The Trees of Bainbridge Island

Information about

Puget Sound Native Tree Garden

Open Houses:

Aug 13-15, 2004 (Fri-Sun) 10am-6pm (free)

given with Dolphin Place Art Studio at same time as Bainbridge Studio Tour

Classes given with BI Park District 206 842 2306

guided walk: 15 Aug 2004 - 12-1:30

and by appointment 206 842 4600

A Hatural History Presented by
Puget Sound Native Tree Garden, Bainbridge Island Park and Recreation District, and Dolphin Place Open Space,

The Puget Sound Native Tree Garden (PSNTG) is a small private (non-profit) interpretive center dedicated to conserving and celebrating the natural history of the ancestral forests of Puget Sound. In association with this goal, periodic public educational tours are given in cooperation with the Bainbridge Island Parks and Recreation District, and Dolphin Place Open Space. PSNTG is located on the grounds of Dolphin Place which is nestled on the south shore of Little Manzanita Bay estuary on Bainbridge Island.

A walking tour at the Tree Garden (a rough trail) of 200 yards will present the viewer with all the trees native to the Lowland Old Growth Climax Forest of Puget Sound, as well as the remains (mostly buried) of a pre-Colombian First People village. The understory plants, fauna and natural history of the site are also identified.


A Natural History of Bainbridge Island, by Al Philips, September 2001

About 20,000 years ago Bainbridge was covered by a glacier perhaps over a mile thick. There were no trees, people, Puget Sound or even the land as we now know it.

When the glacier receded, it left exposed basalt rock at the south end of the island and glacier soils (sand. clays, hardpan) in the center and north end of the island. These soils are over a thousand feet thick were brought here and/ or created by these glaciers. The bluffs and steep hills of the Island seem to be permanent, but all are in reality eroding away by landslide, heavy rains and earthquake. As the ice age ended, new forests sprang up, eventually culminating in what is now called the Northwest climax forest.

The predominate trees in the climax forest depended upon the rainfall and periodic natural disruptions such as volcanoes and forest fires. These trees fought for space and sunlight and typically the evergreens superseded the deciduous trees by eventually growing taller and blocking the sun. Douglas Firs are the tallest trees known to man and create much of this climax forest.
However, their seedlings cannot propagate in their own shade, and these trees are eventually replaced by Western Hemlock which can grow very slowly in the forest shade. In wet areas such as creek bottoms, Western Red Cedars are more successful, and in cool moist higher elevations Grand Fir have a slight advantage. In lowland sites of extreme rain, the Sitka Spruce will create successful pure stands of trees. Finally, along sites that are routinely disturbed, such as river boarders, the fast but strong growing Black Cottonwood establishes itself as the climax tree.

All of these trees grow taller than 200’ when mature, and all except the Black Cottonwood are evergreen. The other native trees within our forests exist somewhat at the sufferance of these major trees. The Alders, Maples, Cherries and Willows spread their seeds well and grow quickly when there is a disturbance, such as a landslide. The Madrone will snake through trees and are successful on steep hills or waterfronts with banks where they reach the sun by growing sideways through the canopy and leaning on their neighbors. Pacific Yew and Dogwood grow slowly in the full shade of the forest, especially the Yew, a tree of 12” diameter may be older than a 6 foot Douglas Fir.

Native Americans colonized the shorelines at the edge of the forest and learned to utilize much of the magnificent bounty. But due to the immense scale of the trees and down debris in the climax forest, the Native Americans did not routinely establish themselves in the interior of any forest. With the advent of western expansion of the United States, most of the original people were forced to relinquish their “jurisdiction” over the land in exchange for “guaranteed” but reduced ownership rights and reservations. With modern machines and horsepower, and economic incentives within a growing society, almost all of the original forest has been cut in Puget Sound.

The forest on Dolphin Place was initially logged about 1880, again during the World War ca. 1915, and when the property was platted in 1952. The land was purchased by Al Philips as Dolphin Place in 1973. The first items accomplished on the property was planting of more trees. Although the native trees were maintained, initial ignorance compelled the first planting be of
exotic flowering non-native trees. But as the owners became educated in the natural history of the site, they appreciated the advantages of the local plants and began restoring the understory that had been lost.

No trees were cut for the home of the studio, 6 small alders were removed and cedars planted in their place in 1976 along the street. Over the 25+ years a couple of trees have fallen in the wind, and about 10 have died due to the micro climate changes caused by the complete removal of the associated forest to the south, which dried out the understory and increased the effects of summer dry spells.

Today, Dolphin Place Open Space supports the Puget Sound Native Tree Comservancy and is perhaps the only site in the world dedicated to be an interpretive center for the native trees of Puget Sound.

Along the waterfront of the property the remains of a Native American site can be seen. The remains are a “midden”, an area where the sea shells from the meals are disposed. This midden faces Little Manzanita Bay and is at least 90’ long and 2 feet thick in places. Based upon the erosion caused by the wind and creek at the edge of the property, it looks as if the bank might
erode from 5’ to 20’ a century, and that the bay did not exist at this point more than a few thousand years ago. A very large village may have existed where the bay is located today. It would have been a large flat tract about 15’ above high tide and with a salmon stream, ideal. There are no salmon bones within the midden with lends an estimate of age in excess of 600 years,
based upon the dissolution of the bones by the slight acid content of rain.

The Puget Sound Native Tree Garden is non-profit and welcomes gifts to allow improvement of the landscaping, signage and presentation of the site.

