12 Secret Gardens for Seattle-Area Kids and Families

A unique bee garden, a hidden Japanese garden and other unique nature paradises to explore

By Jennifer Kakutani

Want a new spot for enjoying some nature renewal with your family?

We’ve unearthed 12 wonderful, lesser-known gardens around Puget Sound, each of which has something special to offer kids and families. There’s a garden designed to teach lessons about honeybees, a pocket park that’s also a cosmological adventure, and a garden where community gardeners keep their traditions alive.

West Seattle Bee Garden ● westseattlebeegarden.com

The West Seattle Bee Garden is a must-visit destination if your kids are curious about honeybees, especially if you want to observe the buzzers from a safe distance. The centerpiece of the park is two hives nestled within an enclosure. The enclosure is covered in hexagonal panels that display fascinating bee facts.

This honeycomb-style structure is located in a community P-Patch garden, adjacent to a playground and a large community green space. Be sure to take the short walk a few blocks away to Southwest Raymond Street and 31st Avenue Southwest, where Viewpoint Park affords an amazing panorama of the Seattle skyline.

Location: High Point Commons Park, 3201 S.W. Graham St., Seattle

Fremont Peak Park, Seattle ● seattle.gov

When I’m working in my garden in the summer, there’s a big old mystery that I have always wanted to understand: Exactly how far south and north does the angle of the sun change as it moves across the sky seasonally?

To my surprise, I found the answer perfectly presented in a visual format at Fremont Peak Park, a small park located in North Seattle about 10 blocks from Woodland Park Zoo. There it was, a sculptural Y embedded in the view terrace, with legs pointing to the locations of the sunset at the winter and summer solstices.

Entering the park sets visitors on a mythological and cosmological adventure. You will be encouraged to travel through a labyrinth, and, by its end, blooming roses, tall trees and a view of the Olympic

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Mountains reward you. Now I understand why Fremont Peak Park was recognized as one of the 45 best public art projects in the United States at the 2008 Americans for the Arts annual convention.

Location: 4357 Palatine Ave. N., Seattle

Danny Woo Community Garden, Seattle ● interimcda.org/danny-woo

Wandering through the Danny Woo Community Garden in Seattle’s Chinatown–International District reveals many levels of terraced gardens. Gardeners here, some of them immigrants from Asian countries, tend their plots lovingly, with each person’s area marked with elaborate fence fixtures. While winding along these secret paths, you may encounter gardeners who are friendly and welcoming. At the height of the season, you may be invited to try a veggie you’ve never seen before.

The impressive children’s garden here reminds me that this multigenerational gardening effort, happening right next to a freeway within a small urban space, makes a powerful statement about the importance of homegrown food.

The Danny Woo Community Garden is part of Kobe Terrace Park.

Location: 650 S. Main St., Seattle

Picardo Farm Children’s Garden, Seattle ● seattle.gov

Have you ever wondered how Seattle’s network of community gardens — called the P-Patch Community Gardening Program — got started? If so, you must visit the original P-Patch, Picardo Farm, located in northeast Seattle’s Wedgwood neighborhood.

Fifty years ago, a group of neighborhood activists and a Seattle City Council member helped develop a program to let fallow farmland in the city remain farm- land. The P-Patch Community Gardening Program was born, with the “P” commemorating the Picardo family, whose farm became Seattle’s very first P-Patch.

Picardo was the first of 89 smaller gardens that have bloomed since then, sprinkled throughout Seattle’s neighborhoods. Picardo Farm covers an expansive 98,000 square feet. In the southeast corner of the garden, you’ll find the children’s garden, which features several wonderful components, including an immense climbing-bean teepee.

Location: 8040 25th Ave. N.E., Seattle

Kruckeberg Botanic Garden, Shoreline ● kruckeberg.org

I have never been to a more welcoming garden for children than Kruckeberg Botanic Garden in Shoreline.

Taking an enchanting self-guided tour, my children thoroughly enjoyed finding treasures throughout the garden, as I was learning about the plants and trees. Hidden in the woods, a stunning driftwood climbing structure captivated all of us.

This intimate garden is like an exceptional backyard collection of exotic and rare plants suited to our Northwest climate. However, each of these plants is labeled and available for purchase in the nursery, which is why my daughter describes the garden as “a plant store with a big park in the back.” Simply stated, yet it’s delightfully true.

Kruckeberg Botanic Garden is open to the public Friday–Sunday, 10 a.m.–5 p.m., March through October. (The garden stays open 10 a.m.–3 p.m. November–mid-February.)

Location: 20312 15th Ave. N.W., Shoreline

Highline SeaTac Botanical Garden ● highlinegarden.org

The heart of Highline SeaTac Botanical Garden is Elda Behm’s Paradise Garden. Elda Behm was an award-winning landscape designer, horticulturist and flower arranger. Her original garden was