Demonstration Gardens
The Master Gardeners of King County maintain six demonstration gardens. In each of these gardens, the community can see firsthand the types of plants that grow well in our area, and learn recommended planting practices and overall garden care. Visitors can also enjoy each garden’s unique beauty and large variety of plants. Old favorites grow alongside new experimental varieties.
Volunteers maintain the gardens throughout the year using techniques learned in the Master Gardening Training Course and Continuing Education programs. If you see a “work party” in progress, stop by and talk to our volunteers. They’ll be pleased to show you the gardens and answer your questions. In addition to MGFKC demonstration gardens, we have included a list of public gardens that focus on native plants. We encourage each of you to visit these gardens to inspire, inform, and excite you about the beauty of native plants and their many medicinal, cultural and edible aspects.
WSU Demonstration Gardens in King County
Seattle
Cesar Chavez Demonstration Garden – Research Based Organic Garden
El Centro De La Raza
2524 16th Ave S, Seattle, WA
Garden Hours: Master Gardeners on site Wednesdays and Saturdays from 10:00 am - 1:00 pm.
Work parties April through September. Some evenings during the growing season.
Garden serves as an outdoor classroom promoting research-based organic gardening information. The garden provides information on nutrition and self-sufficiency and offers opportunities for service learning, and teaching environmental stewardship to the multi-ethnic population of Beacon Hill. The garden includes a children’s garden, vegetable garden that incorporates enabling beds, composting demonstration, kitchen herb garden, native hedgerow, and a cactus garden.
Thyme Patch Park – Pruning & Alternative Hedge Choices
2853 NW 58th St, Ballard, Seattle, WA
Garden Hours: Self-guided tour information available on site.
Thyme Patch Park is a tiny jewel nestled in a west Ballard neighborhood. The park combines the best elements of a neighborhood park and community garden. It includes a P-Patch, Master Gardener demonstration garden, benches, lawn area and walkways. The entrance features a hand-crafted steel handrail by artist Chuck Nafziger. The city-lot-size neighborhood park features 15 P-Patch plots on the south half and a landscaped garden on the north half. Master Gardeners created the planting design for the landscaped portion of the park with good design elements for homeowner plants and alternative plant choices for screens and hedges. Fragrance and winter interest plants are also featured.
Wedgwood / Picardo Demonstration Garden – Shade Gardening & Edible Landscaping
2601 NE 82nd St, Seattle, WA
Garden Hours: Master Gardeners are on site on 2nd and 4th Mondays from 12 pm – 3 pm and 2nd and 4th
Saturdays from 9:00 am - 12:00 pm.
This shady garden the size of a city lot serves as a model for the average Seattle home gardener. Gardening practices are all organic. Edible plants, edible landscaping (flowers), root crops, and perennial vegetables are given special attention. This fairly shady site because of nearby buildings, it is a realistic model for the average Seattle home gardener.
Bellevue
Bellevue Demonstration Garden – Urban Gardening
15680 SE 16th St, Bellevue, WA
(425) 462-2749
Garden Hours: Master Gardeners on site Wednesdays and Saturdays from 9 am – 1 pm (April – October).
Free workshops every Saturday 10:30 am – 12:00 pm. Check the website for a schedule.
The King County Master Gardeners in cooperation with Bellevue Parks & Community Services manage the Bellevue Demonstration Garden. Established in 1984, this urban demonstration garden demonstrates good gardening practices in a typical urban setting. The garden includes a complete MG Diagnostic Plant Clinic, Master Compost Center, Greenhouse Operations, Children’s Garden, over 40 demonstration beds and gardens. Outstanding educational workshops for the general public run from January through October. The Garden holds two major events; Children’s Fair & High Summer Celebration in August and Harvest Festival in September which should not be missed.
Kent
Neely Homestead Historical Demonstration Garden - Heritage & Kitchen Gardening
5311 S 237th Pl, Kent, WA
Garden Hours: Master Gardeners on site Thursday and 3rd Saturday from 10:00 am – 12:00 pm (April – October).
