August in the Garden at Sequoia House Seattle

The Sequoia House Seattle Heritage Tree is already entering its fall renewal cycle.

Although it is still summer, this August is a transitional month in the garden at Sequoia House Seattle.

Under the tree, many of the perennials and biennials that thrive in the dry shade - feverfew and native bleeding heart in particular - are finishing up their yearly cycles. Even though it isn’t a native plant, feverfew does extremely well under the sequoia, freely self-seeding underneath even close to the tree where other plants do not.

Feverfew and foxglove seedings from under the Sequoia House Seattle Heritage Tree ready for transplanting to the mixed cottage border. All do extremely well in the dry shade under the tree. We also gather the cones from the Sequoia for decorative mulch

We’ve gathered many of these seedlings, along with those from native bleeding heart and foxglove that have self-sown throughout the front garden, for transplanting in the cottage mixed border under the tree.

Even though it is August, some of the sequoia needles have already started to drop. This is part of the yearly cycle of giant sequoias, which shed needles every fall. Fallen needles, also known as “leaf duff,” are an important part of the health and well-being of giant sequoias, providing nutrients to the soil and trees as needles break down.

Although they are evergreen, sequoias regularly shed needles every fall as part of their yearly renewal cycle. Needles on the Sequoia House Seattle Heritage tree are already turning brown, eventually to become leaf duff under the tree or composted into mulch

Each year the Sequoia House Seattle Heritage Tree regularly drops two to four yard waste bags of needles weekly, from about mid-September to December. We typically save these needles for mulching in the garden, as well as leave some on the ground near the tree to help replenish the soil.

In the near future, we hope to add a tumbler composter to turn some of the leaf duff into rich compost to be used throughout the garden. When that happens, we’ll let people know on this blog, so visitors can come by and give the composter a tumble if they like!