“All gardens are a form of autobiography,” said the late, great Bob Dash, who began ‘writing’ his own into the soil of Sagaponack in 1967 — a story those at the Madoo Conservancy have continued in the dozen years since Dash’s death and the four decades the public has been welcomed into his two-acre botanical sanctuary.
While Madoo prepares to open for its 41st season on April 18, The Star checked in with its executive director, Alejandro Saralegui, to find out what’s new at Madoo.
The East Hampton Star: Can we start by talking about how the Christmas tree composting program went in terms of sourcing fresh mulch for 2025?
Alejandro Saralegui: This was our second year accepting Christmas trees after the holiday and it was very successful. Broadview Gardens, who does the chipping, had to come twice! It’s modeled after a program from the city I thought could be good for the community and for us as well since it cuts down on waste.
E.H.S.: How many trees were donated this year?
A.S.: I would guess 40 trees. I did see someone who has a Christmas tree lot unloading a truck one day, which was kind of funny — there was nothing malicious about it — but just so folks know the program is for homeowners, not businesses.
E.H.S.: Speaking of fresh, isn’t there a new visitors’ center coming to Madoo this year?
A.S.: Yes! This is a super exciting project for us. The new building will house a gift shop, a horticultural reference library, and two bathrooms, one of which is A.D.A. compliant. ‘The Loo’ public restroom had fallen into disrepair, and not due to neglect — we’d re-roofed it — they were just two itinerant blueberry-type sheds Bob had pushed together with a modern connector between, so this was one of those things that had been percolating in our brains for a while and it seemed like a good year to do it. [The architect] Kitty McCoy from our board designed a virtual copy of the old loo building because Bob really cared that Madoo was historic and old. One of the sheds was the first place he slept in the first summer he lived here with a Sterno and tomatoes from the farmer next door, just puttering about and painting and cleaning up, so it’s got this great history, and other than an extra window and one set of doors being a little different, it will be just like the old one, except now it’ll be accessible to those with mobility issues. There’s also a garden component to this project because we need to get people from the street to the welcome center with the A.D.A. bathroom, so that’s going to take a lot of landscaping. LaGuardia Design Associates and Whitmores, which now includes Piazza Horticultural as a nature-based branch, are helping us re-landscape the sort of woodland area west of the pond, so it’ll be this beautiful walkway that includes a walkway that was there, so it’s not intrusive. It still feels historic with towering trees that Bob planted as one-foot saplings.
E.H.S.: Can you talk more about work in the gardens, including planned changes and new additions?
A.S.: Last year we experimented with a robotic lawn mower — named Barnsley after Bob Dash’s Norwich terrier — on the Summer House lawn. It was a great success, so we’re looking forward to getting another one for the back garden where the Rill is located.
E.H.S.: What new programs and initiatives are most exciting to you?
A.S.: We are very excited about our summer exhibitions, including a historical one about the intersection of the artists, writers, and farmers in Sagaponack, set for July, curated by Justin Spring, and Aug. 9 we’re opening an exhibition of works by Ugo Rondinone. Parts of Sagaponack’s history are sort of disappearing, so with the first one, we want to remind people what is so special about this place. For a long time, the community was made up of farmers, summer people, and, oddly enough, this combination of writers and artists living along Sagg Main, and it wasn’t just Bob Dash: It was Charles Addams, Truman Capote, Kurt Vonnegut — John Chamberlain was here for a couple of summers — just a really interesting mix of people all going to the Sagg Store. Jill Krementz, the widow of Kurt Vonnegut, taking pictures; Sheridan Lord picking up his mail at the post office. There are still artists here like Steve Miller and Jill, but not as many as there used to be, so we want to celebrate that aspect of Sagaponack. We’ve been thinking about it for quite a while, but since the renovation of the Sagg store has been going on, which the owners have been doing an incredible job with — they’ve just got to get the post office and themselves in there — you’ve got interest in the [village] this year. We want to tie that all into the show.
E.H.S.: Any dates folks ought to keep in mind as we head into the season?
A.S.: The garden opens to the public April 18 and our first big event of the summer, Much Ado About Madoo, is on Saturday, June 14. We like to think of it as the most beautiful party of the summer. During the day it’s a garden market with 30 vendors selling homeware, clothing, garden accessories, and plants, then in the evening it turns into a cocktail party with catering by Canard from the city.