Castle Gardens is a multifaceted, multi-purpose new garden at Yew Dell Botanical Gardens, transforming a once utilitarian landscape into a vibrant destination for visitors, members, and the broader community.

Containers require more improvising than normal because you can’t wait for the plants to grow in – they have to be effective immediately and there is limited space to ad lib.

As part of Leach Botanical Garden’s dynamic transformation, the upper meadow is being reimagined as the Wandering Woodland—a temporary yet impactful space for families and children to explore, play, and connect with the natural world.

In 2023 and 2024 Land Morphology volunteered our services to create a memorial garden for the Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest (CSNW) near Cle Elum, Washington.  The Chimpanzee Memorial Garden plan offers CSNW staff and guests a peaceful place of gathering and reflection.

As landscape architects, we like to believe that our work is about shaping the land—crafting outdoor spaces that are beautiful, meaningful, and ultimately make the world a better place.

On the Seattle Waterfront, Corylopsis spicata is found growing in the large, raised beds just south of the new aquarium. 

This gorgeous mid-spring bloom, also known as the Camas lily or Wild Hyacinth, is in the Asparagus family, Asparagaceae.

Above all, it is the inherent dynamic qualities of plants – the living, ever-changing aspect of garden spaces – that distinguishes gardens from more static structures like houses.

The iterative process of modifying and evolving the design is an important reminder to not get too attached to any one design.

With blossoms rising several feet above a dense mass of basal foliage, Japanese anemones offer both seasonal interest and ground cover.

In our initial design concepts for the central water feature, we show a simplified reflecting pool that creates a balancing element in the gathering space near the Castle

It’s mid-June on the Seattle Waterfront, and the newly planted perennials have relaxed into the easy-breezy verdancy of early summer.  If you take a walk, here’s what you might see.

While there is still much more to look forward to being planted along the western corridor, the presence of the trees along the road is beginning to define what one day soon will be a wonderful tree-lined corridor with gardens, parks, developed public spaces, the aquarium, and much more.

They light up the garden from October through January, a time of year when many other flowering plants are dormant. Graceful and upright in form, they look great in a variety of settings: in a large pot by a front door, espaliered against a wall, or planted in mass and maintained as an informal hedge.

Botanic gardens lend themselves to teaching because of their inherent relationship to the land and plants, locations based in populated areas, expert staff, and institutional memory.

Plant communities have evolved over time to recover from and thrive in the wake of all kinds of disturbances including drought, fire, grazing, floods and landslides. By studying the resilience of natural ecologies, we can create gardens with dynamic and enduring beauty.

Material choices can make a big impact on the sustainability of your project, without needing to change the broader design features.