The Ornamental Border at Bradner Gardens Park: Dry Garden Improvement Project

Friday, April 10, 2015

Dry Garden Improvement Project

The Dry Garden & the Butterfly & Hummingbird Garden remain the most problematic areas in the Ornamental Border. It is pointless to do anything with the Butterfly & Hummingbird Garden until Seattle Parks & Recreation removes the trees there. That leaves the Dry Garden as the most obvious area for improvement. I propose that we remove the Acanthus, which isn't doing well in that location & has been discussed, as well as the Kniphofia & Phygelius, which are growing out of control. In this area, including the area on the north side of the stair (which is a bit vacant) I propose we plant some of the following drought tolerant plants.

Shrubs
Arctostaphylos columbiana (Hairy Manzanita) Arctostaphylos densiflora (Vine Hill Manzanita)
Cistus ladanifer (Crimson Spot Rockrose) Cistus purpureus (Orchid Rockrose)
Dorycnium hirsutum (Canary Clover)
Erica arborea 'Estrella Gold' (Tree Heath) Erica australis (Tree Heath)
Myrtus communis (Common Myrtle)
Phlomis fruticosa (Jerusalem Sage)
Rosa rugosa (Sea Tomato)
Yucca filimentosa 'Color Guard'

Perennials
Achillea millefolium 'Terracotta' (Yarrow)
Asclepias speciosa (Showy Milkweed)
Erigeron karvinskianus (Santa Barbara Daisy)
Eschscholzia californica (California Poppy)
Euphorbia rigida
Perovskia atriplicifolia (Russian Sage)
Panicum virgatum (Switch Grass)
Stipa gigantea (Giant Feather Grass)

Groundcovers
Hypericum cerastoides
Lithodora diffusa
Sedum, various species

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Ornamental Border History

Planting of the ornamental border began in 1998. Before the first planting, native soil was amended with Cedar Grove compost and Smith Dairy manure.

King County Master Gardeners designed 7 theme gardens. Each garden was scaled to fit into smaller urban residential yards & featured a selection of trees, shrubs & perennials to demonstrate the right plant for the right place, low maintenance & a variety of irrigation systems. The gardens provided living examples for Master Gardener lectures, demonstrations & workshops.

From north to south, then west, the 7 gardens are the Winter Garden, Sensory Garden, Native Garden, Dry Garden, Butterfly & Hummingbird Garden, Shade Garden & Fragrance Garden.

Over time, the irrigation system was converted entirely to drip because it worked the best on the sloping beds. It was decided to use no irrigation starting in 2012.

King County Master Gardeners left Bradner Gardens in 2008. Presentations & demonstration mostly ceased after that point. But in more recent years, the border had only been used for workshops on drip irrigation. Plant Amnesty conducted a pruning class in 2012, when several overgrown trees & shrubs were pruned. General maintenance was transferred to volunteers from the Bradner Gardens P-Patch.

Bradner Gardens has the first arboretum of small trees that fit along streets under utility lines & in smaller urban yards. The collection features both deciduous & evergreen trees. Many were anticipated to grow to a mature height of 20 to 30 feet.

Planted as part of the Seattle Millennium/Woods Legacy celebration in 2000, these trees are located throughout the park, including the ornamental border. Tree Stewards worked with Seattle City Light & the City Arborist to select more than 40 appropriate trees for display.

For the original installation, lists were submitted to King County Master Gardener clinics to get donations from gardeners. Plants were also donated by the Washington Park Arboretum Foundation from the Pat Calvert Nursery & from Seattle Parks and Recreation. Most of the trees were obtained through the Seattle Millennium Tree Project and Seattle City Light. Some plants were also purchased with grant money.