Getting started with native plants could be daunting, especially if you’re new at gardening. It really comes down to what you like, and do you have environmental conditions that will support its habitat. If you’re a more experienced gardener, all you may need is a good reference book to learn about growth heights and environmental characteristics such as sun/shade, dry/moist, etc. Since my experience is more like the former, that’s the perspective I’ll be writing from. I started wanting to emulate the nature I saw but I didn’t know how to accomplish it.
One of the first things I picked up was a nature guidebook. For the Pacific Northwest, the “bible” of guidebooks is Jim Pojar’s “Plants of the Pacific Northwest Coast.” This guide explains the essentials about what is native, where you find it, and growth characteristics. I highly, highly recommend this book. The second book I would recommend is Arthur Kruckeberg’s “Gardening with Native Plants of the Pacific Northwest.” This second book bridges the gap between a guidebook for the native environment and how well (or poorly) a given plant may do in a garden setting. There are some additional books that have come onto the scene in more recent years and I’ve included links to all these books on Amazon over on my Resources page.
These books will help you ID a plant and decide which ones you like but how should you use it in the garden? The simplest suggestion I can give is just go on a hike. Nature will show you which plants work well together if you just pay attention. By no means is this a complete list but here are some suggestions:
Washington:
- Paradise area trails, Mount Rainier National Park (alpine meadow)
- Spray Park, Mount Rainier National Park (alpine meadow)
- Skyline Divide, Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest (alpine meadow)
- Green Mountain, Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest (alpine meadow)
- Boulder River, Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest (forest woodland)
- Mount Dickerman (start of trail), Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest (forest woodland)
- Siouxon Creek, Gifford-Pinchot National Forest (forest woodland)
- Falls Creek Falls, Gifford-Pinchot National Forest (forest woodland)
Oregon:
- Paradise Park, Mount Hood National Forest (alpine meadow)
- Elk Cove, Mount Hood National Forest (alpine meadow)
- Jefferson Park, Willamette National Forest (alpine meadow)
- Old Salmon River, Mount Hood National Forest (forest woodland)
- Eagle Creek, Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area (forest woodland)
Obviously, some of this will be dictated by the range of any given plant you’re interested in. For example, Beargrass (Xerophyllum tenax) and Vanilla Leaf (Achlys triphylla) both reach their northern limits in Washington by around Mount Rainier National Park. If I wanted to incorporate these plants, I would need to find a hike in the southern Cascade mountains if I want to see how these plants naturally fit into the landscape. I really believe that studying nature’s design will ultimately help your own designs.
Armed with inspiration, the next step is also critical- understanding your own site conditions. If you’ve owned your property for more than one growing season, this won’t be as big of an issue as if you had just bought your property. In this exercise, you’re trying to learn what areas remain shaded or sunny, what areas are dry and wet, and what areas have variations of these properties. You won’t have much success planting something in full sun that likes moist conditions (well- without a lot of watering). Basically, you’re trying to match your local conditions with the plant’s endemic conditions to give them the best chances for success.
In my next post, I’ll start discussing my initial efforts..
-Steve