Wetland Plants

The property of the Puget Sound Native Tree Garden abuts an estuary and associated tidelands but did not come with naturally occuring freshwater wetlands. In fact,when consolidating the property in 1973, land was purposefully selected to have a large sand berm and good drainage for a residence. The Garden is sloped, from a sea level of 50' above mean to 25' over a distance of 200', then breaks at a 15' high bank above the esturary. The soil is glacial, sand layered over hardpan, with an underlayment of blue clay on the south and north property lines. A street drainage colvert empties at the SW corner. The property to the north is a lower elevation, with the blue clay exposed (with a covering of peat and humus). This north property used to belong to the Tree Garden (but had to be sold for financial reasons) and a french drain was installed, sloped at an angle and opened into a pit. Although the north property was sold, the drain still empties onto the Garden property and the pit has been lined with plastic and turned into a pond. The street culvert, which ran water for a few weeks in the 1970s, now runs a few months a year, and this water too is collected into ponds created by plastic liners.

There are now 4 ponds, ranging from 8' across to 15'x30'. 3 are under trees and support few wetland plants such as skunk cabbage, but the upper pond recieves 6 hours of sunlight a day, thanks to the neighbor on the south who cut down all his trees. The majority of these wetland plants have been collected and are growing neear or in the upper sunlit pond.

(photos taken on the property of Puget Sound Native Tree Garden by Allen Philips, unless otherwise noted)