Gretchen Champoux

This guest post comes to us via Gretchen Champoux of Sacred Spaces, a local garden design company.

Green Lake is a feast for the eyes right now. No, I’m not talking about all those power-walking “BOB-Stroller-Moms.”  I’m talking about the trees. Have you seen them lately?  Living in the PNW, it’s easy to take trees for granted.  We’re surrounded. I mean, our city gives us trees to plant for heaven’s sakes.  I love it.

My favorite part of my run or walk around Green Lake is the north end – that is, if you are heading counter clock-wise, before you hit the wading pool. There’s a grove of river birch that make me pine and conveniently stop to catch my breath and linger.

I’ve noticed that at Green Lake wherever there are river birch trees there is a bench. You can see why. The lovely textured bark, the long lean limbs, and delicate shelter these trees offer really invite you to observe them and receive their embrace.

You have all heard of a tree-hugger. Well, trees also do some hugging by creating form and dimension to your landscape or garden. Fall is the time to plant them too. As the weather above ground becomes mild, the ground below becomes full of activity, fostering hearty root growth.  Come spring, your plants will be stronger and ready to put out (or leaf out) what you have been putting in (Mother Nature’s rainfall, compost, leaf mulch…)

So plant those trees and shrubs now.  Perennials too.

On another note, there’s a saying that knowing the name of every plant doesn’t make you a good gardener but knowing where to find the answers to your plant questions, does. I have a feeling that that adage applies to any career, but I’m not afraid to play the good gardener card here. To confirm my birch identification I came across Arthur Lee Jacobson’s website which lists the names of all the tree species at the lake. Fun stuff. He seems to be an interesting guy too.

Seattle Parks and Recreation also has some interesting documents for you to peruse online if you get a kick out of reading up on Green Lake’s vegetative history. Go Parks!

Now, go plant those trees.

© for My Green Lake | Seattle's Green Lake Blog, 2011.

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Post tags: gardening, trees

The Freeway Estates Community Orchard is a strip of public land on the west side of I-5, on 6th Ave NE between NE 60th St and NE 63rd St. A group of volunteers has been transforming the space into an orchard and garden for the community since last winter.

Saturday’s event featured free cider and family activities. A design board was set up so that the community could submit ideas and suggestions for the future of the space.

Many thanks to Benjamin Lukoff for sharing the following photos with us:

You can learn more about the Freeway Estates Community Orchard via Ruth Callard (rooth [at] zipcon.net) or by joining the orchard’s Google group.

©Amy Duncan for My Green Lake | Seattle's Green Lake Blog, 2011.

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Post tags: building community, gardening, I-5

Participants will weed a restoration site on the Green Lake shoreline, just north of the the Green Lake Pitch & Putt golf course (5701 East Green Lake Way N). Blackberry roots and other weeds need to be removed.

Volunteers should dress for the weather. Hiking boots and thick gloves are recommended. If you have weeding tools, you are asked to bring them.

For more information about the work party, contact Denise Pardi at friendsofgl [at] gmail.org.

©Amy Duncan for My Green Lake | Seattle's Green Lake Blog, 2011.

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Post tags: friends of green lake, gardening, volunteer

The First Annual Cider Fest at Freeway Estates Community Orchard is planned for Saturday, October 29, 2011, 2:00 p.m. – ­ 5:00 p.m.

The event will feature free cider and activities for all ages, including apple carving. There will also be on opportunity to supply orchard design ideas using paper and crayons that will be available at the site.

The Freeway Estates Community Orchard is a strip of public land located on the west side of I-5, on 6th Ave NE between NE 60th St and NE 63rd St. A group of neighbors has been transforming the space into an orchard and garden for the community since last winter.

You can learn more about the project via Ruth Callard (rooth [at] zipcon.net) or by joining the orchard’s Google group.

©Amy Duncan for My Green Lake | Seattle's Green Lake Blog, 2011.

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Post tags: building community, gardening, I-5, party

Merritt says that volunteers are needed for a work party at the Seattle Sensory Garden at the Woodland Park Rose Garden (750 N 50th St).

Sensory gardens make use of all the senses. Plants and landscape elements are chosen for the garden based on not just their visual qualities, but also their smell, texture, sound and taste.

