Hillside Garden P-Patch

The Route 8 bus stops here.

Martin Luther King Jr Way S. All photos are of the Hillside Garden P-Patch in July 2013

The Hillside Garden P-Patch is one of the most visible community gardens in Seattle.  Terraced upward from the very bottom of the west slope of Mt Baker Ridge, this garden lies along busy Martin Luther King Jr Way S near S McClellan Street.  The gardeners here are all tenants of the Mt Baker Housing Association, which provides low-income housing in a small campus above the garden.  Many of the residents have been southeast Asian immigrants & refugees.  They began terracing & gardening the slope independently, after their arrival in the late 1970s.  The garden became a p-patch under the supervision of the Seattle Department of Neighborhoods in 2001.  Concrete retaining walls were added & plumbing installed.  There are 38 plots on 8,000 square feet, with plenty of space to expand.  The land is owned by the Seattle Fleets & Facilities Department.

Sidewalk Gardens on 30th Avenue S

Choisya ternata 'Aztec Pearl' (Mexican Orange) & a lot more.

Persicaria microcephala 'Red Dragon' (Knotweed) with Anthriscus sylvestris 'Raven's Wing' (Wild Chervil) behind it.

Hosta, of course.

Choisya ternata 'Sundance' (Mexican Orange) & Clematis 'Jackmanii'

This garden path leads off from the sidewalk.

Berberis thunbergii 'Crimson Pygmy' & Yucca filamentosa.  Photos taken in May 2014.

I've noticed that sidewalk gardens tend to proliferate in certain blocks.  While many blocks have no sidewalk gardens, just lawn & maybe street trees, other blocks have several extensive plantings near the sidewalk & between the sidewalk & the street.  This particular block of 30th Avenue S, on Mt Baker Ridge near Bradner Gardens Park, has at least 5 sidewalk gardens adjacent & directly across the street.  This is certainly a boon to passersby.  The pictures above belong to 3 of these gardens.  Not all of this is what the Seattle Department of Transportation would like to see done in the parking strip.  They insist that plants be kept to no more than 3 feet in height for visibility & traffic safety.  (Trees are the exception to this rule, but require permits.)  In my opinion, it is better to plant shrubs that don't grow much more than 3 feet tall, especially on a corner, where they will certainly block views of traffic. 

Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Park

Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Park, with Beacon Hill on the horizon, in July 2013

Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Park, with Downtown Seattle in the distance, in July 2013

Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Park, with Mt Baker Ridge above, in July 2013

The Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Park is located at 2200 Martin Luther King, Jr. Way S, covering 4.3 acres on the west slope of Mt Baker Ridge, in the Mt Baker neighborhood.  The memorial sculpture/fountain & surrounding pool sits in the Rainier Valley.  It represents a mountain, which was inspired by the civil rights leader's last speech, delivered in Memphis on April 3, 1968: I've Been to the Mountaintop. 

Robert Kelly designed the sculpture and fountain.  It was dedicated on November 16, 1991.  The land behind the memorial is terraced to form an amphitheater.  Protests, demonstrations & rallies are staged at the memorial.  But it appears to be seldom used or visited.  It is clearly visible to traffic on Martin Luther King, Jr. Way S.  The landscaping here in uninspired & the views are unspectacular.

Martin Luther King, Jr. visited Seattle once from November 8 to November 10, 1961.  He spoke at the University of Washington, Temple de Hirsch, Garfield High School & the Eagles Auditorium.  In his lectures, the civil rights leader stressed creative protest to break down racial segregation & discrimination, & called on President John F. Kennedy to use the executive order to declare all segregation unconstitutional.

 

Colman Park P-Patch

Tool shed at the Colman Park P-Patch September 2012

Colman Park P-Patch September 2012

Colman Park P-Patch September 2012

Colman Park P-Patch September 2012

 

Colman Park P-Patch September 2012

Although the Colman Park P-Patch is fairly large, it is only a small part of beautiful Colman Park, itself only a very small part of the grand & venerable Olmsted Legacy in Seattle & other cities in the United States & Canada.  The p-patch fills the broad ravine at the top of the park, near 31st Avenue S.  Access to the p-patch is most easily gained from 32nd Avenue S, where it dead-ends into Colman Park, just south of S Massachusetts Street.  This is one of the most lovely settings for a p-patch in Seattle, surrounded by trees & sloping toward Lake Washington in broad terraces.  It was once a Department of Parks & Recreation nursery.  There are 47 plots here on 14,000 square feet of land owned by the Seattle Department of Parks & Recreation.  The Colman Park P-Patch was established in 1974.  You can walk from here to the excellent Bradner Gardens Park P-Patch, which is very different, but equally worthy. 

