SPRING resident Tim Schultz spent years landscaping for clients, but decided he needed a break and went to work behind the scenes for Skinner Nurseries in Humble.
Schultz recently resurfaced for a special project he designed at Autumn Grove Cottage in Copperfield.
Autumn Grove Cottage, a new Alzheimer's care facility to open this month, recently dedicated "Alice's Garden," designed and created by Schultz in the memory of his grandmother-in-law.
"When I started dating my wife, Traci, her grandmother was diagnosed with Alzheimer's," Schultz, 34, said.
"We helped move Alice (Gates) to an assisted-living facility in Houston. I never got to really know her, because she was really mentally gone by then. But the family is wonderful, and they took me in as part of the family."
Creating a haven So when Bob Fuller, co-founder of Autumn Grove Cottage, called Schultz looking for landscaping ideas, Schultz decided he just might want to do it himself.
"He (Schultz) brought over a proposal, which was basically a three-page story about Alice," Fuller said.
"He told me how he didn't get to know the real Alice and the fact they couldn't find the right level of care for her. But he said he heard about us and felt we were on the right track."
Schultz said Alice had to move three times and never received proper care during her battle with Alzheimer's.
"I can't do anything for Alice, because we lost her earlier this year," Schultz said. "She was only 67 years old. But I can do something to help those behind her. I am just so sorry there wasn't a place like this for her."
Coming to fruition Schultz ended up spearheading what turned out to be a volunteer effort to bring Alice's Garden to fruition.
He researched flowers and plants that are non-toxic and thornless, for the safety of Autumn Grove residents.
The result is a backyard garden with a blend of Mexican sycamore trees, crepe myrtles, hibiscus, Indian hawthorne, sweet viburnum and monkey grass. Residents are free to wander the paths and enjoy the garden.
The second area of the garden is spread outside the residents' living quarters, where they can see flowers from their windows, but not touch them.
"I planted knockout roses," Schultz said. "They bloom eight months out of the year, so most of the year they will have red roses right outside their windows. Who doesn't like red roses?"
Autumn Grove Cottage can accommodate 16 residents, and officially opens at the end of August. Construction is under way for another care facility in Katy, expected to open mid-October.
Schultz will do the landscaping there as well, but it will have a different name.
There will forever be just one Alice's Garden, at Autumn Grove Cottage in Copperfield.
"It's very nice of them to dedicate the garden to her. It's a very beautiful garden," said Spring resident Donna Rabel, Alice's daughter and Tim Schultz's mother-in-law.
"I wanted to honor the family," Schultz said.
"To say `I love you' because it's sometimes hard to say it. This was something I could do that would last a lifetime."
