The Leather Oaks Garden -- Winter and Spring 1999

The Rebuilding and reGreening Photos!

This Page Created on January 19th, 2008

     The first thing that Mark asked when I told him the big pine near Rubber Creek had fallen through my house was not how I fared.
     Of course, he did have a vested interest. His imagination had turned the pedestrian back yard into my Magic Garden!
      He sent me to a couple of places to research possible replacements, as they way he saw it, I had broken the contract by letting harm fall to the tree that was a significant contributer to the path the Rubber Creek had to traverse.
     One place over on the river had a ten or fifteen foot wooden structure that was somehow related to their water well. I liked the basic shape, a sort of modified pyramid. But no way was I going to do more high-maintenance wood!
      My friend and I picked up a whole van-load of grey PVC, and I went to work. The link is to a closeup photo of the foundation alone. The foundation is no doubt overbuilt. Mike likes to see people mix sackrete by hand, is the only reason I can think of that the base was so rugged!

I wish now that I had made this thing another four or five feet taller, but felt constricted by the ten foot sections of the PVC.
At the time it seemed immense, and it was with relief that I found that it was going to fit in the carefully set foundation!

     Dot brought her friend by at an opportune time! I had just discovered that while the foundation and tower did indeed match, they didn't exactly fit square.
      I needed someone to add their weight while I drilled mounting holes through tower base and pillars. Of course, this photo was posed after the tower was safely installed!
     This photo does serve another purpose, in that it was made after Mike had repaired the huge crater he had made to get the pine tree removed, but before anything had been replanted in the area.

Hurricane Georges had really been very kind with the Leather Oaks pond, but a heavy freeze that winter was another story.
This photo was made in February or March, 1999 after the damaged growth had been removed.

A two month engineering trip to Denver kept me away from my yard for a critical growing period! Isn't it amazing what a few weeks of daily watering can do to freshly-laid St Augustine sod?
I wonder if this stuff could be harvested as hay?

Well, it does appear that the pond is doing okay through its period of neglect.

Leather Oaks pond is situated in such a shady area that flowers are not that frequent. This spring upon my return, I was able to capture a water lily in bloom. I know nothing about its name, as I found it in a ditch by the Interstate. in Truth!
There is a closeup available by clicking the link.

And the Leather Oaks Memorial Bell Tower? Did that installation ever get completed?
Here's a photo made near dusk just after I got back from Denver. It appears to be naturalizing rather well. Those little black thingies are light sensors for the garden path lights. They were't as obvious on the bark of a pine treee.

Well, I should know what this flower is, but the information escapes me.
Must have been some bulbs mixed amongst the tall, decorative grasses.

The Magic Tunnel was looking more mysterious in this photo. Fog in June? Well, I guess it could have been.

One last photo of the luxuriant effect of uncut grass! Of course, this photo was made in the Southwest corner of the yard. I think it took about three mowings before the area looked halfway presentable again.