Category Archives: Trees

Fill In the Blanks

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“West Bank”
Heatherwood Japanese Garden

“Fill in the blanks” is the motto for our 2022 Heatherwood landscape projects. This section of our garden was constructed in 2019. The land was shaped and the base structure of trees and evergreen shrubs were planted. During the next two years additional trees, deciduous shrubs, and limited ground covers were planted to balance the structure and form the garden borders. This year our plan is to fill in the blank spots with various ground covers and just watch the garden grow. It is our vision to have the garden fully covered with various vegetation and understory shrubs shaded by a canopy of evergreen and deciduous trees. It will take years to achieve the vision. Patience will be a virtue as we enjoy watching the garden mature. We are planting for the future generation!

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Late Winter Interest

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“Japanese Maple”
Heatherwood Winter

There is still a lot of winter interest in Heatherwood. The skeleton structures of the Japanese Maples provide interesting winter forms. The reds, yellows, and greens of the evergreen plants provide highlights through the garden. Good weather is predicted through the first couple weeks of March. It’s time to get our and start our winter/spring clean-up and pruning.

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Three More Weeks Until Spring

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“Reminder”
Tulip Tree Bloom, Heatherwood

It is hard to believe that spring is only three weeks away. Yesterday we took a long walk through the garden with a notebook in hand. We made a survey of the garden and jotted down all of the little things that we needed to do in the garden in the early spring. We have a lot of work to do. We plan to start our winter/spring clean-up this week.

During our walks in the garden I always note special little things that catch my eye. The image above is a spent bloom of a tulip tree we planted last spring. It is a reminder of the tree’s beautiful blooms that will come out this summer. Last year, we got busy and missed the peak of the bloom. This year, we will keep our eye out for the two or three blooms that may emerge on our “baby” tulip tree.

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Seed Pod or Weapon?

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“Nature’s Flail”
Heatherwood Liquidambar

Little things frequently catch my attention during my garden strolls. I almost always have a camera with me to record my thoughts. Liquidambars (American Sweetgum) have caught my interest for many years. Their beautiful multi-color fall foliage first caught my eye in a nursery near Woodinville, WA in the late 80’s. I purchased two and planted them at our driveway’s entrance. An ice storm following a heavy snowfall bent the trees to the ground and broke off several branches. The trees never really fully recovered.

My next experience was in Pennsylvania where I again saw the beautiful fall color of a row of sweetgums lining a local nursery. I quickly bought six trees to line the edge of our yard along the road. Fifteen years later, they were the highlight of our neighborhood’s drive.

I am on my third trial here in Central Washington. Two years after I moved in, I planted two more Liquidambars, one on each side of our driveway. They grace our front yard with lush green foliage in the spring and summer, beautiful fall color, and the weapons shown in the image above in the winter.

When I look at these spiked seed pods, they remind me of a spiked medieval weapon called a flail. I don’t want to think how it would feel to be hit by one. However, I have felt the excruciating pain of crawling around on the ground weeding beneath a tree and kneeling on one of the spiked seed pods.

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Another Heatherwood Winter Sunrise

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“Lenticular Sunrise”
Heatherwood Winter

Winter is the season for amazing sunrises over Eastern Washington. Winter is the time when we have many cloud covered skies. This one with a lenticular cloud formation hanging above the tree grove silhouette was spectacular this morning. It triggered my imagination to visualize a large spaceship looking for a place to land. It was an exciting way to start the day!

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Winter Beauty – 7

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“Wireless Zelkova and Meadow”
Heatherwood Winter

This tree is one of a pair of Wireless Zelkovas that frame a neck of grass which connects two of our larger lawn areas. This one anchors the meadow, and its twin sister anchors the crabapple grove. Together, some day in the future, they will form an arch over the lawn path.

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Winter Beauty – 6

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“Stick Trees”
Heatherwood Winter

Sometimes beauty is in simple peace. This is the feeling that I had as I stood at the entrance to the center circle planting area of our lower garden. The simple forms of the grasses aligning the path and the background trees in our and our neighbor’s gardens beckoned me to walk in and enjoy the peaceful setting.

Here’s the story behind the image’s title, “Stick Trees.” A very close friend of ours had spent all her early years in the Northwest where the natural vegetation is an abundance of tall beautiful evergreens. She got married and the first thing she and her husband did was to move to a woodland area in New Jersey in the middle of winter. When they arrived, she was very disappointed as she exclaimed that their woodland area was only “stick trees”. They did not stay there very long and soon moved back to Seattle and the tall evergreens, where they have happily lived ever after.

Whenever I see a grouping of deciduous trees without their leaves, I think of her.

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Winter Beauty – 5

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“Cherry Allee Edge”
Heatherwood Winter

As I look down the edge of the Cherry Allee, I see the red of the cherry tree bark contrasting with the yellow bark of the yellow twig dogwoods. In the summer the leaves of the dogwoods extend up to the lower branches of the cherries. In a couple of years foliage of the trees and shrubs will form a natural wall framing the sides of the perennial plantings. As the cherry trees mature, they will form an archway over the center plantings.

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A Winter Day

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“Birches and Clouds”
Heatherwood Winter

Dark billowy clouds and fresh snow,
Filtered through stately trees,
Open a new perspective.

I don’t often view these birches from this perspective taken from the road looking southeast into our garden. It is the least cluttered view of the set of trees. Taking this image reminds me to take my time and try to view my subject (and aspects of life) from many perspectives instead of just taking a “snap shot” from a convenient spot.

This set of birches frame in our woodland garden from the north. Heatherwood has three sets of three birches. Two sets were here when I moved to Selah in 2016. They were planted 12-15 years ago. The third set of birches are babies, just planted last year. Each set establishes an anchor spot in our garden.

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