their live-in gardener.

Like others, I didn't really notice the offending plants. There is a lot of maintenance in that complicated garden. If the place was mine, I would probably simplify just to ease up on the workload and visual clutter. But, if I lived there, I probably could afford help and like visual clutter.

In fairness, I think some of our criticisms might be tempered if we could see it without the house lit up like a dollhouse. Why do realtors do that?! Please give us a tour on a misty morning so we can experience the magic.

Though based on my own personal taste I likely would remove the palms, I also agree with kiminpl that it's an individual choice. Since in this case the owner thinks they should go, then so be it. But I would second the opinion that they should be sold or given to a good home, since even if they don't fit the space it sounds as though they are venerable and valuable plants in an of themselves.

But, aside from the issue of the tropicals, I still think it's over the top - like others have said, there's too much going on. The kitchen forum here has a saying 'too many clowns' for when there are too many eye-catching elements that compete with one another. Isn't there a theory in landscape design that you need to give the eye somewhere to rest? Am I right that this landscape doesn't achieve that, and if so, how would one nudge it in that direction (assuming that, as gardengal says, it's going to remain largely in tact)?

Thanks for all the comments - it was interesting to see some other viewpoints. I apologize for the less than useful photos - they don't really show the offending plants in their context and no doubt that is tempering many of the replies. And they really don't illustrate the scope of the property properly as well - it is not nearly as "busy" as the photos would suggest - they kind of homed in on the more significant features and few photos of the gardens are taken at an appropriate distance to get a proper 'feel'. Despite the photo impression, it is really a very tranquil and restful sort of place - very Zen in most areas. And that feeling is missing from the real estate photos. I promise to post other, better photos down the road.

There are trends in all aspects of design and that appears to be what happened here. The landscape seems to have been designed in the tropical plant boom. We have entered a "native" plant period where prairie plants are installed on former elevated subway lines in the northeast far from any prairie (and called "natural!" by some) That awareness of trends may have been part of your nephew's question. The best of these fashions last and become enduring resources for property owners. Some fade into oblivion.

As a general approach I tend to distinguish between landscapes and gardens. Both are designed spaces but to me a garden is a much more collected space that is made of natural elements but clearly and distinctly set apart from nature. Think medieval cloister garden ( or the High Line!) A landscape is our effort at greater perfection - a space that feels like being in nature but, because of careful and sometimes hidden editing and shaping, more engaging for us. It is more delightful, more comforting and/or more beautiful than a completely spontaneous natural setting. Each has its place and both seem to have been accommodated on your site.

To me if someone loves bananas and palms far removed from their native setting that is fine, but in a garden, not in a landscape. Trying to intergrate them into a landscape, rather than highlight them in a garden, seems challenging.