* Meeting Information * News and Events * Spring Show * Pt Defiance Rhododendron Garden *
* Tacoma ARS Chapter of the American Rhododendron Society *
* Website Map * back to The Anderson Garden *

* Introduction * Garden Map * Special Plants * Garden Restoration Work *Azalea Slope*
* ARS Article * Metro Park Cooperation * About Point Defiance Park *

Refurbishing the Rhododendron Garden Shelter
at Point Defiance Park
 

      
The support posts
      in the shelter were sunk six feet into the ground, but had begun
      to rot at the bottom over their 25-year life. Metro Parks cut
      off each one about two feet above ground (not all at once!) They
      used round cardboard forms (right in picture) for the new concrete
      bases. All of the posts were still solid above the two foot level.
 

      
Braces supported the beams
      while the old posts hung suspended.

      
A lone struggling rhododendron
      still blooms after years of neglect, ready to fill out again
      with grass gone and mulch in.

      



      

      
Outside posts have their
      new concrete bases completed. A paved floor will cover the entire
      interior once the structural work is done.

      
Many thanks to Metro Parks
      for their commitment to this project, and to the American Rhododendron
      Society for their grant program.