Native Plant Gardening – Sustainable Garden Design

Pacific Wax Myrtle: resilient native evergreen

Posted on October 16, 2024October 16, 2024 by jeanmariemorelli.com

Pacific wax myrtle, Morella californica, is native to the coastal areas of Washington state and south to California. It is considered on of the best evergreen native shrubs for our gardens. Although the flowers are inconspicuous, the waxy black fruits are popular with birds. Knock-on-wood it is still deer resistant.

This hardy native is adaptable to many conditions from full sun to shade. Although it prefers moist, well-drained soil, it can grow in a variety of soils. The root nodules have nitrogen-fixing microorganisms that allow the plant to grow in poor soil.

Once established it is completely drought tolerant. It will grow to 30 feet tall and 15 feet wide in thirty years. For the average size garden, pruning will keep it within bounds. Late winter is best for heavy pruning, then general shaping can be made with heading-back cuts through out the season. This remarkable shrub can be pruned as a formal hedge, a loose screen or even a small tree. As a screening hedge, Pacific Wax Myrtle provides habitat for a multitude of birds including Spotted towhee, several sparrows, northern flicker, robin, goldfinch and cedar wax-wing. The latter are especially delightful in winter when small flocks gather on the shrubs. The waxy berries provide vegan fat in the winter.

Pacific wax myrtle is slow to grow at first and once established, it grows steadily. Here the tiny flowers are blooming. Within these red catkins are separate male and female flowers. To see a close up and more photos go to the OSU landscape plant descriptions. This website provides excellent plant descriptions. I have not found anything like it in Washington.

For the longest time I didn’t think any disease bothered this shrub, but I noticed some foliage die back and even some stems turning brown. The Pacific Northwest Pest Management Handbook describes a type of leaf blight caused by a phytopthera that only bothers this species. This fungal-like organism was first identified as a pest in 2009 on the Oregon coast. I have been growing several shrubs at my place for thirty years and have only noticed it recently. Some ways to prevent spreading the disease:

Avoid overhead watering.
Mulch with arborist chips
Increase air circulation at the base of the plant by removing weeds or other vegetation.
Remove any diseased plant material and throw it in the garbage, don’t compost it,
Don’t over-fertilize and don’t fertilize late in the season.
Sanitize tools with isopropyl alcohol, or prepare a mix of 1 part bleach to 9 parts water. Dip tool or wipe with moistened rag.
Water to get the shrub established and then only monthly during summers to grow a hedge or screen.

The leaves make a pleasant tasting tea that is medicinal. The active medicinal substances include an astringent resin. The root and bark can be tinctured and used for inflamed gums according to Michael Moore’s Medicinal Plants of the Pacific West. The plant’s botanical name was changed in 2006. Previously it was known as Myrica californica.

A native plant adaptable to sun or shade and varying soil conditions, one that can synthesize it’s own nitrogen is bound to be more resilient!

Hairy Manzanita

Posted on August 16, 2024August 16, 2024 by jeanmariemorelli.com

Arctostaphylos columbiana

This native manzanita is uncommon on the Quimper Peninsula , but I have seen it growing wild on Cape George Road and close to Kala Point. The above photos are of a shrub that Willy Smothers grew at his place on Marrowstone Island. Recently Janet Welch pruned it to highlight the beautiful peeling bark.

The tiny ‘apple-like’ fruits are eaten by birds, small mammals and patient gardeners. It grows in the coastal scrub community and its range is from Sonoma County, California to Vancouver Island. Along with shore pines, manzanita can grow on and stabilize sand dunes. Native specimens can also be found in the understory of open coniferous forests in the Cascades. The critical factor is gravelly soil. The peeling bark is an attractive feature that it shares with its cousin Madrone. However, it is more closely related to our native groundcover kinnikinnick, Arctostaphylos uva-ursi. In fact a hybrid called Arctostaphylos x media is cross between the two.

Care for Manzanita

Manzanita rewards the patient gardener. Select a site with full sun and excellent drainage. It is best to start with plants in one-gallon containers. Water weekly until new growth appears and then taper off. One way to avoid crown rot is to plant it a little bit higher than the existing grade and mulch with woodchips. Don’t mulch with compost. Use drip irrigation because overhead water will encourage fungal disease. Keep it on the lean-side and avoid adding soil amendments. Once established it is completely drought tolerant.

Here is another manzanita, a hybrid, (probably Arctostaphylos x media) used in the landscape of Kathleen Turaski and Peter Hornsby This drought-tolerant garden includes Ceanothus and red hot poker, Kniphofia. They hope to remove the deer fencing once the plants are mature. But realistically, they may need to keep the fence in place—even if deer don’t browse a plant to death, they often step on and break branches of nearby plants.

