3 Tips to Help Native Plants Thrive In Your Garden

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It’s planting season again, and it’s great time to start adding native plants to your garden. Plants that are native to Western Washington will survive best in our climate without watering, pesticides, or fertilizers. Plus they make the best habitat and food for our native wildlife. Here’s a list of some of our favorite native plants for gardening, plus a few tips for success.

A Few Of Our Favorites

Western red cedar – These trees stay green all year round and repel most pests.

Salmonberry – A good substitute for invasive blackberry patches, salmonberries taste similar to blackberries and ripen in early summer. The pink flowers also add a great pop of color.

Sword fern – Ferns make great habitat for small critters, and they’re fairly resilient in most environments.

Bleeding heart – Groundcover plant with pink heart-shaped flowers.

 

1. Choose The Right Plant For The Right Place

• • Choose a location for your new plant that best suits its needs for sunlight and moisture. For example, young cedar trees thrive in shady areas, while willows grow best in the sun.
• • Give the plant enough room to grow based on its size. We generally space our trees at least 5 feet away from each other, shrubs at 3 feet apart, and grasses and groundcover plants as close as 1 foot.
• • For more tips on plant placement, check out this Native Plant Landscaping Guide from Washington State University.

2. Let The Roots Go Free

Once you remove the plant from the pot, the root system and the dirt around it will probably retain the shape of the pot. We don’t want it to go into the ground like that. The roots have been confined to that small pot for a while, sometimes several years depending on the plant, but now you want them to stretch out and grow.

Shake off the excess potting soil and loosen the roots with your hands until they start to hang down and take a more natural shape. Make sure the hole you’ve dug is deep enough to allow the roots to remain pointed down. Younger plants are easier to install this way, as the roots are easier to manage.

3. Give It Some Fresh Air

Planting too deep or too shallow in the soil can threaten the life of your plant. If too shallow, the roots will be exposed and begin to dry out. If planted too deep, the root collar, the point where the base of the stem starts to widen to form the roots, won’t be able to breathe.  The root collar delivers oxygen from the air down into the roots, so it’s important to leave it exposed while leaving the actual roots underground.

Before you fill in the soil around your new plant, hold the plant up so that the root collar is level with the soil. With one hand holding the plant in place, use your other hand to fill soil back into the hole.