Building A Garden of Life in Windsor Park

Kitch Loftus-Mussari

The front yard at our home looked like any other when we moved in, green grass on a sloping hill. Then the idea for a garden enclave developed after Windsor Park became a reality. Beautiful indeed but there was another idea percolating in someone’s head, namely the creator of the garden.

So Tony began to visualize what could be a perfect counterpart to the Memorial Water Garden on the other side of the front yard. In his mind’s eye he saw water cascading over a waterfall into a pond with fish.

I must confess. I was skeptical. Why was a man of his age taking on such a huge project? Why was he so determined to transform this area? What was ruminating in his heart and mind that made this section of the garden such a high priority?

Certainly there were many other things that preoccupied his thoughts. He had been through two very difficult years, and the passing of my mother did not make our lives any easier.

Worried about the future of Windsor Park Stories, nursing a nasty injury to his knee sustained in March during a snowstorm, reaching a milestone in his life, 65, and forced for the first time in his life to accept a regimen of medications, why was he so driven about this project?

In March we traveled to Philadelphia, and I got the answer.

During our visit to the Philadelphia Flower Show, Tony saw a water feature that made him sentimental about our trip to Ireland and his dear friend, Brendan Vaughan. Throughout the day he made several references to that display and he recalled the wonderful words Brendan spoke to him during his last trip to Windsor Park and, unfortunately, the last time we would see him.

“Remember, Tony, life is for the living.”

Shortly after our trip to the flower show, he put his head together with our friend, Ed Kopec, from Edwards Garden Center in Forty Fort and what we have now is a woodland pond and waterfall one would find on the Emerald Isle. The only difference, this waterfall sits right outside our front door.

It took nine days to transform what was becoming an unwieldy plot of flowers, shrubs and weeds into an enclave that transports one to the middle of a forest with only the sounds of birds and water for company.

It all began with a dream, a backhoe and a bobcat. The red stone paths were widened to accommodate the equipment. The Weeping Cherry tree, a treasured gift from three of our students, was tied back to save its limbs and rose bushes and ornamental grasses were uprooted and relocated.

Then the giant clumps of earth were moved very carefully by Todd Russell, our project manager, so that the plan could move forward. The drone of the equipment was heard for several days as the waterfall and ponds took shape.

Everyday construction trucks painted green and white with Edwards Garden Center written on the doors lined up in front of Windsor Park.

Huge boulders, some weighing two tons, were harvested by Ed Kopec and transported to Windsor Park. Once here, Todd Russell worked his magic, mixing, matching and occasionally replacing these geological masterpieces.

On one occasion a boulder that was placed at the end of the day on Friday was carefully transported to another section of the upper pond on Saturday morning. Even with the heavy equipment, it took more than an hour to finish this task.

The liner was installed and then more massive boulders were brought in to give the project a form.

We are talking about big here.

Boulders that weighed several tons were picked up by machine and then with the help of a wonderful crew set down to fill in the right spaces. To move them was a feat in itself. To place them carefully for the right effect or moving them several times in several ways to achieve it was even more arduous. But it was done with skill, grace and incredible craftsmanship.

Worrying about attention to detail and the ability to bring the design of the pond to life were not things we had to deal with as the crew from Edwards worked tirelessly to make it breathtaking in size and scope.

Todd Russell is a perfectionist who works non-stop until the right moves are made and the look is what it's supposed to be. He is every homeowner’s dream. His goal is to make everything look natural. He certainly achieved it in The Garden of Life.

With the liner in place, the boulders just so and the areas of water connected with thousands of smaller stones, it was time to test it out. The next sound we heard was the water gurgling over the waterfall into the pond below and we could see the level rising by the minute. Already it was a dream come true, but not according to the Big Plan.

While the crew from Edwards Garden Center worked on the ground, Mark McGrane worked on a scaffold above the ground to replace the balcony with an observation deck that will enable Tony to capture the mood of The Garden of Life throughout the day and during the change of seasons.

The observation deck was a dream Tony had for my mother when she occupied that room during her final days. Her illness prevented it from becoming a reality.

Mark McGrane was skillfully attending to this unfinished business.

His work is flawless.

As Mark’s electrical equipment serenaded the neighborhood, the Edwards Garden Center crew worked with precision to transform the location into one that would look like a far removed, secluded and natural setting. The plant life chosen was evergreen and red maple, but it was the placement that made it so enchanting.

Ed Kopec is blessed with a gift for design. He knows instinctively where plants belong, but his other great gift is the ability to accommodate Tony’s creative need for images that will come to life on video.

It was a treat to watch these two friends working on the placement of the plants.

Weeping white pines were set in sideways and the maples lean to the side. The sweet smelling mulch accented the green and on the lower slope it will bring out the yellow in the Stella d’Oro lilies that will bloom later in the season.

The young men from the garden center worked tirelessly and long to make it look as if the 60 plants and five trees had all been there for years, and nature was the grand designer.

But the end is one of the best parts. We have koi and goldfish in the Memorial Water Garden. We love them. They all have names. So it was only fitting to populate the two new ponds with more of the same.

Ed Kopec outdid himself. He brought the mother, father, sister and brother of koi and goldfish to the new water feature in Windsor Park. They are huge and they can be spotted from any vantage point because of their size and color.

We are talking bright orange, white and silver and they are really enjoying the new home in the Garden of Life. Their names include: Julia, P.J, Emma, Nicole and Jacob, Morgan and Hunter, Bobby and Hope.

The Garden of Life is a beautiful place in a peaceful setting that we hope many of you will visit and enjoy. The Talmud says that heaven is a garden and the new water feature certainly bears witness to that.

They say that success is what you do with what life gives you. In the past few years, life has given us many challenges, and there are a few ahead of us that will be equally difficult, yet on our darkest day we will walk into this garden and remember the words of our dear friend Brendan Vaughan: “Life is for the living.”

We are determined to do just that surrounded by the people we love in a very special place appropriately called “The Garden of Life” in Windsor Park.

It would not have happened without the bumps and bruises of being human. It grew out of life experiences both joyful and painful. It could not have happened without our friends from Edwards Garden Center, especially Ed and Todd. It was made possible by the love of parents and the determination of a son who has always had a dream and a sense of duty to make his parents proud.

The Garden of Life is a symbol of peace and tranquility in a world of death, violence and destruction. It is a reminder of what we can all be on our best days because of the lessons we learned on our worst days.

(For additional information about Edwards Garden Center please go to www.edwardsgardencenter.com)

kitch152@aol.com, tmussari@aol.com