1000 Days of Deterioration

1000 days of plant growth and death, crumbling earth, remaining rocks, collapsing tunnels, breaking through stems and the eventual return to the land.

Consideration for adaptation has always been at the forefront of my mind: How will it appear throughout the seasons? What will the end of life look like? Is there truly an end of life if the dirt does not disappear, but simply changes form? If some plants die while others flourish, when is it done? When do I remove all traces and redistribute the earth—or do I manually accelerate the deterioration to what I might consider the completion of its life cycle?

Over the 2 years and 7 months, I have done nothing but document. I have not intervened through plant control or a structural rebuild. Here is how it went.

This structure was erected and decorated as of April 7, 2023. It is now December 30, 2025.

Day 1-20

Freshly decorated. There were several different types of plants, lots of moss and distinct edges to the block forms.

Day 41.

A mere month later, it was a dry, 70% barren, castle of earth. Much of the moss has died; the area was too sunny and dry for long-term moss growth. The succulents, however, are starting to take over. Cracks in the structure have begun to form, and dirt has crumbled off. 

Day 123

As the succulents commandeered the structure itself, the surrounding plants quickly outpaced them. Visually, it was overtaken by spring and summer growth. A bulb planted underneath did not allow the compacted earth to obstruct its search for the sun—it pushed straight through the right side

Day 270–312

And back to being barren—except this time, the earth is crumbling even more. Eroded by rain and shaped by the dominance of surrounding summer growth, the structure is once again mostly bare. It made it through the first winter.

Day 372–530

What remains after winter: a haggard-looking earth block with a few succulents remaining in April. As spring returns, the remaining succulents persist. Greens take over the slowly crumbling structure. The edges are no longer sharp, and the corners have caved in. Each succulent claims its own area and expands outward. By the end of summer, it is hidden again by the surrounding plants.

Here, specifically, is a five-month process—from what is left as winter ends to what is left at the end of summer.

Day 627

As the second peak comes to a close, the earth has been further returned to itself. The block appears to be sinking back in and collapsing outward at the edges. One succulent type is dominating. The ground meets the structure, and the edges are smoothed. The change going from day 530 to 627 was by far the most impactful.

Not just the vegetation but the earthen structure itself has gone from a once distinct form with clear angular shapes to a some what smoothed over form that might be mistaken for a naturally occurring form.

Day 804-819

Less and less, the structure itself is seen—one wouldn’t even know it was there. The plants have overtaken it visually, while their roots assist in the breakdown process, returning the strict angles slowly to their original state: a pile of dirt.

Day 992

Today, the right side has all but disappeared, and one succulent type prevails above the others—growing toward the light and flowering. The left side remains partially intact, and the rock at the back has yet to fall off the crumbling dirt. Aside from the perpendicular left and back sides, one would not be able to tell it was once a structure.

Day 1000

This is what it is now. It can be removed and returned to its original state, or it can be allowed to continue to grow, disperse, and be taken over by the second succession of the garden area.