Jason Jorgensen
Born in Berkeley, California, Jason moved to Washington state at the age of seven, and he has called the Pacific Northwest home ever since. After more than twenty years in the international shipping industry, he decided it was time for a career change. After graduating in 2013 with degrees in landscape design and ornamental horticulture from Edmonds Community College, he turned his lifelong passion for gardening and plant selection into his profession as a landscape designer.
Currently, Jason is collaborating with clients on creating sustainable summer-dry gardens around Seattle.
1. What do you like most about gardening in your region?
I really enjoy the mild climate in Seattle, Zone 8a. We can grow an amazing variety of plants in our region. I’m especially interested in our modified Mediterranean climate and the palette of plants that can handle our cool, wet winters and hot, dry summers.
2. What’s the biggest challenge to gardening in your region?
One big challenge is that many people assume we have water year-round in the Seattle area, which is not always the case. Designing gardens with that aspect of our climate in mind can be challenging but rewarding when a landscape comes together that is both beautiful and uses a low water supply.
3. What plant are you jazzed about in your garden right now?
I’m really enjoying the amazingly quick-growing grevillea varieties (Grevillea spp. and cvs., Zones 9–11) I have in my summer-dry garden. Many of them started off as mere sticks and are quite large (5 feet by 5 feet) after only three years. Their blooms help attract and feed the year-round populations of Anna’s hummingbirds (Calypte anna) that live in the Pacific Northwest. Basically, anything that attracts wildlife to my garden is a winner.
4. What was the last plant you killed?
What haven’t I killed? My latest victims were a part of a group of ‘James Stirling’ hebes (Hebe ochracea ‘James Stirling’, Zones 8–11). Of the twelve 4-inch pots I planted in my hellstrip garden, only five survived. I’m not sure if I was too stingy with watering this summer and let them die, or perhaps they’re not the right plant for this space. Time will tell with the remaining five.
Instagram: @third_spring
Landscape design services: Third Spring Landscape Design, LLC
Gardening podcast: Always in the Garden
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