Front Entrance Garden Redesign Complete!

In partnership with Washington State Parks, King County Master Gardeners – Issaquah Clinic, funding from the Washington State Parks Foundation, and the hard work of many volunteers, including a great group from Leica Microsystems, we are excited to invite you to check out the new landscaping at the front entrance of Lake Sammamish State Park along NW Sammamish Road!

The goals for the garden redesign include low-maintenance and drought tolerant plants, year-round visual interest, and improved sightlines from the road down the park driveway to improve visibility for drivers entering and exiting the park. King County Master Gardeners – Issaquah Clinic volunteers put together an incredible planting plan that addresses all of these goals and give the park an entrance fitting of its beautiful location on the shores of Lake Sammamish.

Several existing plants and trees were retained and are now surrounded by a mix of native and non-native plants. New plants include:

• Kinnikinick: a native slow-spreading ground cover that features brilliant red berries in late summer

• Sword Fern

• Several varieties of sedum, which bloom summer through winter and are drought and heat tolerant

• English lavender

• Yarrow: a native plant featuring tall summer blooms

• Blue Idaho Fescue Grass: a native plant that provides winter interest

• Oregon Grape: a tall, slow growing native plant featuring yellow flowers

• Creeping Thyme

• Dwarf Red-Twig Dogwood: a native plant that provides winter interest

• Rhododendron macrophyllum: a native Rhododendron that blooms in late spring

• Common Camas: a native bulb with beautiful blue flowers

• Vine Maple: native deciduous, multi trunked tree with brilliant leaves and spring flowers

• Viburnum Davidii: a showy, slow growing perennial shrub with glossy dark green leaves and metallic, turquoise blue fruit

With generous funding through the Washington State Parks Foundation Park Improvement Project grant program, FLSSP completed this work with our incredible volunteers at the end of September. FLSSP thanks the King County Master Gardeners – Issaquah Clinic and Washington State Parks Foundation for their partnership and support of this project. We are also indebted to Lake Sammamish State Park staff for helping with the removal of existing plants and weeds in these beds – we could not get this project done without their heavy lifting!