What is unique about this front yard is the sculpture garden. The owner’s mother, Siv Cedering, is a Pushcart Prize winning poet. When she died several years ago, the decision was made to honor her by installing her "poetry sculptures" to be enjoyed by family, friends and neighbors. They removed all of the grass.
The sculpture in the photograph above greets visitors as they approach the front door. It is hung above a fountain and looks out on a driveway of octagonal slabs of cement. When the driveway was originally conceived in 2000, grass was planted between the slabs, and it required watering. Now, river stones separate the slabs.
A large sculpture consisting of engraved stepping-stones and small boulders fills the front yard and the strip that separates the street from the sidewalk. Bark mulch and scattered plantings of succulents, which only require light watering once a week, replace the grass. Visitors discover the playful sculpture by stepping on stones that are each engraved with one word - "In", "My", "Garden", "There", "Is" - which lead them to engraved boulders. On the front of one you read, " A TIGER" and on the back, "LILY"; other engravings include A QUEEN/BEE, A BIG BULL/FROG, A DRAGON/FLY/ A POLKA DOTTED LADY/ BUG.
According to the owner, "It feels great to cut down on water usage knowing we live in a desert. Beautiful spaces can be made without using much of it. And there is nothing better than seeing children and adults who didn’t know her discover the writings on the stones and delight in my mother's love of both nature and language!”