Mt Baker Ridge Viewpoint

View from the Mt Baker Ridge Viewpoint September 2012

Mt Baker Ridge Viewpoint September 2012

Sunset stone at the Mt Baker Ridge Viewpoint September 2012

Mt Baker Ridge Viewpoint September 2012

Diagram of solar positions at the Mt Baker Ridge Viewpoint September 2012

The Mt Baker Ridge Viewpoint is located at the top of the west slope of Mt Baker Ridge, above the Mt Baker Tunnels, which move traffic on Interstate 90 in & out of the City of Seattle via the  Lacey V. Murrow Bridge, across Lake Washington.  The viewpoint is located at 1403 31st Avenue S, in a small business district with a few eateries, offices & other businesses, in the Mt Baker neighborhood.  There are views of the northern end of the Rainier Valley, Beacon Hill, 1st Hill, Downtown, Elliott Bay & the Olympic Mountains.  The viewpoint is mostly a metal-grate platform extending out over the slope.  There is seating & also small basalt monuments (called sunset stones) to mark the movement of the sun throughout the year.  Construction of the viewpoint was completed in 2009.  It is easily accessible from Downtown via the 14 Mt Baker bus.

Estelle Street P-Patch

Estelle Street P-Patch June 2012

Storm drain, Estelle Street P-Patch June 2012

Foxglove, Estelle Street P-Patch June 2012

Furniture, Estelle Street P-Patch June 2012

Treillage, Estelle Street P-Patch June 2012 

The Estelle Street P-Patch is located in the Mt Baker neighborhood in southeast Seattle.  It lies at the eastern end of S Estelle Street, which does little more than cross Rainier Avenue S, making it one of the shortest streets in Seattle.  The p-patch takes up the Seattle Department of Transportation right-of-way, a low slope that might have connected S Estelle Street to S Hinds Street, had it been paved for vehicular traffic.  An asphalt path lined with blackberry brambles existed here before the p-patch was created in 1990.  This garden is somewhat chaotic, with 23 plots of different sizes & shapes, most of them contained by charmingly ramshackle fences & furnished with recycled items, on 6,000 square feet.  This is in marked contrast to its orderly neighbor, the Courtland Place P-Patch, a short walk away.  S Estelle Street sits in a very low-lying area of the Rainier Valley.  The elevated storm drains are a reminder of the time when Wetmore Slough flowed through the lower part of this garden on its way from the vicinity of Rainier Avenue S & S Dearborn Street to S Genessee Street, where it emptied into Lake Washington through what is now Genessee Park.  The slough was mostly drained when Lake Washington was lowered by 20 feet, as part of the Lake Washington Ship Canal project, in 1917.  Click here to see more Seattle P-Patches.

Courtland Place P-Patch

Courtland Place P-Patch June 2012

Courtland Place P-Patch June 2012 

Broken concrete wall, Courtland Place P-Patch June 2012 

Cosmos, Courtland Place P-Patch June 2012

Artichoke, Courtland Place P-Patch June 2012

The Courtland Place P-Patch is located in the Mt Baker neighborhood of southeast Seattle, between 35th Avenue S & 36th Avenue S, near Courtland Place S.  It sits on land owned by the Seattle Department of Transportation as right-of-way for S Spokane Street.  Spokane Street is notoriously intermittent, starting & stopping more than a dozen times on its way from Lake Washington to Puget Sound.  Here is a 1-block stretch covering 2,500 square feet.  25 plots are filled with identical, rectangular beds, each neatly contained with 2 x 6 inch boards.  There are 2 picnic tables at the center of the garden, which is entirely enclosed by a sturdy fence & a wall of broken concrete.  There are gates at both ends on the 2 avenues.  This garden was established in 1999.  The Estelle Street P-Patch is within easy walking distance & offers an interesting contrast in p-patch styles.  Click here to see more Seattle P-Patches.

Colman Park

   

Colman Park May 2010 Lonicera ciliosa

Colman Park May 2010 Lake Washington Boulevard S from the p-patch

Colman Park May 2010 Lysichiton americanum in the muddy pond

Colman Park P-Patch September 2012 Borago officinalis

Colman Park May 2010 path from the p-patch to 31st Avenue S

I think Colman Park in Seattle is the most beautiful of a string of parks along Lake Washington Boulevard.  These parks were created in 1907 (along with the boulevard itself) by Olmsted Brothers, a landscape architecture firm based in Massachusetts.  Their father, Frederick Law Olmsted, had designed Central Park in New York City & Golden Gate Park in San Francisco.  Olmsted Brothers also designed Volunteer Park & Washington Park Arboretum in Seattle.  Seattle Parks & Recreation touts their 'Olmsted Legacy.'  These parks fill ravines along Lake Washington.  From south to north they are Mount Baker Park, Colman Park, Frink Park, Leschi Park & Madrona Park.

