Just before I went to sleep last night, I sent an email to Seattle Parks and Recreation asking what it would take to make the Amy Yee Tennis Center property part of Homegrown National Park. I seriously doubt I’ll hear back from them. People have a lot on their plates right now with COVID and all, so it would surprise me if I found a by-the-books kind of way to plant natives on that property.
So, I was lying awake at two in the morning not able to fall back to sleep–too excited about my hoped-for native plant takeover. And my sleepy brain said, “You don’t really need to wait for permission to start planting native plants in public spaces…” I noodled on that for the next few hours and hatched a new hobby I’ll call Ghost Gardening, where I sneak in and plant native seeds or starts in places I think they won’t be disturbed. Rather than my original plan to have work parties root out all the non-native plants and then restore them with natives, my more realistic and streamlined plan involves some shortcuts.
Using a bulb planter, I can cut small circles of sod out of lawn and weed areas easily. I’ll replace the sod with some seed starting mix and sprinkle some locally native wildflower seeds in the circle and cover with a bit more mix. I can do this on rainy days when no one is near the outdoor courts, so I’m planning to try it this weekend if I can round the supplies up in time.
This will be a fair amount of work and expense. I’m thinking of starting with one circle every square foot, so the strips to the east of the outdoor courts will take about 600 circles each, and there are three strips. But I can just plug away a little at a time–it is volunteer work, after all. I picture the seedlings growing all spring and starting to bloom around the time the maintenance people are thinking about weed whacking. Maybe they won’t cut all the flowers down, buzzing with bees and butterflies. But if they do, the plants will be back. I plan to use perennials and annuals.
Later, I can do the same thing with shrub and tree seeds and starts that need to go out in the autumn. And if I develop a system that works, I can apply it to other properties and land that doesn’t get used. I can come up with a Ghost Gardener tool kit, seed mixes, hardwood cuttings and a Ghost Gardener manifesto; it won’t be long before we give Seattle back to the insects, birds, and other animals that we displaced so long ago!
I know that the City likely has very strenuous and obnoxious rules about park plantings, which is another reason to bypass their bureaucracy. I feel fairly certain that planting native seeds doesn’t break any laws. It will seem like such a silly idea to people, no one will care. But maybe if one of these 100-foot-long strips of wasted space turns into a spectacular blooming oasis for native pollinators and all their predators.
My own native plant seeds have started to pop up, even the ones I had given up on.
Camassia quamash seedlings 
Sidalcea hendersonii 
Lomatium nudicaule 
Lomatium nudicaule 
Symphyotrichum subspicatum 
Aquilegia formosa 
Aquilegia formosa