Katie McKy’s garden
742 Fall St, Eau Claire |
Some days, Katie McKy would rather haul 50-pound limestone blocks than revise particularly troublesome parts of her latest novel. “It’s not work,” McKy says matter-of-factly of her extensive backyard gardening. “It’s work avoidance.” McKy follows the inclinations of WWII victory gardeners, who planted flowers and vegetables together. Her annual harvest includes pears, two kinds of apples, sour cherries, sweet cherries, 13 different kinds of raspberries, blueberries, and gooseberries. Her cherry trees can produce 40-50 quarts a year, what she considers to be “a truly astonishing amount.” McKy delved heavily into gardening three years ago, partly because she deems it a necessary lifestyle for our modern world. “Fruit is still cheap because it’s enabled by cheap oil,” she says. “But we’re anticipating the end of cheap oil. It takes years to establish fruit trees.” McKy has also taken great care with the visual aspects of her garden, using grass in the way artists uses blank canvas space (to relax the eye) and planning plants that flourish in the fall, to match her brilliant trees. “In 100 years, people will drive by just to behold the trees in autumn,” she says.
 

Bob Heller’s yard
5132 20th Ave, Eau Claire
 Bob Heller does not have a yard; it’s more of a park. His initial intention was to create a place for his daughter and her friends to congregate and let loose. That idea has quickly ballooned and now includes a dirt go-kart track, a two-story pavilion with a bar-encircled cooking area at the center, a “saloon” with authentic 1800’s storefront, fire pit, chicken coop, four-story guest house within an old silo, and three combination art gallery/workshops, where Heller spends most of his time when he’s not adding to the park. Heller’s penchant for tearing down old houses and barns provided most of the building material for these ambitious projects. What’s next, you say? A huge tin shed with a 20- by 50-foot stage, portable boxing ring, and woodstove. “This will be just a super-duper addition to the park,” says Heller, who wants to rent out the entire space for graduation parties and the like. So far, the sign out front hasn’t attracted any takers. But Heller is confident there’ll be a party there every weekend, and he’s glad he sold his favorite muscle car to help pay for it.

---

Crispin Pierce’s native vegetation yard
1314 S Farwell St, Eau Claire |
The Pierce family’s Third Ward yard was designated an urban wildlife sanctuary by the U.S. Humane Society. This is no accident – Crispin Pierce opted to forgo a neatly-kempt lawn in favor of native shrubs, trees, grasses, and a wildlife pond. After working with city manager Mike Huggins to draft an exemption to the weed ordinance, Pierce removed the turf layer by covering the ground with black plastic. Then he started planting everything from black-eyed susans to cattails. The benefits? Their yard needs no watering or mowing, provides wildlife habitat, controls storm water runoff, creates no chemical runoff, absorbs air pollutants, and saves money. To further embrace sustainability, they laid a garden path made out of recycled rubber tires. “I realize my neighbors may think it unattractive,” says Pierce. “But I believe it adds visual interest and reflects our caring for the environment.”