Spring Has Sprung! Cemetery Has Begun!






It's spring fever in the SW right now--70s, sunny, and happy plants. My citrus trees (tangerine and pink grapefruit) are budding, my 4 grapevines are bursting with leaves, as is the pomegranate tree. The peach looks about to pop too. Thought you might like to see what I get to do in a t-shirt and shorts this time of year.

I've also taken a very dark corner of the yard not used and no grass will grow in and am making a permanent cemetery. No bodies to bury, but there will be hand-crafted headstones made to look old and mossy. I need to moss up the statues that are in there. I added some ivy to climb up a dead grapevine in front of the celtic cross to help add layers of vining along with the cat's claw and bower vine. I put down some ground cover, a couple of heavenly bamboo plants that stay small, and I broke down some extra cinder blocks into chunks and am using them to cobble around the ground to give it an aged and beaten broken look. I hope to put up a wrought iron fencing that is low to the ground and the headstones here and there to look like they've been there forever, and a couple lanterns so that I can sit out on a lounge chair at night, light the lanterns, and write horror on my laptop next to my cemetery. Yeah, this is my Valetine's gift to myself, my very own graveyard.

Well, thought you might enjoy the crazy progress and the pictures above (grapevine, pomegranate).

Comments

  1. To start moss growth on stone, simply brush yogart on it. Sounds strange, takes a while but faster than nature.

    The corner is looking good.

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  2. Thanks Gail. I wish I could. I've tried it before but in the desert it's so hot, it dies quickly. I will be doing a paint faux version of it. It's pathetic, but we can't stay moist and cool enough. Bummer!

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  3. I love cemeteries, Autumn. Love 'em, love 'em, love 'em, love 'em, love 'em, whether they be the overgrown, forgotten, humble final reposes of Colonial era settlers, or the sprawling, well-manicured burial grounds of the ruling elite with their jaw-dropping tombs of elegance. My (Northeastern US) family is divided between the Brooklyn "strolling grounds" cemetery, Green~Wood & the Westchester County located one, Kensico. The nearby Woodlawn Cemetery, in dah Bronx, is yet another gorgeously conceived one to idle in & explore, although I've no relations in it. All three are idyllic in their plan & encompass many well-monied families whose wealth helped to finance spectacular mausoleums. Happy bone yard designing! It's coming along beautifully ~ (•8-D

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  4. Anadæ;
    Highgate Cemetery in England--the ultimate of all time and what I was hoping to use as a guide for this cemetery's looks. The rest of the garden is becoming basically an organic grower's cottage garden. I'm crowding in all the fruit trees and vegetable planters I can pack into it. My ultimate dream with a larger yard would be to have a labyrinth--giant one! Right now, I'm just making little zen areas, horror areas, cutting garden areas, veggie/fruit areas, and generally trying to find little nooks where I can hide out and feel like I'm not in the suburbs. I hope to get a lot done this springtime so that my hardscape is done and I can kick back and just maintain the yard. I also need to devise a way to shade part of the pool. In the summer when it's 110 and sun beating down on 95-degree water, it's nice to find a tiny crumb of shade. I'd love to stretch some large triangular canvas above but I haven't figured out how I'd rig it. I am ever resourceful, though, and damned persistent, so I'll figure it out.

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  5. Looks cool. Would be awesome if you put a fog machine or some purple Halloween lights up at night. I always thought it'd be awesome to take a corner of your house (or backyard but I live in an apartment so that's a no-go) and model it after your favorite horror movie. I heard of a guy once that decorated the inside of his house all year like it's Halloween. That would be so cool. Like the inside of Clive Barker's house if you've seen it. Creepy-cool!

    You should take night pictures when it's done.

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  6. Hey Grim;
    Will definitely do some nighttime shots when it's done. I will probably add a bunch of stuffed ravens to the tops of the headstones and such. They always add a sinister feel to a cemetery. I had my house completely medieval a few years ago and my master bath was a ghost pirate ship. I'm such a freak! My dream would be to have each room a different theme. I'd have a zombie room, a vampire room, a haunted house room... So fun! Unfortunately, I have to share the house with another human being who hates horror....

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  7. Just lovely! I will have to passify myself with dreaming of warm weather for now, since we still have 2 feet of snow. Great job!!

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  8. Looks good so far. Will Dale the doll be spending any time out there?

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  9. Julie;
    You know when I have the cemetery set up, I'm going to have to prop him up in there somewhere. Maybe when I do the final shot of it, I can have him pose as a griever. Hee hee

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  11. How fun! I will love to see how it progresses.
    And blooms.... Ah, Spring....won't be too long! :0)

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