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( Photo by : Andrew Drake )
The Elisabeth Carey Miller Botanical Garden , tucked away in a quiet suburb of Seattle , was carve out of native woodland on a rocky gradient overlooking Puget Sound by the original owner , Mrs. Miller ( 1929 - 1994).The forest of the coastal Pacific Northwest is distinctive for its canopy of towering , evergreen plant conifers , principally Douglas fir tree ( Pseudotsuga menziesii ) , westerly Conium maculatum ( Tsuga heterophylla ) and western red cedar ( Thuja plicata ) . In addition , two very different maple rise in the woods : vine maple , which is shrubby , multistemmed and tight related to to Japanese maples , and the stately big - foliage maple ( A.macrophyllum ) . Native shrubs include evergreen huckleberry ( Vaccinium ovatum ) , red huckleberry ( V.parvifolium ) , salal ( Gaultheria shallon ) and two species of mahonia ( Mahonia nervosaandM.aquifolium ) . fern and trilliums are scattered over the forest storey .
The heavy shade beneath coniferous tree , coupled with grease conditions that tend to acid , intend Northwesterners must be creative to garden in woodlands . As director Carolyn Jones explains , “ Very few gardeners in the Pacific Northwest stay put only with aboriginal industrial plant , part because of the sheer size of it of the trees and partly because of the lack of color through much of the year . ” Mrs. Miller took advantage of the mild maritime climate to indulge her love of rare and unusual plants from all over the creation .
LAWS OF THE FOREST
Keep the intent informal – Simple , low - key pattern keeps the focus on plants and further the illusion that the multiple layers of super acid and contrast in grain “ just happen . ” Paths meander , stair are made of irregular stone and cedarwood round . Says Jones , “ The only added elements are some burnt - out logs for force and a birdbath made of a cedar ambo . ” Providing drama are the dark trunk of the towering conifer , like a proscenium arch in a grand quondam theater .
select exotics that fit – Northwest gardeners utilise alien ( foreign-born ) plant life to add variety to their woodland , but , as Jones explain , choices ground on indigene tend to be the adept fit . “ I believe that the Miller Garden is admired because we use a modified industrial plant pallet , ” she says . “ For example , while we only have one aboriginal trillium in the PNW , we produce tons of trillium species in the woodland . This construct of expanding on a native genus has been apply to acer , asarum , heuchera , genus Saxifraga , genus Mahonia , dicentra and genus Actaea . ”
Think beyond give – The traditional peak time for a woodland garden is springiness , and certainly the Miller Garden calculate like a fairyland in April . But Jones says she and her team do work intemperately to make year - daily round interest . “ Mrs. Miller create arresting fall colour usingAcer palmatumcultivars , Acer japonicum‘Aconitifolium ’ andDisanthus cercidifolius[which colors well even in deep spook ] . We also use layering to tote up magnificence : The tall trees support mount hydrangeas ( Hydrangea anomala ssp . petiolarisandH. integrifolia ) , plus vine such asParthenocissus henryana . ”
Pick your engagement – There is a symmetry between high - maintenance effect in some region of the garden and a very lay - back insurance elsewhere . Choosing just where to expend vitality is part of the design process . “ We expend ground covers such as saxifrages and waldsteinia for textural involvement at toe point , ” Jones explains , “ but that mean we must curb growth on a regular basis to prevent one from inundate the other . However , in parts of the garden we have extensive patches of epimedium under large oaks . These arena are an ultrasimplified version of a timber and demand almost no forethought at all . ”
Learn more from the Elisabeth C. Miller Botanical Garden on theirwebsite .
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