Saturday, June 24, 2017

Seike Japanese Garden

The Seike Japanese garden is part of the Highline Seatac Botanical Garden. The current garden opened in 2006 after an extensive effort to move the garden from its previous location on land that was going to be used as part of a expansion of the SeaTac Airport.

The history of the garden is fascinating and worth a read. The garden is intended to represent a pond-and-mountain style garden, and much of the original garden was saved as part of the relocation effort. In fact many of the plants that were salvaged are approximately 100 years old, and although relatively new, the garden itself conveys a feeling of a long established garden.

Honestly, the garden proved to be spectacular. Some of the hardscape elements from the original seemed a bit "kitschy," but the plantings created some incredible scenes. It is a great place for some wonderful photography - I just happened to be there on a crystal clear (and hot) day. The only drawback was the noise. Being so close to the airport, the sound of large jet planes flying just overhead regularly disrupted any moments of silent contemplation that one might be inspired to embrace. Nevertheless, it was worth the visit. Be warned, getting there by public transport was complicated. Hence, Uber was used instead, but even that was problematic. Plan on arranging your own transport in and out.