Monthly Archives: May 2022

Trying to Preserve a Little History

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“Irrigation Flume Section”
Heatherwood Garden

Our neighborhood was sad to see the historic Selah Naches irrigation flume taken down. What is left is a scar along where the flume gracefully stood for over 100 years. It will take many, many years (longer than my lifetime) for the scar to transition to a natural vegetation state.

Several of our neighbors were able to get a section of the flume and preserve a little history in our gardens. At Heatherwood we will add additional trees and shrubs that will highlight and frame the flume segment. We also plan to add trees to shield the scar that remains in areas where we had previously created windows to view the flume .

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Early Morning Light

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“Yukimi and Waterfall”
Heatherwood Japanese Garden

Early morning light reflecting off the falling water and pond stopped me dead in my tracks during a stroll through our garden. My mind wanders. I notice how the little Yukimi watches over the fish in the pond and gazes at the sparkling waterfall as in turn the Akebono Cherry gently watches over the lantern.

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The Redbuds Are In Bloom!

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“Entryway Redbud”
Heatherwood Japanese Garden

Our redbuds are finally in bloom! This one brightens the entry to our Japanese garden as the morning light shines through the pathway. We have five different species scattered throughout the garden. Each one starts blooming at slightly different times.

In a few days, the crabapple behind and to the left of the redbud will be in full bloom. Together, they make a striking entrance to the spring garden!

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Complementary Trees and Sculpture

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“Hokkeji and Japanese Maples”
Heatherwood Japanese Garden

The early spring color of our Japanese Maples highlight our garden. These two frame in the Hokkeji lantern beside the Japanese garden entry path. We enjoy the nice flash of contrasting color as we enter the garden.

Japanese maples are one of my weaknesses. Heatherwood has several throughout the garden. However, whenever I see something a little different, I want to add it. We are at the stage in our garden development that I need to have patience and wait for some of our shade trees to grow to provide the right condition for some of the less sun tolerant species.

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The Japanese Maples Are Coming Out!

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“Shin Deshojo & Kotoji”
Heatherwood Japanese Garden

The Japanese Maples are finally leafing out! It may be my lack patience, but our Japanese maples seem to be late in leafing out this year. Their leaves are still in their opening phase, but it looks like all our Japanese maples made it through the bitter cold weather we had earlier this spring.

The Shin Deshojo is one of my favorite Japanese maples. I first saw one in a good friend’s yard in Seattle and fell in love with it. A little later my friends and I were walking through the Washington Arboretum and saw a mature Shin Deshojo in full spring glory. It was breath taking. A couple years later when my friends came to visit, they had a wonderful surprise for me. They brought me their Shin Deshojo as a gift for my fledgling Japanese garden. It struggled a couple of years during its transition from the mild Seattle climate to the harsh dry Yakima area. But it has survived and is now doing well. I added my second Shin Deshojo as our cornerstone tree when we built our waterfall and pond. It proudly graces our sitting area next to the pond.

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Today’s Challenge

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“Woodland Garden”
Heatherwood Spring

Today’s challenge is where do we place all the new perennials, ground covers, and understory shrubs that we will start to plant this morning. I ask myself many questions. How do I accent and outline the garden path? Does this plant need filtered sun or can it withstand the harsh summer sun of Central Washington? Will it complement the existing plantings or interfere with them? How can I create special little vignettes that draw special interests for viewers? Where do I need to block views from the street and where do I need to create windows looking through the garden?

I better stop thinking and start laying out plants. The crew gets here at 7:00 AM!

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Looking In

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“Front Yard”
Heatherwood Spring

As well as view windows looking out to the surrounding hills from our garden, we have also designed windows looking into Heatherwood from outside the garden. This one is from our driveway looking down through our front yard. The bright green of the spring grass snakes through the various planting areas. Most of the perennials are showing their fresh new growth while the deciduous trees are just starting to leaf out. It is May 1, time for the spring explosion of life!

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