Eddy Merle Watson Garden of the Senses

In the early dark hours of October 23, 1985, just days before 'Frets Magazine' named him the best finger-picking guitarist of the year in folk, blues, or country music, Eddy Merle Watson rolled his farm tractor on a steep hillside near his home, ending the life of one of the world's great musicians in a tragedy worthy of the blues ballads he loved.

The Eddy Merle Watson Garden of the Senses is an enduring tribute to the memory of this great acoustic musician who forfeited his life in the prime of his artistic career. The visual beauty of a garden doesn't really have much to offer to a person who cannot see. The Eddy Merle Watson Garden for the Senses at Wilkes Community College, however, has changed all that. The garden has been designed and planted so that everyone, regardless of their visual ability, may enjoy it.

The garden is part of a large complex of multivariate botanical gardens located on the campus of Wilkes Community College in Wilkesboro, North Carolina. This particular garden is named in memory of Eddy Merle Watson, the gifted musician son of legendary blind acoustic musician Arthel "Doc" Watson.  Merle was tragically killed in an improbable accident at the age of 36. The capital investment necessary to bring the Garden for the Senses to its current state of development has been funded by MerleFest, an annual acoustic music festival dedicated to the memory of Eddy Merle Watson which has become one of the largest, most popular events of its type in the world.

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