Eastern Washington Scabland/ Gods Hardscaping in NW

I didn't know that Flathead Lake was ever a part of glacial Lake Missoula. Thanks for sharing the the gorgeous pictures. And thank you, Murmur, for sharing that bit of your family history with Coulee Dam. Its quite a structure and plays a significant role in the human history of this area.

Yes and no. It is supposed that the glacial depth at Flathead was up to 2 miles thick. But in the end when the Glacial lake filled and emptied much of the glacial lake went up as far as 40 miles north of here. The way they can tell is the remaining rhythmites along the Flathead valley at it's southern end. Also the remaining terminal morraines are of course still present. You have to think that a glacier retreating is a slow process and especially at the Southern edge of the Cordilleran Ice sheet. Where is where Flathead lake. We have deep cut canyons where the melt water roared off the tip of the glacier for thousands of years near Elmo. These are similar to the coulees in E Wash chopped out of the basalt. Here it is Granite.

Thanks so much for sharing the pictures and information! My brother lives in Spokane so I dip into this group every now and again so I can have something relvant to say when we talk gardening. I've so wanted to visit Glacier Nat'l Park.....and it just zoomed to the top of my travel priority list!

I don't know who might still be reading this thread but I thought I'd post some pictures I took today. I don't know how many photos I can attach to one message so it may take several. I've talked about the generally open landscape of where I live and the first two photos are just an overview of the general area and what I see out my windows and when I walk outside .... this first one is looking to the southwest, with my house in the background.

This one is looking northeast.

This last one shows the reason(s) why I ended up in this exact location and is why I have a constant supply of manure to compost .... the large rock formation in the background is Steamboat State Park.

These next few show my most recent projects, all ongoing. This photo taken from the front of my house shows the gravel path I made that seperates a lawn from the front garden and then travels through this arbor (?). I created the mound you can see beyond for a little visual interest, but it isn't finished ...

This one is of the house side of the mound, with its own gravel path. This fall I planted a number of shade loving perennials, including several trilium .... I can hardly wait to see if they like this spot. It stays shady, relatively cool, and is always a little moist.

This is the last one for now ..... its getting pretty late ! This one looks back over the mound towards the front of the house. The line of grasses you can barely see to the far left side right in the middle is a line of Panicum virgatum 'Shenandoah'. The two shrubs and one small tree are the native elderberry, a serviceberry, and the rosebud 'Forest Pansy'

Sequoah - it is a tremendous location! Is the barn in the background yours also? That is a lot of land to garden!!

I have to say I did chuckle a bit at the mound 'to create interest'! That must be one h#ll of an interesting planting on that mound to compete with that structure on the horizon!

Keep posting - look forward to the contrast of the seasons.

Oh, it's beautiful! Lucky you, to have a herd of compost producers of your very own! ;) The arbor is really neat-did you build it yourself? I also like the porch that wraps around your house.

Yes I am but headed out to celebrate talk to you tomorrow. steve.

Laurie 1 - how nice to have a visitor from the UK, especially since my half-sister grew up and still lives in the area of Guildford. It takes someone from a distance to point out the obvious sometimes - no, nothing I plant will be able to compete with what is here naturally! Maybe my best effort will be to complement my environment ..... ? There is quite a bit of building going on around me now, where as when I built here 4 years ago I was the only one. Of course, I can't be selfish forever .... I just worry about where all of the wild creatures will go now. I have a mother coyote who lives just a bit to the north of me, she frequently wanders near the horse pen and through the pastures. I find her droppings near my gopher mounds, which makes very happy. The red barn right behind the house is mine, but the one a little further away in one of the pictures is on another property. They are all either 2 or more acres, mine is 5 acres 4 of which is horse pasture. The wrap around porch is one of my very favorite parts of the house. It faces east and slightly north, which puts it in the shade in the summer afternoon - a nice place to sit after work. And no, I didn't build the arbor - I just wish I was that talented! I am looking for suggestions for a fast growing vine that I could plant next to it. So many of the ones I have looked at seem marginally invasive - any ideas ?

Lonicera, Bignonia, Vitus, Parthenocissus, some of the Clematis all hardy to zone 5. (Well, the Bignonia maybe to 6...)

I have had success with the Lonicera - I prune 2X during the season only. However, i don't get as much sun as you over here west of the Cascades. So - you might have considerably more growth than I would ever see!

Sequoyah, how gorgeous - I too want to see it in all seasons!

Ohh, sequoia, I think I am more like that wonderful Gorey storey, The Guest That Came to Stay. I'm geographically distant, but I've definately got my feet under the table here on PNW.

Just trying to think what the hardyness of rambling roses are - David Austin grows one called THE GENEROUS GARDENER - warm pink buds opening to the palest, creamy pink (almost buff) roses with a tremendous old rose scent - it can put on almost 2m (7') of growth in a season. And extremely happy growing up and over. I have them growing all along our old metal cattle fencing - and it is still blooming now.

Here is the link for David Austin Roses, just click on the US flag for info: http://www.davidaustinroses.com/

(Guildford is about a 40 minute drive from me).

This message was edited Dec 31, 2007 7:46 PM

2seq beautiful setting for a home. I love you Charlie Russell mountain in the distance. A piece of resistant vocanic upheaval. We have a few of those in Eastern Montana near Great Falls. Charlie painted them often. Your mounds are beautiful and your surrounding wheat fields are beautiful in the winter. Don't worry about coyotes when the neighborhood grows. They thrive in the burbs. (keep your cats in). Once I was working in Upland, California and late at night a pack of 7 coyotes jumped the fence and passed me while sitting in the hot tub. The yard was over 15 miles from the surrounding mountains!

2S: You mean redbud 'Forest Pansy'? I LOVE that tree - the leaves are awesome. Your property looks beautiful - a great setting for roses, to be sure. Heirloom roses in Portland is also a great place to order roses, I hear.