Resources for Gardeners

Janine Anderson, CPH
Professional Member, APLD

Want a New Look for Your Seattle Garden? These Local Resources Offer Information and Inspiration

Creating a new landscape or updating an existing one is complicated. Many factors need to be considered before you begin, and many of them, such as drainage, soil composition, sun/shade/wind, and views to enhance/views to screen, are not very sexy.

If you want a new landscape or to renovate an existing one, many excellent regional resources are available to guide you.

Books

Given summer’s end and the limitations imposed by the pandemic, now is a great time to sink into your easy chair and immerse yourself in a comprehensive treatise on garden design. Understanding Garden Design by Vancouver, Washington, designer Vanessa Gardner Nagel, APLD, is a thoughtful and thorough step-by-step guide to all things garden related. From initial considerations and planning to the finishing touches, you are sure to discover critical aspects of your future project that you had yet to consider.

More of a “wow” than a “how,” The Authentic Garden by Richard Hartlage and Sandy Fischer of the Seattle-based landscape architecture firm Land Morphology showcases completed projects in a variety of categories, including “Plants as Architecture,” “Artfully Naturalistic Gardens,” and “Ecological Planting Approaches.” From traditional to trés moderne, every garden in the book is a work of art. A particularly useful section in the back of the book lists lesser known West Coast sources for interesting plants.

The third edition of Gardening with Native Plants by Arthur R. Kruckeberg and Linda Chalker-Scott is a new version of a regional classic first published in 1982. Horticultural icon Art Kruckeberg, who was a professor of botany at the University of Washington, died in 2016 at the age of 96. The updated version, which builds on Dr. Kruckeberg’s earlier work, includes more than 900 color photos of garden-worthy native plants and new chapters on garden ecology and garden science. The book is a must-have for anyone interested in gardening with plants native to the Pacific Northwest.

Although an updated version of this 1999 book would be welcome, Landscaping for Wildlife by wildlife biologist Russell Link is still the Northwest’s most comprehensive guide to attracting wildlife to your garden. It goes beyond the birds, bees, and butterflies to include critters some of us might consider pests (for example, raccoons and deer). Included in the 320-page soft cover edition are plant lists and information on creating habitat as well as instructions for bird baths, feeders, and nest and roost boxes. The list of wildlife-friendly plants is extensive. Not all are native, and some designers might quibble with Link’s recommendation of non-native species such as Cotoneaster lacteus, which is known to invade natural areas and displace native plants (though the birds do love the berries!).

Organizations

The Pacific Northwest boasts a dizzying array of garden-related organizations, and the grandmother of them all is the Northwest Horticultural Society (NHS). Founded in 1966 by horticultural legend Elisabeth C. Miller (after whom the library at the University of Washington’s Center for Urban Horticulture is named), over the years the NHS has educated budding gardeners, funded scholarships, and provided thousands of dollars of support for the Miller Library (also a splendid resource).

A one-year membership in NHS costs as little as $30 and includes lectures, a quarterly newsletter, garden tours, and discounts on classes, symposia, and workshops. The “Resources & Links” page on the NHS website lists a plethora of other organizations and sites worth exploring. Among these are the Northwest Perennial Alliance, which offers classes, lectures, and member garden tours from May through October; the University of Washington Botanic Gardens, which offers tours, classes, workshops, and continuing education for professionals; and the Washington Native Plant Society, which has 12 local chapters throughout the State, numerous educational opportunities, a quarterly publication, and plant hikes throughout the year.

Visit Gardens!

With social distancing, a garden is one of the safest places you can be. Lucky for us, there is an abundance of amazing gardens in our region through which you can wander, explore, and find inspiration. An advantage of visiting a garden in the fall and winter is you can appreciate the garden’s bones without being distracted by flashy flowers or lush deciduous foliage. These are a few of the inspiring gardens worth visiting anytime of the year; more can be found on the NHS Resources page.

Bloedel Reserve. Off the beaten path on Bainbridge Island, Bloedel Reserve is a good place to lose yourself. At 150 acres, it is both a cultivated garden and a carefully crafted natural wonder. The garden path begins in an expansive grassy meadow surrounded by dense forest, then enters the woods, where you soon arrive at a wildlife-rich pond and a newly installed, sculpted wildflower meadow with more than 50 varieties of native wildflowers. The garden continues to wend through areas both naturalistic and highly refined.

Heronswood. Although more modest at 15 acres, Heronswood Garden in Kingston, WA, is every bit as magical as Bloedel Reserve. It can be toured in an hour, or you can easily spend an entire afternoon marveling at the mixed borders of stunning plants, many grown from seeds collected by Daniel Hinkley, who founded the garden in 1987. The garden is now owned and stewarded by the local Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe.

Hinkley’s current garden, Windcliff, is a short drive from Heronswood and has been open by appointment throughout the summer of 2020. In contrast to Heronswood, much of which meanders through a woodland, Windcliff’s sunny, south-facing bluff garden has a Mediterranean flavor, even though many of its amazing flora are native to the Southern Hemisphere. Hinkley’s much anticipated book about Windcliff, Windcliff: A Story of People, Plants and Gardens, has just been published.

Bellevue Botanical Garden. Opened in 1992 with 36 acres, the Bellevue Botanical Garden now comprises 53 acres of gardens and paths. A highlight among the different garden areas is the Perennial Border, which showcases artful groupings of perennials, shrubs, and trees that could be replicated in a residential landscape. Other inspiring displays are Rhododendron Glen with over fifty rhododendrons and companion plants, including more than 750 ferns; the Rock Garden; and the Urban Meadow.

University of Washington Botanic Gardens (UWBG). If NHS is the grandmother of Northwest gardening organizations, then the UWBG is the granddaddy of gardens. Comprising the Washington Park Arboretum, the Center for Urban Horticulture, and the Union Bay shoreline in between the two, the UWBG has much to offer. Areas of special relevance to home gardeners include the Pacific Connections Garden, which showcases plants from five Pacific Rim regions and demonstrates how to combine them for the greatest impact; the Joseph A. Witt Winter Garden, which is stunning year-round but especially so in mid-winter when features such as exfoliating bark, striking form, fragrance, evergreen foliage, and flowers are at their most impressive and most welcome; and the Soest Herbaceous Display Garden, which was created to help local gardeners select plants appropriate to a variety of site conditions commonly found in Pacific Northwest urban gardens.

Overwhelmed?

Reading books, attending lectures, and visiting gardens enrich both mind and soul, but if you feel overwhelmed and don’t know where to begin, well, it’s complicated! An experienced landscape designer can guide you along the path to a beautiful garden. Good design begins with a good designer, and you can find your designer by visiting the “Find a Designer” page on the website of the Washington State chapter of the Association of Professional Landscape Designers.