Heritage gardening classes held 4th Saturdays at 10:00 am
The David A. Neely House is the oldest standing residence in Kent and on the State Register of Historic Homes. The restoration and preservation project serves as a vivid reminder of the pioneer way of life that existed during the late 1800s. The home was built in 1884, and all the plant material for this garden is historically appropriate. The design features a perennial bed, a rose bed, an area to grow herbs, grapes and hops, and an old-fashioned kitchen (vegetable) garden.
Maple Valley
Tribal Life Trail at Lake Wilderness Arboretum – Indigenous Plants & Native Uses
22520 SE 248th Street, Maple Valley, WA
Garden Hours: Master Gardeners are on site on alternate Saturdays beginning January 30, 2010
The Tribal Life Trail is a trail-style demonstration garden that focuses on plants used by native peoples of the Pacific Northwest. It provides an educational platform and understanding of the foods, medicines, and many other practical functions derived from these plants. The trail is approximately 270 feet long and meanders in and out of the forest edge along the arboretum meadow.
WSU Gardens Outside of King County
To see more exceptional gardens, view a list of all WSU Demonstration Gardens in Washington State, by county.
Other Great Public Gardens in Washington
Bellevue Botanical Garden – Comprises 53 acres of display gardens, woodlands, meadows and wetlands, including a diverse selection of native plants.
12001 Main Street, Bellevue, (425) 462-2749
http://www.bellevuebotanical.org
Bloedel Reserve – The Reserve’s 150 acres are a unique blend of natural woodlands and beautifully landscaped gardens, including a Japanese Garden, a Moss Garden, and Reflection Pool, and the Bloedel’s former estate home.
7571 NE Dolphin Drive, Bainbridge Island, (360) 842-7631
http://www.bloedelreserve.org
Carl S. English Botanical Garden at the Ballard Locks – The grounds combine the elegant lines and vistas of the romantic English landscape style with the original character of more than 570 species and 1,500 varieties from around the world, including local natives. The garden offers color, fragrance, and open spaces to awaken your senses all year long.
3015 NW 54th Street, Seattle, (206) 783-7059
http://bit.ly/Carl-English-Botanical-Garden
Covington Water District Waterwise Demonstration Garden – This garden showcases WaterWise gardening. Some areas never get water beyond what Nature provides. Come stroll, touch and smell in this beautiful water-efficient landscape while picking up ideas for your own yard. Includes drought tolerant native plants.
18631 SE 300thPlace, Covington, (253) 631-0565
http://www.covingtonwater.com/conservation_outdoors_demo_garden.htm
Ethnobotanical Garden at Daybreak Star Cultural Center – The Bernie Whitebear Memorial Ethnobotanical Garden is a learning garden that contains a treasure of over 60 species of native plants. These plants are key to supporting the health, welfare, and traditions of the Coast Salish and other indigenous people of the Pacific NW.
3801 West Government Way, Seattle (206) 285-4425
http://www.cityofseattle.net/Parks/environment/discovparkindex.htm
The Dunn Gardens – Plants range from diminutive trilliums to towering Douglas firs. New and old intermingle, as plants dating back to the 1910s coexist happily with those just set into the soil. Woodland gardens, perennial borders, and great sweeps of lawn are just a few of the elements that make up the garden. Month by month, year by year, the garden grows and changes, while its historic quality endures. Tours arranged April-September.
13533 Northshire Rd NW, Seattle, (206) 362-0933 or info@dunngardens.org
www.dunngardens.org
Eastpointe Native Plant Demonstration Garden – Part of project of NATIVE (Native Appreciation through Indigenous Vegetation at Eastpointe), this garden uses volunteers to educate the public about native plants and their environmental benefits.
3600 – 136th Pl. SE, Bellevue, (425) 296-6602
Erna Gunther Ethnobotanical Garden at the Burke Museum of Natural History – Ethnobotany is the study of the plant lore of a people. The Gunther Garden displays many of the most useful plants in the Northwest; plant labels indicate traditional uses, as well as natural habitats and suggestions for use in wildlife enhancement, land reclamation, or waterwise gardens.
