Ecoyards' youngest employee at the base of the red oak

We’re on at mission at Ecoyards to tour all of Seattle’s amazing Heritage Trees. The first stop last Sunday was a trip through our West Seattle neighborhood, where we found this grand oak tree at Hiawatha Park. This red oak is more than 100 feet wide and was planted in 1911 with nearby trees as part of the first playfield designed by the Olmstead Brothers (they designed New York’s Central Park). It’s native to the northeast U.S. and displays spectacular red and gold in the fall.

The Heritage Tree program was initiated in 1996 by PlantAmesty to recognize exceptional, historic or otherwise spectacular trees.

Douglas fir

There are dozens and dozens of Heritage trees around city. They’re identified by a plaque, and owners are given a tree care manual. You can nominate a tree online — whether it’s a notable collection grove or avenue of trees or landmarks of a community. You can nominate trees on public or private property, but you have to have the owner’s approval. The tree also has to be examined by an arborist and be healthy.

The second stop on our Sunday tour was halfway down the block, in one of our neighbor’s back yard. It’s a Douglas fir (pictured left).

We rounded off the morning with a stop at one of the largest Giant Sequoia that we’ve ever seen in this city. This tree near West Seattle’s Morgan Junction is about 100 feet all and about 93 inches in diameter. The trunk and branching are magnificent on this California native; and it’s one of the largest located on private property in Seattle.

2. Give your lawn a face-lift by aerating, overdressing and topdressing about every two years. (Read more about how to do so in this blog post). Otherwise fertilize your lawn with a good organic slow-release fertilizer.

3. Mow weekly, removing no more than 1/3 of the blade.

4. Add compost to your vegetables, trees, landscape beds.

5. In the vegetable garden, continue to plant cool season crops, such as lettuce, beets, snap peas, chard, radish, spinach and parsnip.

6. Plant seeds for annuals such as cosmos, asters, marigolds and zinnias.

A two-inch thick vine maple (a ubiquitous feature in the Seattle area) provides about $50 in overall benefits, with the bulk of it coming in gains in property value, according to this cool National Tree Benefit Calculator developed by Casey Trees. OK, it’s not meant to be a scientific assessment of the tree’s value, but it’s a simple way to get you to start thinking about the value of a tree planted in the parking strip, in your front yard, or along the street.

What I like about this calculator is it takes into account all the benefits of a tree. There’s the gain in property value from having trees in your front yard — a spectacular specimen tree like a Japanese maple, for example, can help you create curb appeal . Then there’s the tree’s role in curbing stormwater runoff; this calculator notes that a two-inch vine maple intercepts 52 gallons of runoff a year. How? It holds rain on leaves, branches and bark and reducing soil erosion by slowing rainfall before it hits the soil; all that means a little bit less oils, chemicals and other bad stuff washing into the local waterways.

The calculator also takes into account the benefits of air quality (trees absorb pollutants) and energy conservation (planted in the right spot around the house, it can help warm or cool your house during certain times of the year).

Planting camas attracts the native Western bumblebee

The tiny insects that do the bulk of the work to pollinate trees, shrubs and other plants have been in steady decline across the country. But one Seattle project is trying to change that by creating a continuous pathway for native pollinators, including Western bumblebees, orchard mason bees and butterflies.

The Pollinator Pathway project envisions a mile-long stretch along Columbia Street near downtown Seattle where plants friendly to these insects are planted in the strip between the street and sidewalk. On the bookends of the path are two existing green spaces, one at Seattle University and another at a small park called Nora’s Woods. The organization will provide homeowners along the pathway with simple designs and plant lists to create a garden that invites these native pollinators. The gardens would ultimately be maintained by the homeowners or groups that volunteer to take care of them.

We love the idea behind this project. Ecoyards uses native plants whenever possible to provide habitats for native bees, butterflies and birds. Native plants not only attract these pollinating workhorses, but they often require less maintenance, water, and fertilizer. Over time they’ve adapted to our climate and growing conditions, and native insects have come to rely on them for food, shelter and other needs.

