Meadow Major Maintenance Project

By Peter Putnicki

The Seattle Japanese Garden is happy to share our upcoming Major Maintenance project.  As part of an ongoing program of Garden repair and improvement, we are planning a major renovation to the Japanese Garden Meadow to address ongoing drainage issues that have had significant negative impacts on our turf, cherry trees, paths and other adjacent areas.

Cherry blossoms in the meadow, photo courtesy of Chie Iida

This summer we will remove, replace, and regrade the entire Meadow area.   This area is currently suffering from poor drainage caused by years of compaction and sub-surface drainage changes.  As a result, turf quality is very poor, and we have lost a significant number of flowering cherry trees to soil born fungal pathogens. This issue is also affecting water quality in the pond as well as the overall Arboretum creek watershed due to surface run-off and sedimentation. We will take advantage of this opportunity to make some improvements to our aging irrigation system as well. This project will involve the coordinated effort of Parks shops, engineers and Garden staff. 

We will, unfortunately not be able to save the existing tree collection, but are committed to full replacement within the year.  The loss of trees is inevitable under current conditions, and with these improvements, we expect more successful replacement.  This work can only be accomplished properly during the dry season, so we will need to close the Garden from July 11, 2022, through August 8, 2022.  I would like to personally apologize for any inconvenience.  We are committed to the highest quality long term care of the Garden; and are confident that the improvement in this area will be worth the effort.

I am looking forward to the completion of this project and the years of benefit we hope to see. 

Thank you for your understanding.

Pete Putnicki

Senior Gardener, Seattle Japanese Garden