Oregon State University, Horticulture Dept has many more photos, including pictures of the flowers and fruits. A great new native plant nursery opened in Kingston. Salish Trees Nursery carries hairy manzanita. Their knowledgeable staff will be a great help. Far Reaches Nursery has a superb variety of Arctostaphylos densiflora—Howard Mc Minn.

This hybrid Manzanita is an excellent drought tolerant choice

Groundcovers for Sustainable Gardens

Posted on June 14, 2024 by jeanmariemorelli.com

Cascade Oregon Grape, a native groundcover — Cascade Oregon Grape, native groundcover

Sometimes called ‘living mulch’, there are many reasons to choose groundcovers, from covering challenging slopes; to reducing garden maintenance and water consumption; to simply knitting together the landscape. They offer excellent solutions to landscape challenges but groundcovers are not maintenance-free.

Woody Groundcovers

A popular native woody plant is Kinnikinnick, Arctostaphylos uva ursi. Another is Cascade mahonia, Mahonia nervosa. Other standard choices are Taiwan Bramble, Rubus calycinoides and Pt. Reyes Ceanothus, C. gloriosus.

Emerald Carpet or Creeping Taiwan Bramble, a drought-tolerant plant

As these plants get established they need regular weeding, especially to prevent perennial weeds from getting a foothold. Fertilizing with compost or dry organic blends encourages the plants to grow. Mulching with woodchips or arborist chips reduces the need for watering. Cover bare ground with 2-3 inches of mulch, but don’t bury the crowns (where stem meets root) or go back after and brush mulch away from the crown. The very fastest groundcovers, especially those planted closer than the recommended spacing will not need much additional mulch. But slower groundcovers like Kinnikinnick or bearberry cotoneaster (C. dammeri ) will need more mulch in about three years.

For woody groundcovers to look their best, prune once or twice a year. Prune back leggy stems to make denser coverage. (The principle is the same as tip-pruning house plants or perennials. It works by removing the plant hormone or auxin in the stem’s tip that maintains apical dominance.) Also, if your goal is a carpet effect, prune out vertical branches.

Herbaceous Groundcovers

These plants are not as tough as woody plants. If the foliage forms dense mats often this shades the soil and prevents weed seeds from germinating.

The smaller the foliage the more work to keep out grass and tiny weeds. If your garden is on a city lot then tiny foliage can work, just plant smaller groupings. There was a time when many people planted chamomile or woolly thyme as small lawns, however they require regular weeding. If you plant lots of annual flowers that readily reseed themselves, herbaceous groundcovers with tiny foliage will take much more work to maintain because they will easily harbor germinating seedlings.

Natives include evergreen coastal strawberry Fargeria chiloensis, inside-out flower, Vancouveria hexandra and redwood sorrel, Oxalis oregana, and stonecrop, Sedum spathufolium. Non-native groundcovers include many Epimediums, and Geraniums. A low maintenance herbaceous groundcover for shade is hardy geranium or Geranium macrorrhizum, especially the magenta pink ‘Bevan’s Variety’ makes a dense mat of foliage that is deer-resistant. It does require a little water during dry summers.

Plants don’t have to form low carpets to be a groundcover. Distinctive foliage is a good reason to mass plants together. Under conifers the western sword fern is attractive. Larger perennials like Corsican Hellebore, Helleborus argutifolius make a bold statement. Pools of ornamental grasses offer ribbons of texture that can ripple in the wind.

Mock Orange: A fragrant native

Posted on May 10, 2024 by jeanmariemorelli.com

A delightful native shrub for early summer is Lewis’s mock orange, Philadelphus lewisii. This deciduous shrub has a fountain like shape and fragrant white flowers that grow in clusters.

It is equally at home in a cultivated landscape or a natural thicket. My introduction to this native came in a conservation bundle thirty years ago. When the shrubs matured and started to flower, I wondered if a mistake had been made. The flowers looked so much like the Philadelphus coronarius, a European introduction commonly seen on old farms in New England. Our native west coast mock orange is just as beautiful and better adapted!

This multi-stemmed shrub with long arching branches may grow 3-10 ft tall or more. I planted one by a shed where the rain spills off the roof and after thirty years, it is close to 15 ft tall. Since it was part of a native plant thicket planted along the roadside, I never pruned it.

Lewis’ mock orange is equally effective as an ornamental as it is in restoration plantings. It can be used in borders or grouped together for screens. In autumn the foliage turns lemon yellow.

