Edmonds Wildlife Habitat & Native Plant Demonstration Garden

Located at 95 Pine Street, Edmonds, WA

Welcome to our garden!

The vision and creation of local residents and Audubon members, our garden was created to demonstrate how to have a beautiful garden or yard that will support birds and other wildlife in our rapidly developing suburban area.

As housing density increases, the loss of small forested areas and tree canopy is having a harmful 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. Our native wildlife have coevolved with our native plants over the millennia, and each needs the other to survive.

At the garden, you can gain inspiration on how to incorporate native plants into your space, and still have it look stunningly beautiful!

Planting at the “demo garden,” as it’s often called, began in 2009 and the garden was officially opened on April 25, 2010.

What You’ll Find At The Garden

Upper Garden

Accessed right off the Pine Street sidewalk, the upper garden features a short, flat, small-sized gravel trail that introduces you to our vibrant, sun-loving native plants. The upper garden includes a small sunny clearing that highlights our showy annuals and perennials.

Lower Garden

Access the lower garden by walking down the gravel drive down to the hatchery building, or take a dirt trail from the upper garden. The lower garden includes many legacy Western Red Cedar stumps from the 1890s—look for the springboard notches used to fell them. Keep your eyes peeled for fine specimens of our native trees: old growth Grand Fir rise tall above second-growth Western Red 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.

Medicinal Garden

A new feature, the medicinal garden features plants known to be used to treat certain ailments.

Plant Labels

Throughout the garden, you’ll find many of the plants have identification labels. We encourage you to take pictures of the plants and their labels so when you get home and are thinking about adding some to your space, you’ll remember what each looks like and its name. Check out our Native Plants for Birds page to see a list of local nurseries that carry native plants.

Volunteer At The Garden

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. Join our garden email list here, or contact us at garden@pilchuckaudubon.org.

Support The Garden

Our wonderful volunteers help us keep this garden looking great, but they could use your help to buy additional plants, replace tools, and replenish other supplies. Your donations are greatly appreciated!

Your donation can be designated for the garden specifically. After clicking the donate button below, select “Edmonds Native Plant Demo Garden” for where you’d like your donation applied.

Several of the photos above were originally featured in a My Edmonds News article about garden. Read it here.

Community Vision

The establishment of this garden was truly a community effort, and special thanks goes to many people and organizations, including:

Granters:

• Hubbard Family Foundation

• Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife

• Washington Native Plant Society

• National Audubon Society