Work begins on garden

LAKEWOOD RANCH — Jim Youngblood treks toward piles of dirt behind Harvest United Methodist Church, where tree branches hang overhead.

There, a roughly 8,500-square-foot area has been cleared out to make way for the church’s newest addition — a memorial garden.

“It’s going to be a place where people can bury cremains of their loved one who has been cremated,” said Youngblood, who is coordinating the project. “It’s going to be a serene, restful place where people can think about things, think about their loved one and think about what it means to be God’s children.”

“The idea is for people to go in and take a look at themselves and think about what they can do for the Lord for the rest of their lives,” he said.

The design uses a pathway to create individual sections throughout the garden, each with its landscape design and its own cul-de-sac and bench areas. Cremains will be buried within the landscaping itself, and will not be marked. Instead, there will be a five-foot square structure at the center of the garden, which will contain plaques for the names of individuals buried there.

“The way it’s designed, we want it to be welcoming for people who want to use the garden as a place of reflection or a place to go and be at peace and talk to God,” project team member Karen Hazelton said.
Youngblood agreed.

“Each section is designed as sort of a room to give privacy to people visiting the garden,” he said.

Organizers expect construction on the “Harvest Memorial Garden: A Celebration of Life and Resurrection” to be finished by the end of March, with a tentative ribbon-cutting ceremony set for March 20.

“It’s exciting as a team member,” Hazelton said of the garden’s progress. “There’s a second-story on the west wing building, and you can see the garden from that window. This was a pretty big undertaking, a pretty big plan. It’s been a tremendous willingness of people to help us whenever we go to them.”

Youngblood, 79, lost his wife about two years ago. While mourning her death, he came up with the idea for a memorial garden and approached Harvest Pastor Steve Price about the concept. About a month later, Price asked Youngblood to form a team and spearhead the project.

An eight-person team, including Hazelton spent about a year planning the garden — its design, costs, lining up contractors and raising funds for the project. In about six months, they successfully raised the roughly $50,000 required to build the garden, although funds for its long-term care are still needed, Youngblood said.

Contractors broke ground Feb. 1.

Contact Pam Eubanks at [email protected].