Backyard Escape

Turning a Slope into an Oasis

by Christy Pessemier, photos by Tom Owen

Two years ago, Puyallup’s Michael Tidball had an idea. He wanted to revamp his muddy, sloped backyard lawn into a breathtaking water garden. He sketched plans and embarked on an adventure to find the perfect water garden specialist. At first it seemed daunting. But it wasn’t long before Michael discovered Corey Cooksey, owner of Mystic Falls Water Gardens and Nursery in Puyallup. Both Tidball and his wife Vilma felt Mystic Falls was the best fit for what they had envisioned for their future water wonderland.

Cooksey first went to work designing the Tidballs’ front yard, and implemented a Japanese-style landscape speckled with variegated euonymus, sprays of yellow sweet flag grass, and a weeping Atlas cedar. A bubbling boulder waterfall was added, greeting guests at the front entrance to the Tidballs’ home.

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