This is the first video in a series documenting our Zone 8B (now 9A) Pacific Northwest garden through seasonal walks along the same path over time. Each year, we return to the garden to observe how it changes — what has grown in, what has struggled, and how the landscape slowly begins to take shape. We moved to this property just one year before filming this video, and the garden was still in its earliest stages of transformation. This walk was filmed on a rainy day in May.

Rather than a finished garden, this is a record of beginnings: early plantings, experimental layouts, and the process of learning what might eventually become a much more established landscape.

In this video:

First year garden walk in the Pacific Northwest
Zone 8B garden in Washington State
Early-stage landscape transformation
Plant establishment and experimentation
Rainy spring garden atmosphere
Beginning of a long-term garden journey

If you enjoy seeing the evolution over time, this is the starting point of a multi-year garden transformation series.

Plants featured in this first year: Anise: Ocala Sunshine Anise Arborvitae: Cheer Drops Arborvitae Azalea: Encore Azalea Relocated Azalea Berries: Bilberry (seeds) Lingonberry (seeds) Low Bush Blueberry Cryptomeria: Black Dragon Cryptomeria Japonica Sekkan Cryptomeria Japonica Radicans Cryptomeria Japonica Cypress: Slender Hinoki Cypress Gardenia: August Bloom Gardenia Holly: Steeds Japanese Holly Ilex Crenata ‘Convexa’ Japanese Cherry: Accolade Cherry Japanese Maples: Olson Frosted Straw Sango Kaku Katsura: Hanna’s Heart Laurel: Skip Laurel Relocated Laurel Magnolia: Sweetbay Magnolia Myrtle: Twilight Crepe Myrtle Nandina: Relocated Nandina Osmanthus: Sweet Olive (Osmanthus fragrans) Rhododendron: Relocated Rhododendron Willow: Weeping Willow Yew / Podocarpus: Hicks Yew Podocarpus Yew