Our neighbors to the south in the city of Portland are doing some great things with rain gardens as well. Seattle has led the way, but other cities have been doing their part as well in stormwater controls. The Portland Tribune has this cool feature explaining how one couple in Portland, Ore. saved money on their utility bill with their three rain gardens.

Rain gardens — essentially sunken areas filled with plants to collect surface water — absorb rainfall coming off the roof of the Hubatches’ one-story home.

That eases the burden on Portland’s oft-overloaded sewer system. As a result, the couple get a discount on the storm water management portion of their water and sewer bill.

The article lists some great ways that homeowners can help manage rainwater runoff, including installing rain barrels or cisterns to capture and hold rain for later reuse. In an earlier blog post, we explained how Seattle rain gardens can help keep pollutants out of Puget Sound. We can help you design, install and maintain your own rain garden. Give us a call at 206-770-7879 or email us.

There are many landscape tools homeowners can use to control stormwater runoff, considered the largest source of pollution in Puget Sound. From planting trees to installing a rain garden or large cisterns, you can help minimize the excess rainwater runoff that washes toxic pollutants into Puget Sound each year. Every time it rains, water falling onto roofs, parking lots, driveways or hard-packed soil washes unfiltered into storm drains and directly into our streams, creeks, rivers and sound. The stormwater carries grease, oils, heavy metals, PCBs, flame retardants and other toxic pollutants into waterways. The excess runoff also causes flooding in streets and sewer systems to backup.

What exactly is a rain garden and how do they help pollution? Rain gardens allow you to redirect rain from your roof into a shallow depression that filters, holds and absorbs water. By holding and infiltrating rainwater, rain gardens help protect our waterways and reduce flooding. These gardens can be shaped and sized to fit your yard. They also can be attractive landscape features, filled with native plants or other shrubs, trees and plantings that fit your soil, sun conditions and surroundings.

Typical rain garden layout in Seattle, Ecoyards LLC.

Ecoyards can help you through the entire process, from designing a rain garden to constructing it to helping you maintain it. Our experienced staff will find the best spot for your garden, suggest the best plants for it and recommend ways to maintain it. Rain gardens are ideal for many properties that are fairly level (up to about 5 percent slope). There should be a way for roof or driveway runoff to flow to the rain garden, whether over the yard or through a pipe or rock-filled ditch. We can help you determine where to install the garden and how big it should be.

Ecoyards is a licensed landscape contractor with the city of Seattle’s Rainwise Rebate program. That innovative program will pay most of the cost of installing rain gardens and cisterns for eligible residents in Ballard, depending on how many square feet of roof runoff is controlled. (Check this map for the qualifying area). Residents can get rebates up to $4 per square foot of area that contributes to retaining runoff. The pilot rain garden rebate program was launched earlier this year in the Ballard neighborhood. You must hire a licensed contractor, such as Ecoyards, to do the work; the city isn’t currently giving rebates if homeowners do the work themselves. A Seattle Public Utilities inspector will do a pre- and post-inspection on site, and you must fill out the rebate form and send it in within 90 days of completion. Don’t worry, contact us and we’ll help you figure it out.

It was a typical dreary Saturday morning, and we probably would have spent it indoors, except we noticed in the West Seattle blog that the Seattle Chinese Garden was offering tours at 10 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. The Seattle Chinese Garden? Wasn’t this the same garden that has been in the works for over two decades? We had seen mounds of dirt behind construction fences each time we visited the botanical gardens at South Seattle Community College, but not much else. Curious, we went to check it out (detailed directions to get there).

A very knowledgeable docent named Dewey Webster invited us into the new Chan Education Center, where for the next hour, he presented a slide-show explaining how the garden is the first garden of its kind to be built in the style of the Sichuan province. The garden was designed in close collaboration with Seattle’s sister city of Chongqing — so close, in fact, that architects and skilled construction workers have all flown to Seattle from China for many aspects of the project. Bricks, rockeries, stone pavings and others materials have also been shipped from Sichuan so that the garden resembles, as much as possible, a typical Sichuan garden.

Rocks and materials are brought in from China.

As the docent explained, Chinese gardens contain four elements that all work to balance each other and bring harmony and peace: water, stone, plants and architecture. The elements represent the ying (plants, ponds, streams) and the yang (courtyard, rockeries, architecture). A Chinese garden also attempts to incorporate the natural world into the garden setting; the inclusion of rockeries and stone, for example, symbolize mountains. The other fascinating aspect of a Chinese garden is how it incorporates winding, zigzag pathways (evil spirits travel in a straight line, the docent said, so winding pathways help keep them at bay). “Leak windows” also offer enticing views of the outside landscape and invite visitors to continue to explore.

In keeping with the Chinese philosophy, the Seattle Chinese Garden will include pathways lined with bamboo, maples and pines, a stream that runs from the south end of the garden cascading down to the farthest northern end. The 4.6 acre garden (which sits on state-owned property adjacent to South Seattle Community College’s botanical gardens) will have a large entry courtyard, an 85-foot tall building called the “Floating Clouds Tower” and a cultural center.

