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Native Plant Synoptic Garden
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reaffirmed its management role in 1980 by establishing the Center for Urban Horticulture (CUH)
at Union Bay, which is sited only 1.5 miles from the Arboretum. The CUH provides facilities,
programs, and staff that manage the Arboretum. Beginning in the late 1980’s, discussion
intensified about the future of the Arboretum. Meetings commenced to draft a plan for the
rejuvenation of the Arboretum, otherwise known as the Master Plan (Washington Park
Arboretum 2004). The Master Plan has now reached a point where implementation of it will
begin soon. As a result, research and information pertinent to individual projects within the
Master Plan is being assembled.
Project Goals
The main objective of this project is to expand upon the previous work accomplished by
Stephen John Van Hoven in his Master’s thesis entitled, A Foundation for a Synoptic Garden of
Native Plants of Puget Sound for the Washington Park Arboretum. In this thesis a clear rationale
was described for the implementation of a Native Plant Synoptic Garden at Washington Park
Arboretum; the Native Plant Synoptic Garden is already included as part of the overall
Washington Park Arboretum Master Plan which was referred to earlier. In his thesis, Mr. Van
Hoven suggested future work that must be performed before implementation of this garden
commences. For example, he states that before this garden is created at Washington Park
Arboretum, a “thorough soil site analysis should be performed including tests for nutrient levels,
organic matter, and bulk densities” (Van Hoven, 2003).
With this broad goal in mind, our team ambitiously set out to expand upon the
preliminary work of Mr. Van Hoven. In several ways this project contributes significantly to
implementation of a Native Plant Synoptic Garden at Washington Park Arboretum. First, we
conducted a thorough site analysis for the proposed location of the future garden; included in this
was lab analysis for soil nutrient levels and measurements of soil bulk density. Second, our
talented team of designers created a “zonal” design for the garden; zonal infers a design that
groups plants by community type, but does not plot the specific location of each individual plant.
Third, we have compiled an exhaustive list of plants, trees, and shrubs, including cultivars to be
selected from by the final design team. This listing includes plant descriptions as well as specific
recommendations for placement within our designed zones. The list alone was a monumental
task that should be especially useful at the time of final design. Fourth, we set clear parameters
for what will be needed during installation of this garden, as well as for aftercare once it is
installed. Finally, we began to look at specific budget requirements needed to implement and
maintain this garden. This includes a review of such items as current annual operating expenses