Created
by: LineTime
There are
many good reasons why we should consider using Native Plants in our landscape
design. Deer normally don’t bother
them, they use less water and will grow with less maintenance. Sometimes deer
tend to nibble on new tender leaves, but then leave them alone. They also
provide habitat for many birds and butterflies.
Still, you need to determine
your soil, sun and water conditions and take note of what is currently growing
in the area surrounding the garden. As Master Gardeners, quite a bit of
research has been done to help those who wish to incorporate the native plants
in the garden. The Salal Chapter of the Washington Native Plant Society has a
native plant sale each April. Marianne Kooiman, here on Guemes is very active
in the program.
Here is a note from Marianne
explaining a few of the details of the program, as well as an opportunity to
volunteer within the Native Plant Society.
The
Salal Chapter of the Washington Native Plant Society is dedicated
to the preservation of the local native flora and to encouraging people to use
natives in their own landscaping. To that end the Salal Chapter maintains a
display garden at the Skagit Display Gardens at the Northwest Washington
Research and Extension Center located at 16650 State Route 536 (Memorial
Highway), west of Mount Vernon. In addition to the display garden, we have a
nursery in the back where we propagate and grow plants for our annual plant
sale, which takes place on the fourth Saturday in the month of
April.
We
schedule regular work parties for the 2nd and 4th Saturday of each month from 10
a.m. to 3 p.m. We are looking for more volunteers. Tasks are varied and one
can choose what one would like to work on, such as propagation, potting plants
and helping maintain the developed areas in the garden. We invite you to join
us for an hour or two at one of our work parties. It is an easy and fun way to
learn about native plants. No expertise is required—we all learn
together.
For
more information about the native plant garden project or the plant sale, please
contact Marianne Kooiman at eyrie@cnw.com or
293-5815
Selecting
Native Plants
Imitate Nearby Natural
Settings The best way to determine
which native plants are appropriate for your property is to identify the native
plants growing in the surrounding area under similar conditions, including
amount of sun, type of soil, amount of moisture in the soil, and types of
neighboring plants.
Note which native species grow
near other native species, because this can be a good indication of which plants
can be planted together without one species taking over. In order to attract a
variety of native birds and butterflies, plant as many of the plant species you
see growing nearby as possible. In addition, select and arrange the plants so
that they vary in height from taller trees to ground covers, and so that you
create a mixture of plant densities (some clumped, some spaced, and some open
areas).
Starting
1. Evaluate Your
Yard If there aren't many native
plants nearby, you can still figure out which natives are appropriate once you
determine how much moisture and sunlight the planting area gets, and how well
the soil holds moisture.
Take note of which areas receive
full sun throughout the day, which receive sunlight only part of the day, and
which areas are in the shade most or all of the day. Also notice whether the
shade is complete, or if patches of sunlight filter through. You may find it
helpful to draw a rough map of your yard.
;)
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To evaluate how moist the soil
is and how well it holds moisture, dig a hole in the ground about six inches
deep and six inches wide. Look at and feel the material you remove from the
hole to see how moist or dry it is, and whether it has a lot of sand, gravel,
organic matter, or clay. Then fill the hole with water, and watch how fast the
water soaks into the ground. There is no hard-and-fast rule here, but if the
soil soaks the water up so fast you can't fill it with water, you have very
well-drained soil. And if the water is still in the hole two hours later, you
definitely have poorly-draining soil. You may want to dig a number of these
test holes in different areas to see if soil conditions are the same throughout
your yard.
Take note of areas that are near
streams or other bodies of water. Also pay attention to whether there are areas
of pooling or continual dryness.
2. Use Native Plant Associations
to Mimic Nature Once you have determined the
amount of sunlight and moisture and type of soil on your site, you can use the
following native plant associations to decide what to plant. Rather than
provide a list of plants from which to haphazardly pick-and-choose, we suggest
using these plant associations so you can re-create the mix of natives that
normally grow together under natural conditions.
Each native plant association is
named after the amount of sunlight and soil moisture occurring where that
association grows. To find the association appropriate to your property, look
for the sun-moisture combination existing in the area you want to plant. While
not exhaustive, the associations listed cover the most common situations and
species found in our region.
