Flying Cats But No Grass

By Shirley Armbruster
The Fresno Bee

In Andrea MacDonald's dreams about her perfect home, she'd see a butterfly-friendly herb garden and a white picket fence.

They poured a concrete rock walkway, built an arbor, added a birdbath and surrounded it all with a white fence, each picket cut for them by a neighbor. Atop the pillars, they added 15 birdhouses--some gifts, some purchased, four made by neighbors.

Their efforts (with help from neighbors on their friendly block) created a splendid yard that regularly draws butterflies, birds and admiring looks from passers-by. "It's a lot of fun," says MacDonald, a teacher. "It's a happy yard."

The couple was so pleased with their project that a year and a half ago they turned their attention to the back yard. Again, they dug out the lawn by hand and turned the area into large flower beds with pathways of poured concrete rock.

Many rose bushes, dahlias, daisies and cannas fill the beds near the house, and espaliered apple trees climb the wall of the detached garage. Behind the garage is a large garden with tomatoes, beans, eggplants, peppers, onions, basil, cucumbers, strawberries and grapes.

MacDonald says the wood felines with papier-mache wings represent her cats, Hash and Mandy. The wings allow them to soar above the garden and hunt birds, which they don't do well in real life, she says.

The yard also includes a cabana with trellised sides and roof, trumpet vines and climbing roses poking through the slats. A built-in outdoor fireplace provides enough warmth that the MacDonalds can use the cabana well into fall.

Adjacent is an 8-by-16-foot "summer house" the couple built on concrete piers. They used lumber, doors and windows salvaged and donated by friends. MacDonald estimates they only spent about $500 on "my playhouse."

MacDonald, a Fresno County master gardener, uses a potting bench in the summer house for small projects (she has another bench outside) and keeps her library of gardening books nearby.