{"id":105404,"date":"2022-08-02T17:06:07","date_gmt":"2022-08-03T00:06:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/extension.wsu.edu\/island\/?page_id=105404"},"modified":"2024-09-03T15:43:49","modified_gmt":"2024-09-03T22:43:49","slug":"the-four-season-garden-at-greenbank-farm","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/extension.wsu.edu\/island\/gardening\/greenbank-educational-garden\/the-four-season-garden-at-greenbank-farm\/","title":{"rendered":"Four-Season Garden"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"Garden<\/figure><\/div>\n\n
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The entry area for the Education Garden was re-designed in 2021 and installed in 2022 to be an inviting space that encourages people to gather and invites them to explore the rest of the gardens.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The primary goal was to create an aesthetically pleasing design with four-season interest. A four-season garden shows diverse characteristics of plants throughout the year, with variety in such features as flowering, foliage, fruit, seed pods, structural appeal, and much more. <\/span>Additional goals were to use plants that would attract pollinators, are drought tolerant, and relatively low maintenance.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

More generally, the design adheres to the same underlying principles that guide the rest of the Education Garden, namely, to provide horticultural education through signage and living examples of sustainable gardening and wildlife support.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our design process illustrates key steps for a four-season garden. <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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  1. Assess environment<\/strong>.<\/strong> We began by examining the space in terms of soil, sun exposure, climate, and aesthetic environment. The red backdrop of the existing cottage created a focal point for contrast and balance.<\/span> <\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Determine plant options<\/strong>.<\/strong> We created a spreadsheet of potential plants that met our key requirements, in this case, low maintenance in sun to part shade with seasonally dry and windy conditions. Each potential plant was characterized for its water and light needs, bloom time, seasonal color (flowers, leaves, stems), growth pattern, size, and evergreen versus deciduous.<\/span> <\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. Choose and install plants<\/strong>.<\/strong> A series of drawings helped us map the placement of selected plants so that colors and textures would repeat throughout the garden and something interesting would be happening each season. For example, Yellow Twig Dogwoods planted below the sign on the cottage wall create dramatic yellow lines in winter, while the Japanese Snowbell and Eddie\u2019s White Wonder Dogwood trees have showy white blossoms in the spring.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    Resources on four-season gardening include:<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n