Aunt Elva's Garden

Aunt Elva and Uncle Lem lived in a white, colonial style home at the end of a long gravel driveway which ran next to the property line. I can still remember the crunch of the gravel under the wheels of our car as we approached the house. I now live on the southern Oregon coast where gravel driveways are the norm, but they still sound like Aunt Elva's driveway.

When I look at photographs of Aunt Elva's front lawn, I am in awe of its size. I think that Uncle Lem mowed the lawn when he was younger and I can't remember if he had a power mower. The house was built in 1940; power mowers were quite new then, so Uncle Lem may have used a push mower. I am mainly remembering the house in the early 1960's when a local boy mowed the lawn and I am sure that the boy didn't use a riding mower. Maintaining that lawn must have been a lot of work, especially since the lawn sloped and was dotted with European white birches (Betula pendula ) and European hazelnuts (Corylus avellana).

At the end of the driveway, opposite the garage, was a rock garden. It wasn't a real rock garden, it was a low retaining wall made of used bricks, but it was planted with alpine flowers. There were steps leading through the rock garden to the neighbor's property. I vividly remember going up those steps and taking a narrow path to the neighbor's Tudor style home. That path always seemed like I was entering an illustration in a book of fairytales.

There was a small patio on the other side of the house. This was connected with the dining area by French doors, but I can't recall ever eating out there. The patio was mainly used as a bird feeding area. My main memory of this part of the garden is of the tall shrubs which protected the patio from the neighbor's view. I don't remember what sort of shrub they were, but I loved sitting under them; that was my secret place.