Growing Conditions

Lewis’s Mock Orange is flexible about soil requirements. It prefers soil rich in organic matter but will grow in gravelly soil if provided moisture. Full sun will encourage more blossoms but the plant will be healthy in partial sun. This native will be drought tolerant once established.

Native Habitat

Mock orange can be found throughout the west from British Columbia to California. I am sad to say I have never seen it growing on the Olympic Peninsula but, in Nelsa Buckingham’s book Flora of the Olympic Peninsula, she says it occurs in open habitat here on the peninsula lowlands from north to east. also at mid-elevations from northeast to east.

Benefits

Pollinators love this nectar-rich plant. Birds that eat the seeds in autumn include junco, chickadee, thrush, flicker and finch.

Serviceberry: A native tree for the edible landscape

Posted on March 27, 2024April 5, 2024 by jeanmariemorelli.com

Serviceberry, Amelanchier alnifolia, is a multi-trunk small native tree reaching about 15 feet high and about 10 feet wide. It is an attractive addition to the garden—in spring it is covered with white blossoms and the foliage turns a butter yellow in autumn. Edible fruits are a favorite with many birds, including the cedar waxwing. There is nothing like a small flock of these delicate birds in ones tree to stop the mind!

Serviceberry does best in a sunny spot but will tolerate partial shade. To encourage growth water it regularly until it is established, then only water during the driest months. Since its native range is from Alaska to California, it should be hardy even in the toughest winters.

Botanical name: Amelanchier alnifolia

(ame-e-LANG-kee-er al-ni-FO-le-ah)

Working around the tree in summer I might nibble on the delicious tiny fruits, but mostly I leave them for the birds. Around here that include waxwings, goldfinches, thrushes and towhees, among others. The tree provides nectar for hummingbirds. Washington Native Plant Society offers much more information on using them for restoration.

About 25 years ago, I started a nursery bed for young bare-root trees from the conservation district. I planted them in rows that were easy to water and weed; after a couple of years, I transplanted them around my property. A minimum amount of pruning to shape them has really helped their form. Since they are in the rose family and a relative to our common fruit trees, understanding their growth patterns was straightforward. A row of four trees on the property line is a cheerful herald of spring. These photos were taken in 2015. Since then I forgot to water them during some of our summer ‘heat-domes’ and they have struggled. I plan to water deeply once or twice a month in August and September as needed.

Although I have only grown serviceberry seedlings, there are named varieties that have been bred for fruit and landscape appeal. ‘Regent’ serviceberry is a desirable edible landscape plant that was developed in North Dakota. It grows about 8 feet tall and has delicious berries.

Oregon Grape—Pacific Northwest Native

Posted on April 27, 2013January 1, 2024 by jeanmariemorelli.com

Yellow flowers brighten the hedgerows of Port Townsend. Oregon grape is in bloom! In a couple of months the flowers will mature into berries. Keep an eye out for when they do.

The clusters of ripe berries are tempting. With a name like Oregon grape you would think they would be sweet—but only pop them in your mouth if you want an adventure in flavors. I do so I do. Taste is an interesting subject, if you need everything super sweet you miss out on life’s bitter and pungent flavors. Our culture seems to thrive on sweet, fatty, or salty flavors. Cultivate a healthy palate for the more obscure and you immediately eat healthier foods. I relish bitter and pungent herbs. Tinker Cavallero has made jam with the pectin-rich berries and says it is delicious with a little sweetner.

One of my favorite things about Oregon grape is the bright yellow root hidden beneath the root bark. This berberine-rich root is used medicinally and as a dye plant. When I used to be a landscape gardener I would come across the roots as I was weeding or adding compost to the soil. It spreads by suckers—not as fast as raspberries, but enough to form thickets over time. When I found the roots spreading into other plants, I pulled them out and clipped off a section about four inches long to chew on—like chewing on licorice roots. I enjoy the bitter and earthy flavor.

The roots have medicinal qualities that are best preserved in alcohol-based tinctures. Berberine is an alkaloid similar to the alkaloid hydrastine found in Golden Seal. Both chemicals provide antibiotic and antifungal properties. Oregon grape is also good for the liver, and is anti-inflammatory.

Permaculture gardeners can use this plant for creating wild habitat and hedgerows at the outer edge of their property. It is a great choice for bank stabilization. Purchasing the plant at a nursery can be expensive, especially if you buy varieties like Mahonia ‘compacta’ (The nursery trade has not caught up with the name change, but native plant societies refer to it by its new name Berberis aquifolium,) It grows so easily from seed that you can find the plant from mail order nurseries that specialize in bare root bundles of conservation plants. Order them in late winter.