Seattle Chinese Garden under construction

After the slideshow Saturday, we put on white construction hats and took a peek at what’s been done on the large entry courtyard, called Knowing the Spring Courtyard. The foundation was laid by a local construction company, but the intricate details — from the stonework to the formal gate to the wooden leak windows — is being handled by a team of 21 artisans from China. They’ll be here until late November. A few of them smiled at us as we walked toward the courtyard. They apparently arrived in August and have been living in trailers on the construction site. A great deal of the work is being done by hand. The workers have been meticulously, laboriously chiseling the stone pavers in the courtyard to give them a non-slip surface. According to the docent, some of the naturally weathered rocks that border the pond in the courtyard were imported from China because locally sourced rock was deemed “too young” and not weathered enough.

Black river rock inlay in pavers

The garden is far from complete, though the courtyard is expected to be done late this year with a dedication ceremony expected in the spring of 2011. Significant funding is still needed to get the complete project to the final finish line. The project, however, has the necessary permits and architectural and design plans, so at least some of the heavy lifting has been done. The Chinese government has donated about $1.2 million in materials and labor. The city of Seattle and the state have committed money as well. More than $7 million has been raised so far, but more is needed. The project is run by the nonprofit Seattle Garden Society, which has launched a brick campaign to raise money.

Public tours are held every Wednesday at 1:30 p.m., and every Saturday at 10:00 and 1:30. No need to register, but there’s a $5 suggested donation. You can also arrange special tours for groups of 10 or more by calling 206-764-5219.

Disappearing waterfall in Seattle

Water features are a dynamic way to add movement, sound, and interest to your landscape. Fountains, ponds or a small babbling brook can add tranquility to an outdoor living space, in addition to attracting birds and other wildlife. There are a variety of water features that go beyond the traditional koi pond, and homeowners now have a plethora of options that don’t require excess maintenance or take up too much space in the backyard. Pondless waterfalls, or disappearing waterfalls, are a great low-maintenance option, and are currently all the rage — with good reason. They allow you to enjoy the benefits of a cascading waterfall without having to deal with the excess maintenance and safety concerns associated with open ponds. No pond means no fish to take care of, no green slimy mold to clean out, no mosquitoes, and no water to refill. They’re becoming increasingly popular among our Seattle-area clients.

Our recent pondless waterfall project in West Seattle.

So how does it work? Water flows from the upper falls, and instead of being held in a still open pond, it pours into a lined basin that is dug in the ground and filled with rocks and gravel. The water is pumped from the bottom of the basin up to the top of the falls, creating a continuously recirculating flow of water.

Ecoyards recently installed a pondless waterfall at a West Seattle home (pictured above and left). The homeowner didn’t have a lot of space in his backyard, and didn’t want to bother with having to clean a pond. We created a natural landscape in a corner of his property with large boulders, small river rocks and some native plantings. Contact us if you want to learn more about how a pondless waterfall might fit into your landscape.

As many of you know, the yard waste you put out every week for curbside collection gets recycled into compost at Cedar Grove, one of the largest composting facilities in the U.S. All those twigs, weeds, tree trimmings — along with food scraps — is converted into nutrient-rich compost that feeds your soil and your plants. By recycling your yard waste (and food scraps), you keep all that stuff out of landfills, help prevent the release of methane gas that comes from the decomposition of organic matter, and support King County’s ambitious goal of zero waste by 2030. (Half of what ends ups at the Cedar Grove landfill is stuff that can be recycled, so there’s still work to do).

At Ecoyards, we recycle all our yard waste at one of several composting locations in Seattle or Burien, such as Pacific Topsoils. We haul all pruning debris, tree trimmings, weeds, sod, soil and other materials to be recycled into compost, wood chips or other goods. Nothing goes to waste. We take our used nursery pots to local nurseries or donate them to local groups that need containers for plants.

You could tell by all the freshly-cut lawns this weekend that people were out doing a lot of yard work. As you’re weeding, planting or pruning and have gardening questions that you don’t have the answer to, you can turn to the King County Master Gardeners, a group of volunteers who will help you find the answer.

If you have a burning question that can’t wait until the weekend, try calling the Master Gardener Phone Clinic. The phone number is 206-543-0943, open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday-Friday. Otherwise, take your questions to one of several dozen Master Gardener Clinics around King County. There are several in West Seattle, Burien and White Center. If you don’t know what’s bugging your azalea, not sure what kind of conifer you have in your backyard or want to know what to do about a most lawn, these experts can help.

This is the weekend to end all weekend plant sales. There are two incredible plants sales in Seattle: the King County Master Gardener plant sale at the University of Washington and the Seattle Titlh edible plant sale in Wallingford.

We’ve volunteered at the Master Gardener plant sale in previous years, but will be out of town this weekend. The sale runs from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday, May 1 and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday, May 2. You’ll find a wide selection of perennials, ornamentals, shrubs, trees, vines and edibles, including famous tomato starts, from Master Gardeners and local growers. 

The second plant sale is one that vegetable gardeners can’t miss. Seattle Tilth’s annual plant sale is one of the best in town. You can choose from over 50 varieties of tomatoes and 20 different kinds of peppers. I always leave this sale with a handful of edibles, including rare pumpkin, eggplant, cucumber and other starts that you just can’t find anywhere else.

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.

1. Plant a tree in honor of National Arbor Day, which is April 30.

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.

It goes without saying that trees provide a lot of benefits to the homeowner, but now there’s a way to actually calculate the actual savings in terms of real dollars.

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).