Leschi's Planting Season Starts at the Sequoia Its First Gardener Planted

A giant sequoia stands in the middle of Leschi Park. On the morning of Saturday, November 7, it will also be a meeting point. The Leschi Community Council lists it as the gathering spot for a Seattle Forest Week work party at 201 Lakeside Ave. S, with volunteers meeting there at 10 a.m. to plant trees and care for the park.

That works on a practical level, because the tree is easy to find. It also fits the history. In the council's short history of Leschi Park, Jacob Umlauff was the park's head gardener in 1894 and planted that sequoia. He later became Seattle's first parks superintendent. So when neighbors meet at the tree this November with shovels and saplings, they will be doing the same job he started.

A cable car company planted this neighborhood's green

Most of what makes Leschi feel wooded was planted on purpose. HistoryLink's Leschi history says the Seattle Railway Company hired Umlauff, who was born in Germany, as Leschi's chief gardener. It describes him as a "Johnny Appleseed" whose specialty was giant sequoias, which he planted in the park and on the hillsides of Leschi and Madrona. HistoryLink adds that many of them "stand in majestic grandeur today."

The company had reasons to plant. The Yesler-Leschi cable car was built to attract land buyers, and the park at the end of the line gave riders a reason to come. It had a bandstand, a boathouse, a pavilion, a zoo and formal gardens. The council's history adds that the circle in the center of the park was once a fishpond.

The Olmsted Brothers arrived in 1903 to tie the city's parks together. HistoryLink calls Leschi Park and its hillsides "a principal link" in their plan. Because of landslide concerns in the steep ravines, Lake Washington Boulevard was routed across the slopes instead of along the shore, and that is why the drive curves the way it does today.

The present-day Leschi neighborhood page has more on how the neighborhood fits together. The point here is simpler. The trees on these slopes were planted on a schedule by someone paid to do it.

What the ravines do when nobody is gardening

Frink Park shows what happens next. HistoryLink says John M. Frink donated the land. Ahead of the 1909 Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition, the park got a bridge over a large ravine, along with pools, paths and benches. Then comes the line many Frink Park walkers will recognize: "This scenic overlook has since returned to a verdant jungle."

Today the city describes Frink Park as a densely vegetated ravine, with South Frink Place winding through it down to Lake Washington Boulevard. Some of that jungle is native forest, and some of it is the kind of growth crews have to fight. On October 14, Seattle Parks posted on its Parkways blog that it would treat knotweed along Lake Washington Boulevard between Lake Drive S and 43rd Avenue S. The adjacent trail closed from 8 a.m. on October 15 to 10 a.m. on October 16. The department called this part of its ongoing work to manage noxious weeds and improve the long-term ecological health of its parks.

The gardener these slopes have now is a coalition. The Green Seattle Partnership describes itself as a collaboration among the City of Seattle, community groups, nonprofits and volunteers that restores and maintains forested parkland. In Frink Park, the partnership has named Friends of Frink Park as the group doing restoration work. The park's 187-step stairway runs through its southern end.

Removing weeds clears ground, and planting is what fills it back in. Fall is planting season in Seattle because the rain arrives. EarthCorps lists planting trees and shrubs as rainy-season work, usually from about October to February.

November 7: two plantings, a few blocks apart

Seattle Forest Week runs November 7 through 15, 2026. Organizers bill it as the kickoff of planting season, with volunteers around the city putting in native trees, shrubs and groundcovers that "will become the future forest of Seattle." It is family friendly, open to all ages, and needs no experience.

Leschi has two events on the opening Saturday:

One thing to watch when you register: the main Forest Week calendar lists event 44826 as a second Leschi Natural Area event. The registration page itself identifies that one as the Leschi Park planting led by Serve Ethiopians Washington, and the Leschi Community Council's listing agrees. If you want the sequoia, sign up for 44826. If you want the ravine, sign up for 45003.

Picking between the sequoia and the ravine

The two events offer different mornings.

The Leschi Park party sits by the lake. Serve Ethiopians Washington describes it as a day of "planting, connecting, and giving back to nature." The council's listing asks volunteers to bring a water bottle, comfortable shoes and weather-appropriate clothes. Parking is on Lakeside Ave. S, with a public lot across the street by Leschi South Moorage. That lot is the one thing to check before you go. The city's marina project page, last updated August 31, schedules construction parking changes from September 14 through early November, which puts Forest Week right at the end of that window. The marina saga has had plenty of coverage on this blog already. For November 7, all you need to know is that street parking is the safer plan.

The Leschi Natural Area party is up the hill and in the woods. Organizers supply tools, gloves, instruction and snacks. They recommend sturdy closed-toe shoes, long sleeves and long pants for working in the forest. Once the plants go in, volunteers spread mulch so the new plantings can settle in for winter. The entrance has plenty of street parking, according to the listing.

Pick Leschi Park if you'd like to plant within sight of a tree from 1894. Pick the Natural Area if you'd like to be under the canopy, putting in the understory that keeps a ravine from turning back into jungle.

The following Saturday, down the boulevard

The boulevard's shoreline gets its own turn on Saturday, November 14, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. EarthCorps and The Service Board will continue restoring nearshore habitat along Lake Washington Boulevard South. EarthCorps says that shoreline is important salmon habitat and has views of Lake Washington and Seward Park. Volunteers will remove invasive plants and prepare the site for a fall planting.

This one asks more of you. Registration is required, and the event goes ahead rain or shine. Bring a sack lunch, a full water bottle, a travel mug, closed-toe boots and pants that will hold up against prickly plants. EarthCorps specifically says no shorts. Sign up through event 44836.

If November 7 doesn't work, Mount Baker Park also has a Forest Week event that morning at 10 a.m., registration 44807.

Around the planting dates

The Leschi Community Council fills out the rest of the season. Its November community meeting is Wednesday, November 4, from 7 to 8:15 p.m. at Grace United Methodist Church, three days before the plantings. Seattle Parks representatives are on the agenda, along with Seattle Police and CARE. If you have questions about the parks, that meeting is the place to ask them.

After planting season gets going, the council hosts "Gather & Celebrate: A Leschi Winter Potluck" on Wednesday, December 2, from 7 to 8:15 p.m., also at Grace United Methodist Church. It includes music, and everyone brings a dish. Both are listed on the council's events calendar.

If a morning of planting leaves you wanting a nice dinner nearby, Daniel's Broiler is at 200 Lake Washington Boulevard and serves dinner daily.

Umlauff planted Leschi's sequoias over a century ago, and every new native tree that goes into the Natural Area this November adds to his work. Saturday, November 7 starts at 10 a.m. at the foot of the tree he planted.

Plenty of what our clients love about Leschi was planted on purpose, which is why Exact Home Team pays as much attention to its parks and hillsides as to its houses. If you're coming to plant on November 7 and want to talk about the neighborhood afterward, Let's Get Started.