Wild Root Demonstration Garden

So much love has been poured into this native gardenscape and it continues to evolve. It is an experimental garden as much as it is a demonstration garden. The planting beds have been designed to mimic the many microclimates found in both the developed and undeveloped lands in the Columbia Basin.

About half of the beds are unirrigated. There is a large partially-irrigated boulder crevice garden, two small unirrigated flagstone crevice gardens (one facing northeast and the other facing south), and two large unirrigated rock gardens. Nearly all of the plants in these beds are native to the Columbia Basin and include a variety of buckwheats (Eriogonum sp.), daisies (Erigeron sp.), penstemons (Penstemon sp.), lupines (Lupinus sp.), desert parsleys (Lomatium sp.), and other forbs plus shrubs like Sagebrush, rabbitbrushes (gray and green), and various bunchgrasses.

Stone is a big part of this garden. Not only do the boulders, flagstone, and river rock provide unique living environments for the plants, but they add necessary structure and permanence. Stone is also a coarse and beautiful contrast to and balance for the finely-textured tans and grays of dormant plants.

Believe it or not, water is an important component. Its presence is seen and heard in the pondless waterfalls and evoked in the river stone walkway. The walkway curves, widens, narrows, rises and falls, much like a riverbed, so that visitors slow down and pay attention to their steps and the plants around them.

The backyard diverges from the front. It accommodates a large paver patio under a pergola, an outdoor grilling area, propane fire pit, a bubbling rock, and a vegetable garden.

Not a speck of lawn grass exists here and it is glorious.