Where the Wild Things Meet

The Power of Edges

by Sara Jo Kinslow

There’s a quiet brilliance to Fidalgo Island in November.

Walk the bluff at Rosario Head after a storm, and you’ll feel it—the edge where madronas cling to rock, their roots gripping cracks as waves crash below. The air carries salt and cedar in equal measure. The land and sea trade stories here, and everything alive seems to listen.

In permaculture, we call this living conversation “the edge.” It’s the space where two worlds meet, and in that meeting, abundance thrives. The principle “Use Edges and Value the Marginal” asks us to look closer at these transition zones—to see not division, but opportunity.

On Fidalgo, edges define everything: the meeting of Salish Sea and forest, of meadow and mossy outcrop, of wetland and trail. Even the mist that lingers between dawn and daylight is a kind of edge. To garden here is to live among thresholds, and those thresholds hold extraordinary potential.

Why Edges Matter

In ecological terms, edges are called ecotones—places where two ecosystems overlap and blend. They’re among the most dynamic and productive habitats on Earth. Stand near Heart Lake on a still morning, and you’ll see how cattails shelter frogs, while dragonflies hover above mirrored water. That narrow strip between wet and dry is a web of relationships, every inch alive.

In our gardens, we can create similar vitality. A mix of sun and shade, of cultivated and wild, of wet and well-drained—these are not problems to solve, but opportunities to cultivate diversity. The more variety we invite, the more resilience we build.

Ways to Incorporate Edges in a Fidalgo Garden

Shape with Curves, Not Lines

If you’re creating or reshaping a pond or rain garden, avoid the temptation of symmetry. Let the shoreline meander. Each bend becomes habitat—frogs in one pocket, sedges in another. The more edge, the more life.

Pair Plants Across Boundaries

Between the forest and your garden beds, try mixing native and cultivated plants—salal meeting lavender, evergreen huckleberry softening a vegetable plot. These living borders welcome pollinators and create transitions that feel organic to the island’s character.

Build Shelterbelts that Breathe

November is ideal for planting hedgerows or windbreaks to buffer winter gusts that sweep through the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Choose native species like red-flowering currant, oceanspray, and serviceberry. In time, they’ll provide food, habitat, and protection—edges of abundance that hum with life in spring.

Mulch the Margins

Even in a small garden, edges are everywhere: the space between pathway and bed, under shrubs, along fences. Mulching now protects soil from erosion during the rainy season, and as it breaks down, it nourishes the living network beneath your feet. These small transition zones are where much of your soil’s fertility quietly builds.

Welcome Water’s Journey

After a downpour, trace where water flows and pools. Those soggy patches along your driveway or the low area behind a shed? Perfect candidates for a swale or small rain garden. Water is a teacher of edges—always seeking the in-between. Working with its movement builds soil, reduces runoff, and creates new growing niches.

The Hidden Power of Marginal Spaces

Edges aren’t just physical—they’re philosophical. They remind us that what we

overlook often holds the greatest potential. That rocky strip beside your driveway? It could host drought-tolerant herbs or native strawberries. The shaded slope beneath your cedar? A place for ferns and vanilla leaf.

These margins, when tended with curiosity, become places of quiet transformation. They invite us to notice—to see the beauty in what’s neither one thing nor another.

What would it mean to garden with that kind of attention? To let the edges be not tidy, but alive?

How Eco-Restore Can Help

At Eco-Restore, we specialize in seeing what others might miss—the overlooked corners, the uneven ground, the transitions that hold potential. On Fidalgo Island, where salt spray, glacial soil, and forest meet in such close quarters, understanding edges is key to a thriving garden.

We can help you:

• Design hedgerows and shelterbelts suited to your microclimate.

• Enhance ponds, swales, or rain gardens that capture and cycle water naturally.

• Revitalize marginal spaces into pollinator-rich plantings or productive forest edges.

  
  

Through our Garden Visits and design services, we’ll help you use small and slow solutions to bring life to the boundaries of your landscape—just as the island’s wild edges do so effortlessly.

Reach out to explore how your garden can mirror the quiet, generative rhythm of Fidalgo itself—where the wild things meet, and everything belongs. 

For more like this, sign up for our garden guides at eco-restore.com/hello