Garden of Nemesis: The Life and Times of the One Tree Garden

2005 BEFORE ONE TREE GARDEN

Back in 2005, before I ever thought about the One Tree Garden or the Bird's Nest Tree, I was driving nearby in an old part of town and saw earth-moving equipment at work. I had heard about the new project to demolish an old nursing home on the river and replace it with condos, so out of curiosity, I pulled over. I spotted a huge pile of limestone, exactly the rock I had been using to build my garden beds. It looked like free to me. I love curb shopping.

2005 STONE FROM THATCHER BLAKE HOME

I walked out into the fray and got the attention of the young man operating a front-end loader and he turned it off to speak to me. We can only guess what he thought of this crazy woman. He was very nice and explained the pile of rock was what was left when the guys from the local museum finished excavating the very first home built in our small city. I was very excited and asked him if I could have some. He looked around a little nervously and said, “Well, I’m only going to bury it, sure”

2005 OCTOBER BIRD'S NEST TREE

I pulled up with my pickup truck and began throwing into the bed whatever a small, almost- elderly woman could handle. The young man motioned for me to get out of the way and proceeded to use his machine to lift a pile and dump it into my truck. The weight was obvious and flattened the rear tires. I flapped my arms and dipped my head in thanks and took off with my loot.

2007 ONE TREE GARDEN

When I got home, my sweet husband just shook his head. I told him we needed to think this over carefully, because wherever we pushed the rocks off the truck would be their permanent home. He told me it was my decision; he passed the buck. We pulled in the front gate, backed up and created the little One Tree Garden. Now all I needed was the perfect tree.