|
When we first saw the row of old poplar trees along Point White Drive and the great view of Mount Rainier we knew that we wanted to come home through those old trees to our own world of colors, scents, sounds of running water and birds and seasonal surprises. We began our landscaping project in the spring of 2000 with assistance from Doug Watkins of Windpine Design, so what you see today is about four summers old.
It was a special bonus to have a small spring-fed pond with a tiny year around stream to Puget Sound. The pond, we were happy to discover, had been built and landscaped by Little and Lewis Water Gardens in 1993 and retained many of its original plantings along with a resident colony of singing frogs.
Our working concept was to develop a courtyard effect bordered by trees and shrubs. A major challenge was to incorporate an extensive septic system evaporation mound into a design with pathways through a variety of small woodland gardens that would be interesting, colorful and sweetly scented at different times of the year. We also wanted to take advantage of shaded or damp areas where
|
 |
unusual ferns or native woodland plants could thrive. We wanted a perennial garden with seasonal colors to liven the garden after early azaleas and rhodys bloomed and faded.
An important part of our planning was the decorative placement of an old iron wheelbarrow that Hanni’s dad had used to ferry autumn leaves along with Hanni and her brother when they were kids. A vintage Seattle street light that Hanni’s family saved was used to provide interest along a fence line. On the beach side of the house a giant sequoia determined where and how the house was placed.
The yard is gently crowned so that heavy rain runoff goes to a dry streambed and then to the main stream. A young witch hazel garden provides early spring colors and sweet scents that will get better each year. Beyond the pickleball court is a beach garden that provides year around interest with a variety of grasses, low shrubs, columbines, poppies, foxglove, irises, yarrow, daylilies, blueberries and huckleberries.
Very special thanks to landscaper Doug Watkins of Windpine Design and to our Tibetan friend Karma Gewa Ghale whose thoughtful hard work kept us from being overwhelmed by emerging weeds for the first two years and then by our exuberantly growing ground covers this past year.
|
