Fincham Pinetum

FINCHAM PINETUM

The Fincham Pinetum consists of 5.6 acres of property, most of which is a western facing slope of glacial till. The base of the proprty is a one acre peat bog with old Acer macrophyllum and Thuja plicata specimens scattered throughout.

The property was wooded when we purchased it with second growth Pseudotsuga menziessii. We cleared the property in the center for the placement of our house and nursery and had three terraces cut into the slope. The rest of the property was "parked out" over the following ten years as the gardens were constructed.

Although we have no old growth on our property, we do have a number of trees with a diameter of 4' or more.

I ran a main irrigation line from a second well to carry water to our container beds at various locations on the property. A number of these lines have been extended to carry water to most of the gardens. Only the rock garden and the oriental garden are irrigated on a regular basis. The other gardens are irrigated only once or twice if we have an exceptionally dry summer.

Our gardens were basically developed in the order listed below.

THE HOUSE GARDENS

These are the gardens in the area of the house. They are made up of assorted conifers, Fagus sylvatica, and a special rock garden consisting of pumice boulders.

THE CENTRAL GARDENS

These gardens are actually a wide band of conifers covering the slope of our property that extends from north to south and is interspersed with roads, paths, and nursery utility areas. The conifers range from standard sized to compact with some areas of miniature conifer plantings.

THE PAVILION GARDENS

The picnic pavilion was constructed early on with a large fire pit. We not only enjoy a raging fire when we are out and about on a cool evening, but also enjoy steaks cooked over the coals on a wrought iron grill built by a blacksmith friend in exchange for a few choice conifers.

The is a dwarf conifer garden below it and another shaded garden just above it.

THE ROAD GARDENS

It is hard to define just what I mean by this designation. I have roads all through the gardens for moving about with my Kubota. Several of them are defined by cottage stone walls on the upslope side and these are the ones I am referring to as "Road Gardens'.

THE NORTHWEST ORIENTAL GARDEN

This is not a Chinese garden and it is not a Japanese garden. It is a garden designed with a strong oriental "flavor". It was built on two levels and was approached as a five year project. I was able to complete it in four years. It is intended as a landscaped garden for rest and contemplation, not as part of a conifer collection, although it has a number of very choice plants.

THE ROCK GARDEN

While working on the "Northwest Oriental Garden", I decided I needed to make use of an undeveloped acre at the foot of our property. I had 600 miniature-dwarf conifers that needed a home and I had a good source of granite that might not be available in the future. So during the second year of the oriental garden project I commenced the construction of a 2/3 acre rock garden. I planned on it being a three year project. It was.

THE UTILITY AREAS GARDENS

Coenosium Gardens is more that just landscaping around our home. It is also the name and location of our nursery. We have a number of utility areas for the nursery that are associated with gardens. We have a 24' x 100' green house, a carport, a lean-to, two storage sheds, and a wood shed that I constructed. We also have a grafting studio constructed in place out of rough cut fir by a local company that produces their own boards with a portable saw mill. It is designed like the buildings used in the old time logging camps throughout the Northwest (on skids).