The Puget Sound Native Tree Garden located on the grounds of Dolphin Place. Dolphin Place is a privately held property with a joint conservation agreement with the Bainbridge Island Park and Recreation District. Tours are available through the Park District (206 842 2306) and by appointment by calling 206 842 4600. POC Al Philips

Common Name Scientific Name Located at the Puget Sound Native Tree Garden

OLD GROWTH CLIMAX TREES

OLD GROWTH SECOND STORY TREES

Pacific Madrone arbutus menziesii M
Pacific Yew taxus brevifolia O
Vine Maple acer circinatum I
Pacific Dogwood cornus nuttallii Replaced

POOR SOIL CLIMAX TREES
Oregon Oak quercus garryana garryana I*
Shore Pine pinus contorta contorta I*

REGROWTH FOREST, TREES FROM THE FOREST’S EDGE, and WETLAND TREES

LARGE

Big Leaf Maple acer macrophyllum M
Black Cottonwood populus balsamifera I
Red Alder alnus rubra M
Pacific Willow salix lucida lasiandra R
Scouler Willow salix scouleriana M
Bitter Cherry prunus emarginata M
Paperbark Birch betula papyrifera I
Quaking Aspen populus tremuloides I*
Oregon Ash fraxinus latifolia I

SMALL

Black Hawthorne crataegus douglasii I
Cascara rhamnus purshiana R
Sitka Willow salix sitchensis I
Beaked Hazlenut corylus cornuta californica M
Pacific Crabapple malus fusca I
Douglas Maple acre glabrum I


LARGE SHRUBS (+7’)

Red Elderberry sambucus racemosa O
Blue Elderberry sambucus caerulea I
Salmonberry rubus spectabilis spectabilis M
Evergreen Huckleberry vaccinium ovatum M
Deciduous Huckleberry vaccinium parvifolium O
Red Osier Dogwood cornus sericea occidentalis I
Oceanspray holodiscus discolor O
Mock Orange philadelphus lewisii gordonianus O
Indian Plum oemleria cerasiformis O
Pacific Rhododendron rhododendron macrophyllum R
Pacific Ninebark physocarpus capitatus I
Red Flowering Currant ribes sanguineum sanguineum M
Black Gooseberry ribes divaricatum I
Thimbleberry rubus parviflorus parviflorus O
Western Serviceberry amelanchier alnifolia I
Choke Cherry prunus virginiana I
Common Juniper juniperus communalis I

MEDIUM BUSHES (3-7’)

Salal gaultheria shallon M
Tall Oregon Grape berberis aquifolium I
Nootka Rose rosa nutkana R
Wood Rose rosa woodsii I
Baldhip Rose rosa piscarpa I
Snowberry symphoricarpos albus laevigatus M
Spirea spirea douglasii I
Fireweed epilobium angust M
Devel’s Club oplopanax horridum I
Cattail typha latifolia I
Colt’s Foot petasites palmatus M
Skunk Cabbage lysichiton americanum R
Black Twinberry lonicera invonicrata I

FERNS
Bracken Fern pteridium aquilium O
Sword Fern polystichum munitum O
Anderson Sword Fern polystichum andersonii I
Lady Fern athyrium filix-femina cyclosorum O
Licorice Fern (a tree fern) polypodium glycyrrhiza O
Leather Polypdium (a tree fern) polypodium scoulerii I
Deer Fern blechnum spicant O
Western Maidenhair Fern adiantum aleuticum O
Oak Fern gymnocarpium dryoperis O
Spiny Wood Fern/ Sheild Fern dryopteris expansa O
dryopteris carthusiane I
Nevada Swamp Fern Theloptieris nevadesis I
Giant Chain Fern woodwardia fimbriata I

SMALL PLANTS (1-3’)

Blue Camas camassia quamish I
Twisted Stalk streptopis amplexifolius I
Labradore Tea ledum groenlandicum I
False Solomon Seal maianthemum racemosa amplexicaulis
Small Oregon Grape berberis nervosa O
Orange Honeysuckle lonicera cilosa M
Large-Leaved Avens Geum triflorum M

GROUND COVERS (less than 1’)

Beach Strawberry fragraria chiloensis I
Woodland Strawberry fragaria vesca I
Twinflower linnaea borealis longiflora M
Trailing Yellow Violet Viola sempervirens M
Early Blue Violet Viola adunca M
Trilium trillium ovatum O
Wild Ginger asarum caudatum R
Deerfoot Vanilla-leaf achlys triphylla triphylla M
Starflower trientalis latifolia M
Kinnikinnick arctostaphylos uva-ursi usa-ursi R
Bunchberry cornus unalaschkenis I
Wood Sorrel oxalis suksdorfii I
Triple Sugarscoops (Foam Flower) tiarella trifoliata O
Fringecup (Piggyback) Tellima grandiflora O
Youth on Age (Piggyback) tolmiea menziesii O
Orchid ssp corallorhiza ssp O
Wild Blackberry rubus ursinus macropetalus O
Pacific Bleeding-Heart dicentra formosa R
Common Horsetail equisetum arvense O
False Lily-of-the-Valley maianthemum dilatatum R
Enchanter’s Nightshade cicaea alpina I
Miner’s Lettuce claytonia perfoliata I
Alumroot henchera ssp. I
Kittentails synthyris reniformis O
Little Western Bittercress cardamine oligosperma O
American Brooklime veronica beccabunga O
Hairy Honeysuckle lonicera hispidula O
Candy Flower claytonia sibrica O
Vetch vicia spp O

WETLAND PLANTS

Small Flowered Bullrush (?) scirpus microcarpus I
Dagger Rush juncus ensifolius I
Sedge ssp carex ssp O
Scouring Rush (horse tail) equisetum hyemale R
Common HorseTail (?) equisetum arvense O

MOSS
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