Tag Archives: Woodland Garden

Remembering the Virginia Countryside

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“Dogwoods & Redbuds”
Heatherwood Woodland Garden

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.

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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 Down

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“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.

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Almost

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“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!!!

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Work in Progress

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“Woodland Garden in Early Spring”
Heatherwood

Yesterday was a beautiful spring day. I took the opportunity to walk around our woodland garden area with my camera. My focus was to try to capture the feeling of various sections of the garden in the early spring before the majority of the trees were in bloom or leafed out. I also was attempting to create a baseline perspective of the garden prior to the additional planned plantings for this year.

When I first moved to Selah in 2016, this area was part of a pasture. The only trees were the birches in the left background. The next year, I added a small grove of October Glory maples next to the birches. The following year I planted the area in grass and added underground irrigation. In 2020, we started converting the area into a woodland garden theme, removing grass and adding red buds, a couple of dogwoods, and a few evergreens. Last year we continued to add standard maples, Japanese maples, several deciduous shrubs, and grasses to the area. This year, our plan is to add more understory deciduous shrubs and ground covers to frame in the pathway through the area. In the fall if we have the energy, we plan to add several more spring bulbs. This area will continue to be a “works in progress.” It will continuously be in a state of change as the trees grow and create more shade. The understory shrubs will transition from sun loving to filtered shade tolerant species. We will patiently enjoy watching it mature and change over time.

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One Down, Two to Go

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“Redbud Abstract”
Heatherwood Woodland Garden

One month of winter has passed by, only two more until the first day of spring arrives. Our grounds have been covered with snow since the last week in December. We have enjoyed the beauty of the Heatherwood’s winter scape, but are getting a little “itchy” to get out and work in the garden.

I try to live each day in the present, focusing on what I can do today to enjoy it to its fullest. Each and every day is a precious gift. I feel a little guilty when I start wishing for the future. But it is hard not to when there is such beauty ahead.

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