In June, a crew of volunteers cleared the site of the Seattle Sensory Garden, marked the layout of the paths and beds, spread Zoo Doo and readied the site for planting, according to a Facebook page for the garden. Pavers were then installed and planting has begun.

The garden includes elements that can be used in therapeutic sessions treating Alzheimer’s disease, autism, blindness, and hearing impairments.

You can read more about the Seattle Sensory Garden here.

The next work party at the garden is Saturday, August 13, 2011 at 9 a.m. There is no need to RSVP; volunteers will sign in when they arrive at the garden.

©Amy Duncan for My Green Lake | Seattle's Green Lake Blog, 2011.

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Post tags: gardening, volunteer, woodland park, zoo

Used in stop signs and fire engines, red is a surefire attention grabber, and no less in the garden.  Second on the spectrum only to yellow in visibility to human eyes, it is a power that requires careful handling.

It’s easy to fall for reds at the nursery or in a catalog picture – but the main thing to notice in choosing your reds is to be aware of undertones: does it fall closer to blue or orange on the spectrum?  If you’re unsure, a color wheel can be helpful. Or if you’re shopping, try bringing another red plant to the one you’re considering. Instantly your eyes will pick out the difference.

Mixing the two can be dicey — the common combo of pink Kwanzan cherry or Redbud (Cercis) tree (both blue tones) next to a pink dogwood (coral tone) comes to mind — unless you pick companions that bridge that gap, either with multicolored flowers, or variegated or colored foliage in copper, chartreuse or wine.

We’re seeing lots of reds in Green Lake gardens lately, especially accented with bass notes of dark burgundy-cresting-black varieties of smoke bush (Cotinus species) and elderberry (Sambucus sp.) These tones add depth and mystery to your garden, while gold- or white-variegated leaves add light. (For more on using black tones in the garden, check out this post.)

These red-black stunners make fantastic go-betweens for blending disparate tones of reds, or yellows and oranges.  Here are some great examples:

Pure pink shrub roses on Keen Way make a riveting combo that stops just shy of clashing with the bluer red of the “purple” smoke bush (Cotinus).

“Black” elderberry (Sambucus) mediates between the scarlet (blue-toned) red lilies and the coral (orange-tones) wall flower (Cheiranthus allionii).

This combination sticks with the cooler side of red, with blues and greens. Blue reds (drumstick allium and Penstemon) pop with the green-based yellow flowers and the yellow-green-pink tinged Sedum. Warm oranges would throw off this combination.

These wallflowers offer a little bit of everything, from plum to yellow to coral, and so can easily accommodate other colors.

Bittersweet vine demonstrates solo how to blend blue red through red to red-orange and yellow.

©Erica Browne Grivas for My Green Lake | Seattle's Green Lake Blog, 2011.

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Post tags: gardening

Chez Streetwise is moving from the west side of the lake to the east, giving a whole new window onto Green Lake gardening.

Some notes:

The oriental poppies have been in their glory for almost a month now. They are perennial, have bigger flowers, fuzzy stalks and often black blotches in the center. Be gentle transplanting them – I hear they resent it.

Here is a traffic-stopping display at the corner of N 56th St and 1st Ave NE:

This is an annual poppy at our new place, an Iceland poppy, I think, growing lustily along in that orange way they have:

Somehow last year, I was so focused on the spittlebugs, which are back again for their annual two week visit, that I must have missed sights like this. Not to worry, they don’t harm your plants, just your sense of aesthetic control over your garden.

Believe it or not, the same building offered up this spectacle of wisteria around the corner:

This little plant blooms itself crazy starting now and going all summer. The species is geranium, though it’s not related to what we usually call geraniums in our windowboxes (their actual name is Pelargonium). This one may be “Johnson’s Blue,” a popular variety. You can find some with purple leaves, flowers in blush to pink to purple, or even with leaves that turn red in fall.

This vision at Green Lake Way N and N 55th St made me stop the car for a picture. It’s a variety of purple-leaved sambucus (a.k.a. the elderberry of the wine made famous in the movie “Arsenic and Old Lace.”) Even out of bloom, the leaves offer a Japanese maple-like tracery giving wonderful texture and contrast:

That’s all for now. When I settle in, I’ll discuss evaluating and planting a new garden (or one new to you.)

©Erica Browne Grivas for My Green Lake | Seattle's Green Lake Blog, 2011.

