The filtered late afternoon light made this woodland scene in the Bellevue Botanical Garden come to life. Light and shadows created a beautiful contrast that captured my eyes and mind when I walked by. I moved off the main path to a small overlook to get a better view. A gentle breeze moved the leaves on the trees above creating the filtered light to move around the scene. The light seemed to jump from branch to branch. I took time to just enjoy the scene before I started creating images. After taking a few images, I closed my eyes and just listened to the water trickling over the rocks. My mind relaxed, then my neck, shoulders, and arms. What a wonderful little place!
Bit by bit, the fall colors are emerging here in Heatherwood. They seem to be coming a little late this year. But, each day brings a little more color, bit by bit. In the woodland garden, the red buds and some Japanese maples are transitioning to yellow. The October Glory maples are starting to turn red. And, the skies are a brilliant blue. It is time to go out and enjoy the day!
The early morning sun backlit these Forest Pansy redbud leaves causing them to shout out, “Look at me, look at me!” An early morning walk is always a pleasure. Things just seem to sparkle when the sun first glances over them. The special sunlight is fleeting, I have to be on my toes, time is short. It is time to make the most out of every moment.
We added this Adirondack settee to our woodland garden area this spring. It is located at a corner of the woodland path framed in by several redbuds and Korean lilacs. From this point, we have views looking east and north through the developing woodland. Trees and shrubs will grow to shield this spot from the neighborhood road on the west. To date, we have 3 birch trees, 6 standard maples, 7 Japanese maples, 6 dogwoods, 1 oak, 1 ginkgo and a selection of conifers. We have filled in the understory with various perennials, viburnums, winterberries, rhododendrons, elderberries, buckthorns, and other shrubs. Next year we will be adding ground covers.
“Eastern View Through Woodland”
Looking east through the redbud lined path, we have a nice view of the bottom of the Cherry Allee and perennial garden. The bare spot on the distant hillside was where our historic irrigation flume stood for one hundred years. In a few more years the trees shrubs along the garden ridge should grow tall enough to cover the remaining scar.
“Northern View Through Woodland”
Looking north from the settee, we follow the path through the woodland up to the northern abutment of Selah Ridge. The understory is still sparse. It shouldn’t take long to start to fill in as we plant additional ground covers.
In the coming years this spot will be a wonderful place to sit and take a break to enjoy the surrounding little piece of nature!. Heck, it is a good spot now! We enjoyed a peaceful cup of morning coffee here today.
It is late spring and we are through with our planting projects for now. It is hard to believe that just a little over two years ago, this area was all grass. Spring of 2020 we started carving up the lawn and making planting areas in our lower property. We planted a few trees at that time. In 2021 we added several additional trees and started planting the beginning of an understory. This year we added several more plants to the understory. It is beginning to look like a small woodland.
We just added an Adirondack settee and now can just sit back and enjoy the evolving woodland garden.
Our 2022 spring planting project is completed except for a little barking touch up here and there. This year we added understory plants to our woodland garden. Last year we added standard maples, several dogwoods and Japanese maples, and a few shrubs along the garden edge and internal pathways. This year, we added shrubs and perennials to central part of the garden. It is starting to look a little more like a woodland. As the trees get larger, we will start to add more filtered shade loving woodland plants. But for now, most of the plants need to be sun loving. We need to be patient and wait for the trees, shrubs, and perennials to grow and mature a bit before we make significant additional contributions to the woodland. We will follow the shade.
One of my fondest memories of the rural Virginia countryside is the springtime bloom of the native dogwoods and redbuds. They were such a beautiful contrast of purplish pink and white that abounded along the country roads in the Virginia woodland areas. I remember the beautiful drives from Fairfax down to Jefferson’s Monticello and the trips along Skyline Drive.
Here at Heatherwood in Eastern Washington, we are trying to create a similar feeling in our woodland garden. Our first challenge is to select trees that will withstand the harsh summer sun. Both dogwoods and redbuds are understory trees that flourish under the canopies of taller trees. We have taken the risk of planting taller trees simultaneously with the dogwoods and redbuds. The second challenge is to select the dogwoods that will bloom at the same time as the redbuds. The eastern dogwoods and redbuds bloom together. However the Eastern dogwood is susceptible to anthracnose which we do not want to have. Thus, we are experimenting with different species of Kousa dogwoods to match the early blooming time of the redbuds. Time will tell how successful our efforts will be.
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!
“Daffies and Yellow Twig” Heatherwood Woodland Garden
It is easy to become focused on looking up at all the trees when walking through a woodland. However, there is so much interest looking down at the ground level as well. We are trying to replicate this in our Heatherwood garden. We have planted about 25 various trees in our woodland garden area. Tall-growing standard maples and birches will provide the basic shade for the understory redbuds, dogwoods, and Japanese maples. We are now gradually filling in the middle and ground tier of vegetation. For the mid-tier we have yellow and red twig dogwoods, various viburnums, winterberries, buckthorns, beauty berries, ornamental grasses, barberries, and other shrubs. This year we hope to add a few hardy rhododendrons. For ground-level interest we currently have only a few spring bulbs. This year we will add Oregon grape and other low growing plants in addition to more bulbs.
“Redbud Getting Ready to Burst” Heatherwood Woodland Garden
The buds on our Redbud trees are almost ready to burst out in bloom. I walk down almost every day to check their progress. Any day now they will be covered with pink and magenta blossoms. When they do, the woodland garden will come to life. I love spring!!!
