CRAZY FOR YARD ART

HOMESPIRATION

It’s not junk; it’s reused art

STORY MARJIE DUCEY PHOTOGRAPHY MARY ROBBINS AND DALE HINKELDEY To understand the magic of photographer and artist Mary Robbins, friends will tell you to check out her backyard.

“I guess I’m a little eclectic,” she says in a huge understatement.

Maybe it’s the towering wall of bottles that diffuses the view of the apartments next door; the mastermind of friends Don Bolter and Dale Hinkeldey. They spent hours soaking off the labels and then drilling a hole in each to make the 18- x 42-foot

fence, which replaced 21 diseased Scotch pines.

Or maybe it’s the row of antique radiators. The collection of chimes. The soon-to-be painted tree branches or the rope course for the neighborhood squirrels.

It’s all about color and reusing resources.

“We use dead fruit trees as trellises for climbing vegetables, clothesline poles for wind chimes, headboards for trellises, iron bed frames to hold firewood, radiators for fun, old bath tubs for plant containers, wash tubs for vegetables,” she says.

Mary has lived in the family home south of downtown Omaha for 63 years, doubling the size after purchasing the lot next door. Though full of things you might not usually consider in your backyard decor, it’s as neat as a pin.

Mary is nocturnal, and finds the garden quieter and more peaceful as night falls.

“My yard is an escape for me. We have no covenants in this neighborhood,” she says. “I’m not going to get yelled at because of something I consider an art sculpture. I really like that. I couldn’t do this in west Omaha.”

HER HAPPY PLACE

Welcome to Mary Robbins’ gardens. She’s lived in the house for more than 60 years.

BOTTLES

A wall of bottles adds color and diffuses the view of apartments next door.

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It’s been kind of a group project. Bartenders and merchants saved bottles and dropped them off on Mary’s porch. A&R Salvage and Recycling and Joe’s Collectibles in the Old Market know of her passion for steel. She has items from the old Falstaff Brewery, Omaha bridges and the car wash at 24th and St. Mary’s.

Mary can’t pick a favorite flower, though an old bathtub filled with colorful moss roses stands out. If forced to choose, she says butterfly bushes are fun because of the pollinators they attract. “I just absolutely love them all,” she says. “Some bloom early in the spring, some in the fall, some all summer long. I like to mix all the colors and heights.”

Squirrels are a fixture. Ever since she was little (she’s the youngest of seven), her family fed them peanuts. The squirrels’ antics and the birds outside the kitchen window keep Mary and her cat entertained in the winter months when gardening isn’t possible.

TUB

Color fills Mary’s backyard, including this bathtub full of moss roses.

EXTERIOR

Friends know to expect something different when they see Mary’s front porch.

KITTY

The backyard is also home to cat Boo. The bathtub is a favorite lounging spot.

BEAT THE HEAT

The backyard includes a vegetable garden and a pool to cool off in during Nebraska’s hot summer days.

SQUIRRELS

The family has been feeding squirrels peanuts for years. Their antics keep the homeowner entertained.

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She raised her daughters here but there were always many other kids in and out of the house. She loves the contributions from everyone in the family through the years, and especially the history of the neighborhood.

“There were the Paladinos, the Constantinos, the Ananias, the Anzaldos, the DeMarias and the Bonaccis and our Polish family,” she says. “We had the best security system ever with the Italian ladies on the block. You couldn’t get a block down the street. We had the greatest neighborhood watch ever when I was a kid.”

BOTTLE TREE

Local business owners helped Mary collect clear and colored bottles for this sculpture.