Campus Gardens
Taqwsheblu Vi Hilbert Ethnobotanic Garden
This garden, created with the help of many people in the Seattle community, highlights plants used for food, utility and sacred uses by indigenous peoples in the Northwest. The Ethnobotanic Garden is located south of the Library along 10th Ave to Cherry St.
View the form and texture of the horticultural tapestries that garden designer Fugitaro Kubota created on campus in the 1950's and 1960's. Many of the trees are impressively large and majestic. Locations and a brief description can be found here.
Shakespeare Garden
Located at the front of the Fine Arts Building, this garden was a joint venture between the Grounds and Fine Arts Departments. Plants located here are mentioned in the works of William Shakespeare.
Completed in 2008, this space demonstrates a variety of principles used to increase local biodiversity, including displays of plants that attract beneficial insects and birds, shade tolerant native plants that are good alternatives for other groundcovers (such as ivy), and the benefits of mulching and composting for increasing soil biodiversity. The garden is located behind Loyola Hall.
Dedicated in 2006, this garden was designed by the Al Kubota, grandson of Fujitaro Kubota, to remember the Japanese Americans who lived in this area that were interned at camps during World War II. Large rocks and plantings represent the experience of breaking apart and coming together again. The garden is located between Hunthausen, Lynn, and Xavier Hall.
Healing Garden
Located above the rockery in front of the Nursing School. These plants all have current or historic medicinial value.
Pierre Tielhard de Chardin was a Jesuit priest from France. These raised beds in our p-patch style garden are tended by members of the Seattle University community; including students, faculty, and staff. Organic methods are used to maintain the beds in accordance with Seattle University Grounds Management policy.
The garden was created in 2008 to provide a gardening opportunity for the students in Chardin Hall. In 2009, other students joined. Staff and faculty were invited to participate in the 2010 season. In the future, we hope to add more raised beds in other places on campus.
Campion Hall Japanese Tea Garden
This garden was originally created by Fujitaro Kubota. While not a traditional Tea Garden design, this space evokes the concepts of space, balance, and nature that traditional Japanese gardens possess.
One of two rain gardens on campus, the first rain garden grows in what was formerly a lawn in front of the Lynn Building. After rain events in 2006 flooded the basements of Lynn, Hunthausen, Xavier, and the Chapel, this garden was designed to capture runoff from Spring and Madison streets. Rain gardens hold water in the soil and release them into the ground water slowly, keeping the water out of storm drains.
There is also a Rain Garden on the library grounds. View a diagram of this garden here.
Wildlife Garden
Located at the northwest corner of the Union Green. These two beds and the bog between them are designed to attract beneficial insects, butterflies, birds, and other wildlife. Plants in these beds provide food in the form of seeds, nectar, and leaves for insects and birds. Throughout the growing season this garden is alive with activity.
Thinking Field
This is the name given to the lawn and row of katsura trees (Cercidiphyllum japonicum) south of the Chapel of St. Ignatius. It is designed to complement the Chapel and reflecting pond in its simplicity.
This garden and memorial is located to the right of the front entrance to the Pigott Building (Albers College of Business). Beautifully crafted, it serves as a memorial to the six Jesuits and two laywomen who died during the civil war in El Salvador in 1989 .
Columbia Orchard
One of our newest gardens, this landscape highlights food producing plants Its located on the east side of the Columbia building, along 14th Avenue. Included in the design are apple trees, pear trees, hazelnut trees, and blueberry and current plants. Our intention is to establish many of these trees and shrubs now in order to ensure that the plants will be producing food well into the future. Our hope is to engage the neighborhood in the harvest and eventually distribute food to those in need in our community. Our program is modeled on the community organizations of City Fruit, based in Seattle, and Portland Fruit Tree Project in Portland, Oregon. Further inspiration is from City of Seattle Mayor McGuinn’s 2010: Year of Urban Agriculture initiative.