Carl S. English Jr. Botanical Garden
Carl English and Soil Changes
During the construction of the Locks, the surrounding land was scraped bare of vegetation and topsoil, then covered with materials dredged from the worksite.
This garden represents a blending of art and nature, resulting from a lifetime's work by a gifted gardener and botanist. Carl S. English Jr and his wife, Edith, collected and traded for seeds and plants from all over the world for the garden.
English's diverse plant collection required different soil types, so he experimented with soil amendments to create the ideal environment for each plant. But the material by itself was not enough to complete this splendid landscape.
In 1928, the garden was dotted with several species of plants donated by the Seattle Parks Department. Not much had changed when English arrived in 1931. English utilized the dredge materials from excavation and mixed them with soil amendments to create rich garden soils. The garden now has more than 500 species and 1,500 varieties of trees, shrubs, and plants from all over the world. These include several evergreen oaks, fan palms from China, more than twenty kinds of magnolias, and a wealth of Japanese flowering cherries.
New Vegetation and Non-Native Species
The Dawn Redwood is a species of tree planted by the Chittenden-Ballard Locks. According to research presented at the visitor center, it is the only tree of the sequoia family to be deciduous and coniferous. Even though most of this species was killed off during the Mesozoic Era, the tree was found to be living in China during the 1940s. Harvard scientists were then able to obtain seeds in 1947. Carl English, who planted most of the trees within the locks, received 8 Dawn Redwood seeds from Harvard. Because of English, the majority of Dawn Redwood seeds were planted within the Chittenden-Ballard Locks.
English was also able to introduce new species to the locks, such as the Chinese Windmill Palm. During the 1950s, it was amazing to see a palm tree being able to grow in the Pacific Northwest. English would also be credited with discovering and naming plants such as the fame flower, bitter root, and spring beauty.
In addition to the work done by Carl English, there is a large botanical garden that Michael E. Fleming maintained. The English-style garden grew and developed under Fleming's care from July 1974 to his retirement in July 2004.