Each native plant association
begins with a description of the setting (sunlight, soil, water) and what the
vegetation growing there would look like in the wild. Although the area you
wish to plant probably won't fit the whole description, it should match the
amount of sunlight, type of soil, and amount of moisture. The rest of the
description will give you an overall idea of what the area will eventually look
like if you plant the suggested species.
Most of the descriptions simply
refer to "canopy" (the uppermost layer of vegetation), "understory" (smaller
trees and shrubs below the canopy), or "ground covers" (herbaceous plants,
ferns, and other low-lying plants). Below the description are lists of plant
species included in these categories.
Try to plant as many of the
natives listed as possible, as this will create diversity that will attract
native birds and butterflies and continue looking natural over the years. Take
note of the native plants that grow in the area, and feel free to add these
species to your list of plants.
Before you go shopping for any
of these plants, write down each plant's unique, scientific (latin) name, as
many of the plants listed have more than one common name or share their common
name with some other plant.
If you have an area with
evergreen trees that provide consistent year round shade, the following plants
should do well. These plants will also thrive in an area with seasonal shade
that deciduous trees furnish during the summer months. These plants are
tolerant of a moist soil due to poor drainage, or proximity to stream or
lake.
While developing your planting
scheme keep in mind that in natural settings with deep shade, understory shrubs
are usually sparse. Shrubs grow near pockets of light or along the brighter
edges of a shady area. In contrast, the groundcover layer grows thickly in deep
shade.
Native huckleberries prefer a
moist soil with plenty of organic matter. They do not like heavy clay soils.
Avoid using huckleberries if you have clay soils.
Canopy
Understory
Ground
cover
PARTIAL
SHADE AND WELL-DRAINED SOILS
Description: In a native plant
community with partial shade, enough dappled light passes through the tree
canopy to support a diverse understory shrub layer. In this plant community, the
tree canopy consists primarily of red alder, bitter cherry, bigleaf maple, and
occasionally conifers. Usually the soils are well-drained and dry out during the
summer months. These soils consist of sand or rocky glacial till common in the
Puget Sound region. If this description matches
the conditions in your yard, the plants listed below should do
well.
Canopy
Understory
Ground
cover
SUN
AND MOIST SOILS
Description: The plants in the
following table thrive on sites near lake, rivers, or wetlands that may
experience periodic flooding or a seasonally high water table. Because of their
proximity to sources of water, soils are moist to wet many months of the year.
If your site has moist to wet soils and does not currently have trees to provide
shade, the plants on this list should do well. These plants prefer sunny
locations.
Canopy
Understory
Ground
cover
SUN
AND WELL-DRAINED SOILS
Description: The plants in this
community are tolerant of sun but prefer well-drained soils. Soils that are
well- drained are often sandy or coarse with various sizes of rocks. A
well-drained soil typically dries out during summer months. Plants on the
following table can survive summer drought once they have become
established.
The following list includes both red huckleberry and
evergreen huckleberry. Pacific Northwest native
huckleberries prefer a soil enriched with organic matter. Often seen growing in
decaying logs and stumps, our native huckleberries benefit from both composted
organic matter and partially composted organic matter such as wood chips. Before
planting huckleberries always improve the soils with organic
matter.
Canopy
Understory
Acer
circinatum |
vine
maple |
Amelanchier
alnifolia |
western
serviceberry, |
Arctostaphylos
columbiana ssp. columbiana |
hairy
manzanita, |
Ceanothus
velutinus var. hookeri |
snowbrush, |
Corylus
cornuta var. californica |
beaked
hazelnut, |
Holodiscus
discolor |
oceanspray, |
Lonicera
ciliosa |
orange
honeysuckle, |
Oemleria
cerasiformis |
Indian-plum, |
Philadelphus
lewisii var. gordonianus |
mock-orange, |
Ribes
sanguineum var. sanguineum |
red flowering
currant, |
Rosa
gymnocarpa var. gymnocarpa |
baldhip
rose, |
Sambucus
cerulea var. cerulea |
blue
elderberry |
Symphoricarpos
albus var. laevigatus |
common
snowberry, |
Vaccinium
ovatum |
evergreen
huckleberry, |
Vaccinium
parvifolium |
red
huckleberry, |
Ground
cover
WSU
For further
information go to: Gardening.wsu.edu
WSU Cooperative Extension,
Western Washington
Source: http://www.linetime.org/pages/4043 |