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Post tags: gardening

Photo courtesy Seattle Tilth

Seattle Tilth’s Chicken Coop and Urban Farm Tour returns this year with two stops in the Green Lake neighborhood.

The self-guided tour of backyard animals and gardens will be held on Saturday, July 9, 2011, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.

There are fifty urban and suburban sites on the tour. A wide variety of animals and agricultural practices are featured, including ducks, mini dairy goats, honey bees, geese, a cow, a horse, and a couple sheep with (hopefully) new born lambs.

The territory ranges from Edmonds to Renton, with sites in Issaquah and Duvall, and everywhere in between, including two in Green Lake: Green Lake Way N & N 53rd St and 8th Ave NE & NE 59th St. There is also a stop in Greenwood at Dayton Ave N & N 87th St.

“Using our map with descriptions of each site, you can choose your own adventure,” reads a press release about the tour. “Some highlights include a Coop Expo at the Rainier Beach Farm with several builders ready to show-off a variety of coops that are made-to-order, a certified organic garden-to-market project used for mental health therapy, a community garden with a large chicken coop for Asian immigrant elders, a chicken coop with a green roof, rain barrels and neighboring goats, and a diverse garden with bees, worm bins and medicinal plants used to make herbal tinctures and salves.”

Tickets for the Chicken Coop and Urban Farm Tour are available at Brown Paper Tickets. They are $12 each, with discounts for groups and families and Seattle Tilth members. After purchasing tickets, you will receive a map of host locations.

©Amy Duncan for My Green Lake | Seattle's Green Lake Blog, 2011.

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Post tags: animals, food, gardening

Thank you notes from last year's volunteer effort at Daniel Bagley. Photo credit: Erica Browne Grivas

This Friday (June 15, 2011), the staff of the Green Lake Windermere office will take the day off and participate in a day of community service.

Participants will be lending a hand with the development of Daniel Bagley Elementary‘s outdoor classroom and learning garden (7821 Stone Ave N). The project, which is a continuation of the work done by Windermere last year, includes the construction of a shed and benches.

“Windermere’s Community Service Day started in 1984 with my dad, John Jacobi, a handful of agents, and a run-down chain-link fence at an elementary school that needed some TLC,” said company president, OB Jacobi, in a press release. “Twenty-seven years and more than 800,000 hours of community service later, we’ve continued this tradition through neighborhood-enhancing projects in the areas where our Windermere teams live, work, and play.”

Thanks for the tip, Katie!

©Amy Duncan for My Green Lake | Seattle's Green Lake Blog, 2011.

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Post tags: gardening, kids, local businesses, real estate, schools, volunteer

Have you ever wondered who is responsible for the crescent-shaped mini-oasis in the shadow of Aurora Ave N along the west Green Lake path near the crosswalk at N 68th St?

We found a crew of four taking advantage of Saturday’s dry moments to get in some maintenance time.

The garden, which is called the “Crosswalk Rockery,” started with the bench. Three family members of Josefa Diaz Barrazona bought the memorial bench for $500 in 2000 from Seattle Parks and Recreation, but decided to go all out with the garden, promising to maintain it themselves.

Barrazona, who lived to be 106, was a trailblazing political pioneer who brought the Philippine Methodist Church to Seattle, and was the first woman government official elected in her native Phillipines province.

Her grandson, Tom Grime, daughter Ruth Norton, and son-in-law Larry Norton got some plants from the city and bought others, including the four purple lilacs about to bloom. (They represent Barrazona’s four sisters). Students from Blanchett High School laid the cobblestones skirting the garden and the commemorative plaque, says Tom. The venture has made a gardener out of Larry, says Ruth, and even volunteers out of passersby. “One woman told me she promised herself that if we were still here working when she came back around the lake a second time, she would come help. And she did!”

L-R: Tom Grime, Josefa’s grandson, Ruth and Larry Norton , her daughter and son-in-law, and Carol Prigg, a friend.

Almost on cue, as we were chatting, a silver-haired Green Lake walker came over, saying, “Looks like you’ve got some volunteer garden work going on. Thank you for doing this.”

Yes. What he said.

©Erica Browne Grivas for My Green Lake | Seattle's Green Lake Blog, 2011.

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Post tags: bishop blanchet high school, gardening, memorial, volunteer