The Polllinator Pathway Web site has a wonderful plant list with photographs of both native and non-native plants that attract bees, birds and butterflies. The native plant list includes trillium, deer fern, sword fern and Oregon grape for shade gardens, and nodding onion, lupine, yarrow and tiger lily for sunny gardens.

We at Ecoyards try to design Seattle landscapes with fragrance in mind. We often place a few of these plants near the entrance of homes and walkways so that homeowners are sure to get a whiff of the fragrance. Sarcococca ruscifolia, an evergreen shrub (pictured right), is another one of our favorites. It’s sometimes called vanilla plant, or sweet box, because its tiny aromatic white flowers that blooms in winter. This drought-tolerant plant grows well in the shade and is a good addition to any fragrant garden. Other good choices for winter fragrance include witch hazel, and evergreen clematis.

If you’re interested in seeing and smelling more fragrant plants, head to the Ethel L. Dupar Fragrant Garden in South Seattle. A project of the Seattle Lighthouse for the Blind, the garden features over 50 plants with fragrant foliage and flowers including hyacinths, gardenias, scented goldenrod, azara, rosemary, lavender and a variety of herbs. Walking through the garden, you’ll take in a wide variety of scents, including peanut butter, lemon, curry, floral, orange blooms. The garden in accessible to people of all disabilities, including those in wheelchairs. The Lighthouse offers about four tours a months, including one on Tuesday, March 16 and Wednesday, March 17, but you have to call or email to RSVP. Click here for more information on how to schedule a tour or find out the tour schedule for 2010.

VAST composite paver

We’ve spent some time looking into VAST pavers, and we’re happy with their natural look and durability. We’re excited to start offering Ecoyards clients another environmentally-friendly option to build their patios, driveways and walkways. The pavers are lightweight but sturdy and have a lifetime warranty against cracking. While the cost of VAST pavers are nearly double that of traditional concrete pavers, they’re much easier to install so the overall cost of a project to the consumer is comparable to traditional installations. The pavers are brick-shaped and come in six different colors.

What are rain gardens? They’re simply shallow depressions in the soil landscaped with perennial flowers and native vegetation that soak up rainwater and slow the flow of runoff into our lakes, streams and other water bodies.

Why is this important? Rain gardens, along with other tools such as rainwater harvesting, compost-amended soils among others, can help filter out pollutants such as grease, pesticides, oils, fertilizers and others before they flow into storm drains and then drain untreated into our waters. Residents can create a rain garden on their property and divert the stormwater from their roof, driveway, or sidewalk to this garden. Another benefit of doing so is to slow the flow of runoff and help prevent flooding, while also increasing the amount of water that seeps into the ground and recharges local groundwater.

Here’s a comprehensive booklet on rain gardens by Washington State University Pierce County Extension. And a brochure on rain gardens and how to build one.

The Seattle Times has a good story in today’s newspaper about a volunteer group called City Fruit that helps homeowners deal with the overabundance of fruit growing on their trees. City Fruit offers an added twist — helping homeowners better care for their fruit trees, including how to deal with worms, proper pruning and other tree tips. The Times writes:

City Fruit goes beyond harvesting by offering homeowners instruction in pruning, pest control and harvesting as well as workshops in canning or jam making. The organization also hopes to create a neighborhood network so that anyone seeking harvesting help or workshop information can consult its Web site for citywide options…

There are plenty of groups in Seattle that help homeowners harvest fruit and deliver them to food banks, so there’s no excuse for letting those juicy apples or pears fall to the ground and rot. Solid Ground, a nonprofit in Fremont, for example, runs the Community Fruit Tree Harvest. The group posts a list of food banks and other programs that will accept fruit in 2009 (PDF).  You can sign up as a volunteer to scout neighborhood fruit trees that can potentially be harvested, provide storage for fruit or picking buckets or be “on call” to harvest fruit in your neighborhood.  You can also organize your own harvest party and donate your fruit by calling Seattle Tilth’s Garden hotline at 206-633-0224 or email help@gardenhotline.org).