![]() The white camellia-like flowers on Japanese stewartia ( Stewartia pseudocamellia) in summer. Directly behind it is a stand of the native vine maple ( Acer circinatum), which also get good fall color. Located just outside my living room window it provides a beautiful focal point. Photo: Greg Gravesįurther along this same bed I planted a Japanese snowbell tree ( Styrax japonica ‘Pink Chimes’) that in early summer is covered with small pink bell shaped flowers in early summer follow by good yellow fall color. Photo: Greg Graves Rich fall color on a Stewartia pseudocamellia. Robust foliage on Magnolia macrophylla ‘Ashei’. Sourwood blooms late in the season so often displays its chartreuse flowers clusters along with the red foliage. The third tree I planted in this section of the garden was a sourwood ( Oxydendrum arboreum) with bright red leaves in fall. Big leaf magnolia ( Magnolia macrophylla) grows to about 35 feet with very large leaves that are up to 24 inches long and 12 inches wide in fall the paper-thin leaves turn brown and the veins are exposed. This small tree, to 10 feet in 10 years, sports bright chartreuse leaves in spring followed by white summer flowers and yellow fall color. The first was a Dogwood, ( Cornus alternifolia ‘Gold Bullion’). Where I had removed many of the maple seedlings I started to add some of my favorites from the Miller Garden. Cornus alternifolia ‘Gold Bullion’ Photo: Greg Graves ![]() The Euonymus produces nice white flowers in spring and showy seedpods that look like little orange and red parachutes ripen in late summer followed by excellent fall color. Planted not far from the serviceberry was a spindle tree, ( Euonymus sachalinensis). I was fortunate that my new garden already contained several nice small trees, including a serviceberry ( Amelanchier × grandiflora), a small tree with a profusion of white blooms in spring and wonderful fall color. Serviceberry ( Amelanchier x grandiflora) Photo: Greg GravesĪlso, as a plant collector I saw this as an opportunity to add a number of different types of trees to the garden a luxury that I never had in my former city garden. I began by clearing about a dozen big leaf maple seedlings-a fast growing but short-lived tree that would have made the garden too shady. This made them ideal for growing amongst the existing firs. Many of the trees I was considering naturally grew at the edge of the woods and so would tolerate part shade. My goal was to create an in-between layer of trees that would enhance the taller canopy. Working there gave me the opportunity to see what trees did well in northwest woodland conditions like those in my garden. Miller, the garden’s original owner and gardener, focused on fall-her favorite season-in the garden by including trees with good fall color. Photo: Greg Gravesįor more than a dozen years I worked at the Miller Botanical Garden in Seattle, one of the best woodland gardens around. Full moon maple Acer japonicum ‘Aconitifolium’ at the Elisabeth C. The large conifers are more than 100-feet tall and the maple are around 60-feet tall, creating a tall overhead canopy but leaving a lot of space between the big trees and the ground. So, as I was building my garden, I concentrated on the understory, that layer of trees ranging from 20 to 40 feet. ![]() My garden is filled with native trees-Douglas fir ( Pseudotsuga menziesii), Western red cedar ( Thuya plicata), and big leaf maples ( Acer macrophyllum). Here in my Northwest garden I have about six layers: tall trees, understory trees, large shrubs, small shrubs, perennials, and ground covers. Not only does this make the garden more interesting but it also encourages habitat for birds, insects, and animals. I have learned to create layers in the garden. The striking white trunks of paper bark birches ( Betula jacquemontii) highlighted in the shade of the understory.
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