the start of the Zen Garden; aka the first Zen moment

I see this as an art installation. Some call it gardening. I call it art. But my long-range vision is more about the art than the plants. So I feel it belongs here. Below is a before shot of the tiny little plot of land. The picture below that is after about 3 hours of work. As it progresses I'll add more pictures. The picture above is before I started any weeding. It's quite dense, filled with sticker bushes and mimosa trees. I do love mimosa trees. They have a prehistoric look about them and once a season are covered with feathery purple flowers. I do plan on keeping a few of them. But I can't keep them all. They sprout up like weeds. So I selectively removed most the trees. Mimosa's have such soft wood I was able to get the small ones with the electric trimmer. The larger ones required a hand saw. I also used the electric trimmer on the sticker bushes and then removed them from the spot using a rake. I got spooked once when I came across what looked like a dead rat. On closer examination (close, from a distance!!!) I realized it was a dead rat: a Halloween dead rat. It was part of my Halloween graveyard last year.

The picture above is after about 3 hours of work. I started early, 9ish, and then finished in time to go to brunch with my sister. I knew when I got back it would be too hot to continue. I think I got a good bit accomplished though. I've got all my supplies for the next step already. I'll do that next Saturday morning.

The next step: a wine-bottle wall across the back. As secluded as this little piece of land looks in the pictures, it actually overlooks the street and a neighbor. It's shielded by pine trees but if we're going to have a Zen spot, we need more seclusion. The wine-bottle wall will also have a recycled window set into it where we could have a view down the hill, if we wanted it. The wall across the back will be high, maybe 5 feet tall. I'm considering putting a wall around the other sides to make the Zen Garden completely contained. If I do, those walls will be low, maybe 3 feet tall.

After that: when the wall is completed I'll focus on creating a Zen seating area for us. This fall when we get our bi-yearly load of pea-gravel, we're going to get a double-load. We want to increase the size of our parking pad and spread the remainder of the pea-gravel thru the Zen Garden. I'm going to make cement paving pads and lay them in to create a path and a patio area. I'll also leave a few small beds for plantings. Or not. I might only have bonsai trees and container gardens in the Zen garden. That would be most lovely.