Manito Makeover Despite Early Appearance, Spokane’s Duncan Garden Will Lose None Of Its Floral Glory When Final Stage Of Renovation Concludes

Early this week, when I stood looking over the Duncan Garden at Manito Park, I couldn’t help but think it would never look this way again. The Duncan Garden is in for a major transformation. Starting Monday, it will undergo the second part of the two-phase Duncan Garden renovation plan. I tried visualizing the enormity of the project, the reasoning behind it and what incredible beauty will be ours because of it.

For those who may not be familiar with the Duncan Garden, it is the sunken garden located just south of the Gaiser Conservatory. The garden was created between 1912 and 1914. It was originally called the “Sunken Garden” until John Duncan, (the father of Spokane’s park system), retired in 1942. It was then re-named in his honor.

Duncan Garden is Spokane’s first public garden and its only formal garden. It was patterned after the authentic French Renaissance gardens, which meant straight, geometric lines and forms.

Since childhood, I have watched this garden change. I am sure many of you could say the same. We have seen its flower beds increase and decrease in size, its aged and/or diseased trees and shrubs replaced with fresh, young starts and its flowers (some glorious, some not so glorious) come and go with the seasons.

It has always been a beautiful garden, but over time it has lost a little of its original formality. The beds have gotten smaller, the lawn more bumpy and weedy and somewhere along the line, garden ornaments were lost. All this is about to change, as the Duncan Garden is brought back to the authentic French Renaissance garden of the past.

Phase one of the renovation may have come and gone with little disruption. Yet it would be difficult to enter the garden without noticing a number of new features.

First, the symmetry of the garden was addressed by adding a circular flower bed at the south end to match the existing circular bed at the north end. Pedestal urns grace the center of each bed.

Arches were installed at the east and west entrances of the garden - three on one side and three on the other. Hornbeam trees were planted adjacent to each arch. According to Jim Flott, Manito Park curator, these trees will, in time, form natural arches at the entries, as in traditional French Renaissance gardens.

Fitting beautifully into the formal theme of the garden is the new reflective pool. The 12-foot, round pool is located at the south end of the garden. It features eight ornate vases, each designed to spray a stream of water into the pool. Waterlilies adorn the pool basin.

The Associated Garden Clubs of Spokane purchased the two new pedestal urns and the reflective pool, according to Flott. Next spring, 12 new urns and pedestals, purchased with a donation by the Friends of Manito, will be installed at the east and west garden entries.

Phase two may look harsh to begin with, but by next spring, the results should be stunning.

Beginning Monday, the lawn will be sprayed and killed. Many of you may ask why. Even though, from a distance, the lawn looks just fine, up close there are deep ruts that make walking unsafe.

And the turf is composed of a conglomerate of different grasses, making maintenance expensive and time-consuming.

Once the lawn has died, soil will be added and leveled over the area, filling in the ruts and dips.

Seeding with five to six varieties of bluegrass will be accomplished by drilling into the soil and dropping the seed. Because all the seed is bluegrass, the turf will take on a uniform appearance.

The multiple varieties are for durability - some varieties can take foot traffic and abuse better than others and some can withstand certain diseases better than others.

This is an excellent opportunity for you to learn from the experts. If you have an old lawn that needs help, watch and learn one method of renovating.

The flower beds will take on a grand appearance. They will be geometric, as they are now, but the shapes will change and increase in size.

Right now, the garden consists of about an acre-and-a-half of lawn and about one-quarter of an acre of flower beds.

When the renovation is completed, the numbers will be reversed.

With its showcase of thousands of annual flowers planted each year, its sheared shrubs, its crisp edges running along walkways and borders, Duncan Garden is truly the premier garden in the Inland Northwest. She’s going through a few changes, have patience with her. She’ll soon be fresher and brighter than ever.