NOTASULGA – You might remember Coach Pat Dye from his days as Auburn’s tough as nails head football coach, or you might know him from his popular weekly radio show, but what you might not know is that he is the owner of an amazing Japanese maple farm not far from Notasulga, Alabama. That’s just down the road from Loachapoka, Alabama, but just to make it clear, let’s just say about 20 miles from Auburn.
Coach Dye was a two-time All-American football player at the University of Georgia, who spent nine years as assistant coach at the University of Alabama under Bear Bryant and 11 years as head coach at Auburn University, forever leaving his mark on the university and its football program. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2005.
When he decided to retire from coaching, Dye went from the arena to the arboretum. There, he has created a place of serenity and peace, although he is always working, planting, transplanting and promoting his dream farm. However, it is a labor of love because he says that in all his 27 years of coaching and then after close to 20 years of turning almost a thousand acres of farmland into one of the most beautiful sites you’ve ever seen, that he’s never worked a day in his life.
Other folks might retire and sit on the porch, reliving their glory days, but not Coach Dye. Instead, he looked at the land around him and saw not the fields stretching before him, but what this land could be. He had a vision.
The vision involved digging a lot of holes…
So, with his famous incredible and dogged determination, he proceeded to dig more holes than you could find in a prairie dog town, filling them with trees. And what trees he has produced!
When he bought Crooked Oaks Farm in the early 80s, there were nothing but fields as far as the eye could see. “I’ve planted every tree on this place,” he pointed out. That’s an incredible accomplishment, when you look at the area now, because it resembles an ancient forest which has been cleared of underbrush, with tall pines, cedars and oaks forming a canopy for the more tender Japanese maples, which are, in a word, glorious.
It’s also sort of amazing how this man, best known for his genius on the gridiron, can rattle off the Latin names and the individual attributes of each variety, and let me tell you, there are hundreds of varieties of Japanese maples!
In one direction shafts of light filter down on a chartreuse green so brilliant that it seems to almost shine from within. “Moonrise” is only one of hundreds of varieties, totaling almost 7,000 trees, each one of which he has either potted or planted. One variety, Murasaki kiyohime, grows in a globular shape, much like the way we trim our boxwoods, except that closer inspection reveals tiny maple leaves.
This isn’t one of those ‘weekend’ or ‘hobby’ farms that you’ve heard about, it’s a working farm, and there are only three men, including Coach Dye, who maintain everything here. Crooked Oaks Farm and Quail Hollow Gardens have made a metamorphosis from a small tree farm to an enterprise that includes a beautifully appointed lodge, rustic cabins, a nursery, lakes, waterfalls and a wedding venue that will take your breath away. The wedding site overlooks rushing waterfalls and carefully nurtured landscaping which Coach takes care to keep as natural as possible. “I don’t want it to look manicured and pristine,” he said, “I want it to look natural.”
And he has accomplished just that. Visitors are amazed when he shows them a site that resembles a glowing fire in a small valley where Coach has planted an unusual grove of Fireglow and Tamuke Yama trees, which look for all the world like fire balls on huge torches. Even in mid-summer, in southwest Alabama, when a lot of trees turn green for protection from scorching, these are ablaze with red, orange and yellow leaves on each tree.
Caught against an azure blue sky, the picture is one of heartbreaking beauty. “I’ll tell you what it’s like here,” mused Coach Dye. “You get up every morning and see a picture that changes all day long.”
He constantly works to improve the land, creating even more stunning focal points with trees, water and rocks. He also maintains this land as a hunting preserve for deer, wild turkey and quail.
In addition, you’ll hear the bray of donkeys, and see horses grazing contentedly in a nearby pasture, and everywhere, the sight of a different and even more spectacular Japanese maple in the distance, beckoning you to come and investigate its color, texture, shape and size.
Coach Dye found a high spot in the perfect place to build his home here. The rustic structure perches above a lake filled with Canada geese that come paddling up for a handout when he steps out on the dock.
The house itself sits gently on a rise, looking like it’s just always been there. So much does Coach Dye enjoy trees that he brought several into the house. No, not in containers to display, but incorporated with careful artistry by a rock mason into the very walls.
“We had to bring the whole tree in here and turn it to find the right fit,” Coach explained, pointing to the way one limb curves gently around his media center. Another tree trunk features limbs that arch over his fireplace. It’s a rugged, yet comfortable room, much like Coach himself, who has a reputation for being tough and crusty, but it’s obvious when he talks about his longtime partner, Nancy, that he’s just an ol’ softie at heart.
Returning to the farm tour, he points out the ‘family circle’ he built for the children and grandchildren. “See the cedar in the very center?” he asks, pointing in the direction of a lone tree holding center stage in the labyrinth of concentric circles. “The spirit of the cedar means peace and love,” he said softly.
On a hilltop sits a magnificent lodge, a place he created for entertaining. Beside it he built a large pavilion where weddings and other special events are held. As he added each structure, garden, lake and waterfall he became astutely aware that he is planting and providing a place for people who will never know him, never know just how much of his heart and soul he has poured into this place, nor the joy and the immense pleasure he has had in creating it for future generations to enjoy.
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For more information on Coach Pat Dye you can read his latest book, “After the Arena” with a forward by Bo Jackson. For more information on Quail Hollow Gardens and Crooked Oak Farm, visit Coach Pat Dye’s Crooked Oak Farm on Facebook or visit http://www.coachpatdye.com.
For detailed directions to Quail Hollow Farms, contact Lynn Higgings at lynn@coachpatdye.com.
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