Colman Park begins at Lake Washington Boulevard, with parking & benches on the lakeshore.  Pass through 2 period tunnels to ascend the ravine, which is densely filled with native plants.  Midway, you see Lake Washington Boulevard again as it winds through the park.  Here is an expansive lawn that creates a charming & secluded forest glen.  There is very little traffic on this bit of the boulevard.  Skirt the boulevard, then climb an old staircase to cross beneath the boulevard as it snakes back across the ravine on its serpentine path.

Now you are in the upper section of the park, mostly taken up by the Colman Park P-Patch.  Before you climb the terraced gardens, stop to look in the muddy pond, under the trees, in the southeast corner.  You could see a frog.  This picturesque p-patch is enclosed by trees except for the view down the leafy ravine.  Take the steep path, then stairs from the top of the p-patch to 31st Avenue S.  This is a steep climb.  But it is worth the effort to visit Bradner Gardens Park, at 29th Avenue S & S Grand St, 1 block north, 2 blocks west.  Click here to read about more parks along Lake Washington Boulevard.

Bradner Gardens Park

S Grand Street & 29th Avenue S May 2010

 

Bradner Gardens Park May 2010

 Gazebo at Bradner Gardens Park May 2010

Tea-kettle-head robot-scarecrow at Bradner Gardens Park May 2010

Tile mosaic in the restroom at Bradner Gardens Park

Wheelbarrows at Bradner Gardens Park

Click here for more pictures of Bradner Gardens Park. 
Click here to see the Bradner Blog.

We begin our tour of Bradner Gardens Park at the corner of S Grand Street & 29th Avenue S in Seattle.  Look at the Downtown skyline.  Views aren't as good from within the park.  Although I have never gardened here, I feel qualified to conduct this tour. This wonderful place is in my own neighborhood of Mount Baker Park, on Mount Baker Ridge, not far from the Mount Baker Tunnel (I-90).  I became very well-acquainted with the site when I spent 6th grade (1970-71) in a portable classroom here.  John Muir Elementary was overcrowded with baby-boomers, 5th & 6th graders moved to this piece of public land.  The remodeled restroom & an asphalt basketball court are all that remain from that time.  

As we enter the park, we see an ornamental demonstration garden to our right & left.  There are many beautiful plants here.  We walk down a few stairs, straight ahead, toward the P-Patch & gazebo.  Seattle Tilth has demonstration gardens here.  Beyond the gazebo we see the restroom/kitchen/meeting-room complex.  Water from the roof is stored in a huge tank.  A windmill & scarecrow stand nearby.  The robotic figure has a tea kettle for a head.  Wheelbarrows are stacked behind the complex.  Beautiful mosaic insects are found on the interior walls of the restroom.  Bradner Gardens Park could easily be the nicest P-Patch in the City of Seattle.

Bradner Gardens Park is just a few blocks northwest of Colman Park.  If you are in the mood for P-Patches, you can find another lovely one there.  Colman Park is quite a treat.  You can walk all the way down the broad ravine to Lake Washington.

Lake Washington Boulevard

 Mt Baker Rowing & Sailing Center June 2009

Mt Baker Rowing & Sailing Center June 2009

 Lake Washington June 2009

 Lake Washington Blvd June 2009

Mt Baker Beach June 2009

Lake Washington Boulevard in Seattle is a great place to walk along Lake Washington.  There are 3.5 miles of walkway from the lower end of Colman Park in Mt Baker south to Seward Park.  The northernmost stretch is quite nice.  You can park at Stan Sayre’s Memorial Park near the Mt Baker Rowing & Sailing Center.  If the doors are open,  you can look inside the boat houses.  You are mostly like to see crews & sailboats near the center in the mornings.  Or you can park at the lower end of Colman Park near Mt Baker Beach.  Be sure to detour into Mt Baker Park to see the pools & landscaping along the stream.  There is a pagoda lantern in Mt Baker Park near Lake Washington Blvd that was presented to Seattle by her sister city of Kobe in 1912.  It was removed & hidden away to prevent vandalism during WW2.  You can walk out on the pier at Mt Baker Beach, or swim to the raft.  The walk between Colman Park & Stan Sayres Memorial Park is mostly quiet lake shore.  But there is a pier midway where you might see people fishing.  It should take about 1 hour to walk the 1.5 miles (3 miles total) in both directions.  Click here to read about more parks along Lake Washington Boulevard.