Originally published Sunday, November 30, 2008 at 12:00 AM
Comments (0)
E-mail article
Print view
Plant Life
The Seabrook community shows the way to a new urbanist future
On the Washington coast, the new community of Seabrook is creating shared public spaces and a sense of community in a sustainable environment.
Proven winners
The weather is windy and wet, and the soil is hardpan, yet these native plants have thrived in the Seabrook landscape:
Dwarf Western red cedar. Thuja plicata 'Excelsa' is a narrow cultivar used at Seabrook as hedging or specimens.
Pacific wax myrtle. Myrica californica is the most-used plant at Seabrook, as evergreen shrubs or clipped hedging.
Red-twig dogwood. Cornus stolonifera is used as screening or trimmed hedging; it can take sun or shade, wet or dry conditions.
Baldhip rose. Rosa gymnocarpa is a hardy, small rose with a delicate flower and bright red fruit.
Douglas spirea. S. douglasii is a casual, airy, small shrub.
Coast strawberry. Fragaria chiloensis is a glossy-leafed spreading groundcover.
Streambank lupine. L. rivularis is a prolific flowerer that grows quickly from seed.
Western sword fern. Polystichum munitum is an evergreen, textural classic fern used as a filler or accent plant.
The new beach town of Seabrook is so appealing and ambitious you'd expect to find it on the Oregon or California coast rather than way up north by Moclips in Washington. In the past four years this 83-acre "new urbanist" town has been built from scratch on a hillside above one of the most beautiful beaches on our coast.
The traditional, shingled houses are clustered to foster neighborliness and preserve shared green space. The place drips charm, even if its slightly nostalgic perfection is a bit too much like "The Truman Show." In fact, the movie was filmed at Florida's Seaside, a model of new urbanist success that in part inspired Seabrook's philosophy and design.
My favorite definition of this current design phenomenon comes from www.newurbanism.org, which calls its movement "the revival of our lost art of place-making" and "promotes the creation and restoration of compact, walkable, mixed-use cities and towns." You definitely feel you've arrived somewhere distinct when you drive into Seabrook. Cars are quickly abandoned for footpaths or the free, readily available bicycles. You've never seen so much property devoted to public space.
Sustainable and earth-friendly aren't just sales buzz at Seabrook. Its owner and planners are so devoted to natives that they've planted the whole town with them. You wouldn't believe how good an alder allée looks, especially when underplanted with deer ferns. Granted, it helps to have an oceanside setting and plenty of brawny cedar stumps and nurse logs so the natives look right at home. Crushed oyster shells from Willapa Bay line the alleys, drives and walkways. The shells' light-reflecting surface amps up illumination in this gloomy climate.
Director of town development Stephen Poulakos and landscape manager Greg "Woo" Haskins are enthused at the chance to define a new town with plants indigenous to its location. All the trees removed from the site are milled locally and put back into the landscape, either as edging for beds or as roofing and fencing. The only lawns are a couple of shared greenswards that are cared for organically, as is the whole landscape.
The public areas are planted entirely in natives, and private gardens are at least 70 percent natives, with an occasional hydrangea and hardy fuchsia thrown in for color. The look is loose and imaginatively varied, and will have even more impact as the young plants mature. Remnants of the coastal forest have been left wherever possible, so the houses are set in hemlocks, fir, cedar, salal and huckleberries.
Besides providing wildlife habitat and requiring less maintenance, water and fertilizer, the native-plant landscape has another terrific benefit, says Poulakos: "It's quiet on the weekends. There's no mow and blow going on around here."
Valerie Easton is a Seattle freelance writer and author of "A Pattern Garden." Her e-mail address is valeaston@comcast.net.
Copyright © 2008 The Seattle Times Company
E-mail article
Print view Share:
Digg
Newsvine
![]()
Picnics in the Pacific Northwest happen rain or shine
Wine Adviser: Rosés enjoy a boom in quality as well as quantity
Plant Life: Chic raised beds help make growing veggies easy
Northwest Living: One small plot serves as home, shop and town stopping spot
Taste: Obamas plant a garden and set the tone for what we eat
Now & Then: Seattle Center attracts a crowd, no matter the weather

2009 fireworks time lapse
With strict parking rules enforced at this year's July 4th celebration on Wallingford Ave North, less cars and more spectators filled the streets.
Entertainment | Top Video | World | Offbeat Video | Sci-Tech
- Landmark Smith Tower mostly vacant
- Property taxes: Appeals shoot up in King, Snohomish Counties
- Palin links resignation to 'higher calling' and blasts media in Facebook posting
- Former NFL MVP McNair killed
- Hard times for tourist towns means good deals for travelers
- Shooting unveils very different sides of McNair
- Tukwila residents rally against light-rail noise
- Quincy Jones remembers "the biggest entertainer on the planet": Michael Jackson
- Confessions of an Idol Addict | "American Idols" on tour: Live coverage from opening date
- Plasma and LCD beware; OLED screens ready to go mainstream
- Seattle Mariners at Boston Red Sox: 07/05 game thread
247 - Palin links resignation to 'higher calling' and blasts media in Facebook posting
172 - Hatred for the NBA runs deep, but don't take it out on the players
137 - Tukwila residents rally against light-rail noise
125 - Former NFL MVP McNair killed
112 - Property taxes: Appeals shoot up is King, Snohomish Counties
103 - Tent City on campus: UW stalls decision
100 - Anti-tax rally in Olympia attracts about 1,500
68 - Seeking your questions
53 - Mariners did their part, now they need help
46
- Property taxes: Appeals shoot up in King, Snohomish Counties
- Hard times for tourist towns means good deals for travelers
- Landmark Smith Tower mostly vacant
- Plasma and LCD beware; OLED screens ready to go mainstream
- Tent City on campus: UW stalls decision
- The People's Pharmacy | Estrogen mimicker found in sunscreen
- Toyota's Toyoda scolds execs for emulating U.S. car companies' mistakes
- Tukwila residents rally against light-rail noise
- Outdoor-theater season kicks off at Volunteer Park
- Seattle safety project: A snake shelter on Beacon Hill





