Woodinville -- Welch Sanctuary

The 24-acre property in the Snoqualmie watershed had been logged once or twice before it was purchased in the 1970's and turned into a private home and teaching nature sanctuary. The swampy lake was full of fir stumps and abandoned cedar trees that took three months to haul out, leaving a small lake that spilled into wetlands. An old logging road was turned into an asymmetrical gravel driveway that wound past a stand of mature hemlocks, woodlands, ponds, and curving stone walls. About four acres were developed for the house and close-in gardens that included more than 100 bonsai, koi pond and azaleas in an enclosure, a Japanese-style dry landscape garden with walls on two sides, a park with both native and exotic tree species inspired by the 18th century English gardens designed by Capability Brown, and mixed woodlands with native trees as well as the stumps from the old growth forest. The design transformed a rugged site into a setting that combined nature and artifice, English and Japanese features. The National Wildlife Federation awarded the Welch Sanctuary its certificate of Exceptional Merit on July 17, 1995.

Persons associated with the garden include Terry Welch (former owner and landscape designer, 1976-2009).