Most Kingfisher folks who know Darrel Wood as an always-smiling, never-stopping UPS driver of more than 30 years might say that grass doesn’t grow under his feet.

But not if they’ve ever driven by the house he and wife Amy share with their four children on Casa View Drive.

Wood’s work uniform and truck may be brown, but his lush lawn and overflowing flowerbeds are anything but.

That’s why their home earned the Kingfisher Lions Club Silver Spade for August.

The Woods, who have lived in the home for just over a year, completely replaced the front landscaping.

The gracious brick home is now fronted by a wide flower bed framed in an undulating stone border Wood constructed himself. ›“I was a bricklayer back in my younger days and I still enjoy those kind of projects,” he said.

The bed is spilling over with a riot of blooming plants of all colors, shapes and heights, from petunias in every shade to bright coral hydrangeas to multihued salvia.  

“We’re all involved in picking which flowers to plant and taking care of the garden,” Amy said. “All the kids get to choose a flower or plant that is ‘theirs’ and we all pull weeds.”

With both parents on the road for a living – Darrel putting in 14-hour days for UPS and Amy behind the wheel of a Kingfisher Public School bus – it takes the help of all four children to keep the garden neat, watered and healthy.

Son Bailey, 18, is a senior at KHS, and daughters Brittany, 15, Addison, 13, and Shelby, 10, are 10th, seventh and fifth graders, respectively.  

Amidst the flowers are additional ornaments and features that give the flower bed a unique character.

A concrete black bear prowls among the petunias, while two water features add both visual and auditory interest.  

Large rocks laid throughout also provide contrasting color and texture.

“We’ve collected the rocks over the years at our favorite vacation spots in Colorado and Oklahoma,” Amy said. “We always have our eye out for new ones.”

The Lions Club presents its Silver Spade Award to a different home each month from May to September when outstanding landscaping catches the eye of the club’s roving judges.

The last Silver Spade for 2019 will be presented this month.