Edmonds Wildlife Habitat & Native Plant Demonstration Garden

Located at 95 Pine Street in Edmonds, the Edmonds Wildlife Habitat & Native Plant Demonstration Garden was planted in 2009 to show residents how to make our urban environment more wildlife-friendly. The “Demo Garden” as it’s often called, was officially opened on April 25, 2010.

This garden was created to demonstrate how to have a beautiful garden or yard that will support birds and wildlife in our rapidly developing suburban area. As housing density increases, the loss of small forested areas and tree canopy is having a huge effect on our wildlife. Incorporating native plants in our yards and gardens, plants that love our rainy winters and need less watering during our dry summers, can counter this loss by providing habitat, food, and shelter for birds and small animals—the very same species that have evolved over the millennia to be perfectly adapted to our local plants and climate.

The upper garden is a small sunny clearing featuring showy annuals and perennials. The lower woodland includes many legacy Western Cedar stumps from the 1890s—look for the springboard notches used to fell them. Look around for fine specimens of our native trees: old growth Grand Fir rise tall above second-growth Western Cedar, Western Hemlock, Douglas Fir, Bigleaf Maple, and Red Alder, with young Sitka Spruce and a few imports such as California Redwood and Norfolk Pine (from the South Pacific). Understory plants include Vine Maple, Salal, Oregon Grape, Sword Fern, Evergreen Huckleberry, Osoberry, Snowberry, Flowering Red Currant, Red Osier Dogwood, Ocean Spray, and Salmonberry. All grow happily alongside fine horticultural rhododendrons remaining from the past.

We host work parties to plant, trim, and maintain the garden, and invite you to join us. We also offer workshops and other events throughout the year at the garden. To get involved or learn more, please send us an email.