The Fat Lady is Singing

The big yard and the Friendship Cactus Garden

One of my favorite hymns is "In the Garden," which says, "I come to the garden alone, while the dew is still on the roses, And the sound I hear falling on my ear The Son of God discloses." This hymn was sung at my father's funeral, and I sang it in his honor the spring I directed the church choir. Whenever my mother came to stay with me, I played this hymn and sang it for her, which I also did the Sunday before she died. Although there are no roses in my new garden, perhaps, some day, someone will sing this hymn in my honor--maybe while standing in my new garden!

Although it may not be completely finished, the landscape is close enough to call it. Although it may not be professionally landscaped, it’s just what I had in mind and I’m satisfied with the end product. Although it may not look like the pictures in the landscaping books, it looks like my yard—not someone else’s yard replicated a thousand times, but my yard.

The Friendship Cactus Garden is totally hands-off as far as upkeep goes. There are little drippers throughout the garden where they need to be, set on a timer that takes care of the right amount of water at the right rate and at the right time. Using the big pots to anchor the concept and keeping it simple adds to the effectiveness of the environment. I’m considering some mild night lighting, such as solar lights, in key places, but am going to continue to think about that before doing it.

The big yard is peaceful. At each of the viewing spots, the landscape looks different, but it’s quiet, simple, and more natural than artificial. The birdbath adds a touch of water, but not too much, which is what the desert is all about. Big Rock rests in a hole just a bit too deep to be a bench, but it’s perfect for children to either climb or sprawl across. The benches are going to be coated with linseed oil and then left natural as they look just right as they are. With the fairy lights on in the entry area, the whole yard takes on a special glow at night. Again, one solar light by the birdbath may be the one accent that’s missing.

The only change I would make to the garden areas is a few larger rocks. My design featured one large rock in each garden, and that’s not there. We tried to get the big rock for the big yard, but 3 large, strong men could not get it into the truck, so we went to Plan B. We left room to add the big rock to the Cactus Garden, if and when I can make that happen. I may add a few other rocks here and there as it occurs to me, but the design needs to stay simple and uncluttered to work.

Because we chose young plants, the total concept will continue to develop as the plants mature and grow into their spaces. It looks a bit bare now, but by next year, the plants will have established and filled their space and look perfect. There are touches of color, but nothing that will jump out and grab the attention away from the total garden areas.

We began the project at 7 AM and the guys left at 7 PM, so there was a lot of work completed in 12 hours of steady, intense labor. We need to add more of the rock coating to the big yard, fix a bug with the watering system, and slightly redo the first area I created to match the rest of the environment we’ve created. If the city would do its part and add curbs and sidewalks, my home would look finished, but that won’t come for another couple of years. Now, there is bare sand between the wall and the asphalt: ugly, at best.

The fat lady is sitting on her bench and singing!