Corner of 17th Avenue NE and NE 45th, Seattle, (206) 543-5590
http://www.burkemuseum.org/exhibits/browse/ethnobotanical_garden
Highline Community College - Their campus in Des Moines has a Washington native plant habitat garden. Divided into four regions, eastern Wash, coastal, NW forest, and subalpine, about 100 representative species.
South 240th Street & Pacific Highway South, Des Moines, (206) 878-3710
https://flightline.highline.edu/gbarclay/hccgarden.htm
Kruckeberg Botanic Garden – This four-acre public garden contains a unique blend of Pacific Northwest native plants and unusual exotics set in a naturalistic wooded setting. It may take multiple visits to see the more than 2,000 species, which include native and exotic conifers, hardwoods, rhododendrons, magnolias, ferns and groundcovers. Several trees are the largest or most rare in the state. Birdwatchers have identified over 40 bird species in the garden.
20312 15th Ave NW, Shoreline, (206) 546.1281
www.kruckeberg.org
Lake Hills Greenbelt Ranger Station Backyard Habitat Demonstration – A model for creating your own backyard habitat with native plants.
15416 SE 16th St Bellevue, (425) 452-7225
http://www.ci.bellevue.wa.us/lake_hills_greenbelt.htm
Lakewold Gardens – Offers landscape architecture by Thomas Church surrounded by rare and native plants, State Champion trees, over 900 rhododendrons, 30 Japanese maples and stunning statuary. A Washington State historic landmark, Lakewold’s Georgian-style mansion and historic architecture complete the 10 acres. Tours available by reservation, walk-ins welcome.
12317 Gravelly Lake Drive SW, Tacoma, (253) 584-4106
www.lakewoldgardens.org
Olympic Sculpture Park – Transformed nine-acre industrial site into open and vibrant green space for art. This new waterfront park gives Seattle residents and visitors the opportunity to experience a variety of sculpture in an outdoor setting with native plants, while enjoying the incredible views and beauty of the Olympic Mountains and Puget Sound. Admission is free.
2901 Western Avenue, Seattle, (206) 332.1377
http://www.seattleartmuseum.org/visit/OSP/AboutOSP/default.asp
Point Defiance Park – Thematic gardens, including a Japanese Garden, Rose Garden, Dahlia Trail, Rhododendron Garden, Fuchsia Garden, Herb Garden, Iris Garden, and Northwest Native Garden provide a wide variety of horticultural experiences for visitors. Tacoma Garden Club currently maintains the Northwest Native Plant Garden that offers visitors the chance to see native plants in cultivation, including rarities that the general public rarely sees.
5400 N Pearl St, Ruston, WA, (253) 305-1010
http://www.metroparkstacoma.org/page.php?id=27
Rhododendron Species Garden at Weyerhaeuser – Home to one of the largest collections of species rhododendrons in the world, the garden displays over 600 of the more than 1,000 species found in the wilds of North America, Europe, and Asia, as well as the tropical regions of southeast Asia and northern Australia. Conservation has come to be a primary importance in recent years with the destruction of Rhododendron habitat in many areas of the world.
2525 South 336th Street, Federal Way, WA (253) 838-4646
www.rhodygarden.org
UW Botanic Gardens – Has many distinct gardens on its two main sites at the Center for Urban Horticulture and the Washington Park Arboretum. The north end of the arboretum features representative native trees and shrubs and a nature walk. The Soest Herbaceous Display Garden aims to help local gardeners select plants appropriate to a variety of site conditions commonly found in Pacific Northwest urban gardens. This garden features over 280 kinds of herbaceous plants that include perennials, annuals, and bulbs. Irrigation is applied using “water-wise” techniques to avoid wasteful runoff and evaporation.
3501 NE 41st Street, Seattle, (206) 543-8616
http://depts.washington.edu/uwbg/index.php
Woodinville Water District Waterwise Demonstration Garden – Waterwise demonstration garden includes NW native plants, providing visitors with information and techniques to achieve a healthy, waterwise landscape. Each year a Spring Garden Fair is held, hosting seminars on waterwise gardening topics taught by local horticulture experts.
17328 Woodinville – Duvall Rd, Woodinville, (425) 483-9104
http://www.woodinvillewater.com/Demo%20Garden/Demo%20Garden.htm
