NATIVE PLANTS OF OREGON

The hardest part of growing native plants is digging the hole to put them in. Well, maybe it's researching them to learn what ecology or location they need to have to survive. I plan to help you with both-except the actual digging.

Preparing the soil for your natives is simpler than you think. If you have selected the right native for your area the soil is already the type of soil that your plant needs. Most of the soil that is in the Willamette valley is clay and clay loam which can be very hard when dry, sticky when wet. Normally when you plant a garden it is encouraged that you amend your soil with additions of organic matter. It won't harm your native if you amend your soil but it usually is not necessary.

Usually all I do is dig a hole approximately twice as large as the root ball of the plant. When you take the plant out of its pot make certain it is not root bound (which means that if the roots completely fill the pot and you see very little soil and the roots may actually be growing in a circle around the outside of the root ball). If it is root bound you need to carefully unwind the roots and spread them out a little. Make certain that when you fill the hole around the roots that the soil is very fine, not clumpy, then fill the hole and tamp carefully to avoid air pockets but not bruise the roots.

The depth of the plant should be no deeper than the level of soil that is presently covering the plant. Fill in around the plant until the level of the soil in the bed is the same level as the soil of the plant, then water thoroughly. Continue to water regularily until the plant becomes well-established -- normally for the first growing season. Many native woody plants should not be watered during the summer once they are established. Most are drought-tolerant, and some may be damaged by summer moisture. It is expecially important to keep water away from the crowns and large roots of madrone and Pacific dogwood because these trees often succumb to root rots if watered during the summer. Avoid planting moisture-demanding plants beneath them.

Caring for natives is also relatively simple. I usually put a layer of compost over my plants once the whole bed is planted. This works the same way as it does in the wild. It adds humus to the soil, it provides the plants with a moisture-holding layer of organic matter that is beneficial to the plant. I do not fertilize because the compost seems to be enough. You don't need to prune or dead-head much because they are cultivated to take care of themselves. About all I do is prune out the broken branches, dead-head the flowers if I want them to bloom longer, or if I don't want them to reseed.

Weeding doesn't take long because if you have a bed of natives they usually can compete very well with 'weeds'. About the only thing I need to weed out because they can be overwhelming are bracken ferns, Himalayan blackberries, horsetail and dandelions. So my process is--in the early Spring I go through the yard and clear the fallen leaves from the sprouting plants, pick up the fallen branches and prune off any damaged branches from the woody plants. About a month later I weed out the horsetail, etc. and throw a thick layer of compost over everything. During the summer I do deep-water occasionally if I find my plants are wilted and continue pulling out the bracken ferns and blackberries throughout the Summer and Fall. In the Fall after the leaves have all fallen I go out and clear off the paths and rake the leaves off the grass and pretty much call it a year for yardwork!

ECOLOGY-the branch of biology that deals with the relations between living organisms and their environment. It includes the requirements that plants need to thrive. These requirements are generally listed on the labels of the plants you buy-- like 'needs sun, dry conditions'. My plant list will briefly list the ecology needs of the plant. So I will describe these conditions in more detail here:

sun - requires a minimum of 6 hours sun each day.

part shade - requires some shade each day, usually during the hottest part of the day.

dappled shade - sunlight flickers through leaves but mostly shady.

shade - generally no sun rays or as an understory of large trees.

dry - not near streambeds or where the soil remains wet during summer.

moist - stream banks, moist clearings

wet - coastal marshes, margins of lakes and streams.

good drainage - when water drains easily away from roots.

sandy soil - sand dunes, sea bluffs.

tundra - high elevations

The list goes on but I think you get the idea.

There is also a difference in plant development:
woody - trees and shrubs that the whole part doesn't die back in the fall.
herbaceous - will freeze down to the ground but will come back in the Spring.
evergreen - stays green year around.
deciduous - loses it leaves in fall.
seeding - an annual plant that sprouts, grows, blooms and makes seeds, all in one growing season. Wildflowers usually come to mind.

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