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| Heritage Bank volunteers came from Shoreline, Bellevue, and Everett |
For the second year in a row, the Ching Community Garden was selected as a volunteer site for Heritage Bank’s Day of Service.
This year, nine Heritage Bank volunteers came from branches and offices in Shoreline, Bellevue, and Everett. They were joined by three members of the Ching Garden team: Shirlee, Maryn, and horticulturist Derek.
Derek arrived early to lay out and prepare plants for the day’s work. Once everyone had arrived, Maryn gave a brief history of the Ching property and shared the vision and development plans for the garden. Shirlee made sure everyone had gloves and tools and, before the planting began, invited volunteers to harvest plums, apples, and figs from the garden.
With perfect weather for working outdoors, Derek demonstrated the planting technique and soon everyone had adopted a plant. He showed volunteers how to use the handle of a shovel to estimate the depth and width of the planting hole based on the size of the nursery pot. Volunteers quickly took over the process. Maryn kept the planting holes watered, while Shirlee measured and added fertilizer.
A New Plant Guild
One of the major accomplishments of the day was the establishment of a new plant guild, which may become known as the Heritage Bed or Heritage Guild.
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| A beautiful new plant bed |
Seventeen plants were added, including: 2 figs, 5 false indigo, 2 goumi berries, 1 mulberry, 1 Beauty plum. 1 seaberry. 1 Cornelian cherry, plus additional companion plants.
The South Fence/Camellia Bed received another 10 plants, including several figs. Farther down the fence line, volunteers planted a Seven-son Flower (Heptacodium miconioides) and a Fragrant Snowbell (Styrax obassia).
A persimmon was planted east of the existing plum tree.
In the northeast corner, a new planting area—possibly the future “Serenity” area—was established with three Fargesia ‘Jiuzhaigou’ bamboos, three maples (‘Moonglow,’ ‘Pung Kil,’ and ‘Gwen’s Rose Delight’/‘Shirazz’), and a beautiful Davidia involucrata, commonly known as the dove tree, handkerchief tree, or ghost tree.
36 New Plants
The two-hour workday flew by. By the end of the morning, 36 new plants had been added to the Ching Garden landscape.
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A big tree was part of the 2026
Heritage planting |
Beyond the number of plants installed, the day was valuable because volunteers learned how to plant and care for the garden while contributing directly to its development.
The Heritage Bank team helped transform several areas of the garden and created new plant communities that will continue to grow and develop for years to come.
We are grateful to Heritage Bank for returning to Ching Garden for a second year of service and for bringing such an enthusiastic group of volunteers.
A special thank-you goes to everyone who dug, planted, watered, fertilized, harvested, hauled, and helped make the day a success.
36 plants, 9 Heritage Bank volunteers, 3 Ching team members, and two very productive hours—another great day of growing community at Ching Garden.We welcome groups, schools, and organizations that would like to set up a day of service at the Ching Garden. Work parties can take place year round, weather permitting.
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