It's Time to Think About Spring Planting: Making a Plan

The snow is melting, the days are getting longer, and with temperatures reaching almost to the fifties last week... it feels like spring!

                                           

Photo by J. Leach



I've been spending a significant amount of my AmeriCorps term immersed in the wonderful world of native plants, so I am really looking forward to the upcoming season of green and growing things!

As the last day for Cascadia's 2012 Native Plant Sale just around the corner (all plant sale orders are due February 15th), it's time to start planning for spring planting!  For months, I've been ogling over the beautiful natives offered in this year's plant sale, and imagining areas to incorporate them around my house.  Now it's time to get serious! 

For this week's blog, I've also asked my Cascadia co-workers about their native planting plans: 

Kate Koenig, Resource Specialist, has a lot of different areas around her Wenatchee home that she would like to plant (marked in bold), and therefore a variety of site conditions and challenges.



                                                                                                               

Kate has made a list of her goals and the conditions/challenges of her yard:



Goals

·         Attract pollinators near my veggie garden and fruit patch

·         Create a ‘green’ wall/hedge between neighbors to the west in back yard for visual barrier

[Plants that are:]

·         Low maintenance

·         Low water use

·         Beautiful!

Site conditions/challenges

·         Irrigation infrastructure exists (or can easily exist) in all planting areas

·         On city water for irrigation so would like to keep the usage as low as possible

·         Some VERY sunny areas

·         Some VERY shady areas

·         Some existing plants (not necessarily ones I would choose) – not sure if I should keep them or remove them to start from scratch

So far, Kate has chosen golden currant, mock orange, and evergreen huckleberry for her project, all good pollinator-attracting species.  She will also be including colorful native forbs in her yard, in order to create a continuous bloom, one of the key factors for good pollinator habitat.

Nada Wentz, our Office Assistant, shared the following about her yard: 

My yard, my yard, where to start?  My parents had a very traditional park-like yard with thick green lawn; roses, iris, snapdragons, peonies, cana lilies, tiger lilies, gladiolas, and coral bells gracing the flowerbeds; concord grapes, varying fruit trees, a huge shady English walnut tree, and berry plants mixed in the flowerbeds in the back yard.  It was beautiful!   

My parents loved to work in the yard!  Because of their poor health in later years the yard became overgrown and run down. Some of the fruit trees have died, the flower beds are overgrown with tall orchard grass, and our furry friends have a habit of digging holes in the back yard.  Weeds have taken over much of the grass.  I would dearly love to make it beautiful again.  Low maintenance native plants sound ideal!  Low moisture grass and plants are a must.  Blooming plants and edible vegetation would be a wonderful bonus.

I’m sure that many people can relate to Nada’s situation.  With challenges like unhealthy existing plants, encroaching grass and weeds, and a shortage of time, developing a planting project can be overwhelming!  Perhaps by breaking it down into simpler steps, and only targeting one smaller area at a time, Nada can begin to transform her yard back to its former glory.  Work parties with friends and family are a great way to get started too!

A few years ago, Amanda Levesque, Cascadia's Education and Outreach Specialist, became the proud owner of a 10-acre farm outside Leavenworth.  Her property spans both sides of Chumstick Creek, and she plans to restore the riparian zones along her portion of stream this year (Landowner Assistance Program??) in order to keep weeds under control. 

 Her main site condition and challenge:

"Weeds! All varieties and lots of them!"

Another challenge Amanda will need to address is the need to irrigate the newly-installed plants for the first growing seasons, until they are established. 

Amanda's choices of red-osier dogwood, serviceberry, black hawthorn, blue elderberry, and Woods rose for her planting project will mimic plant communities commonly found along streams in our region, will contribute to improved water quality and fish habitat in Chumstick Creek, and will create excellent habitat for birds and other wildlife.

Susan Dretke, also a Resource Specialist, mapped out her planting projects for the yard around her Cashmere home:

Susan’s overall goal is to install a decorative privacy “screen” of vegetation along a chain-link fence west of the house, as well as landscape next to a new patio area.  Her main site challenges:

·         Shady but dry area

·         West side of house gets hot afternoon sun, but is out of sight.

·         Watering

·         Limited space and exposure to highly trafficked alley behind house

On her map, she’s indicated many existing plants (native and ornamental) that she would like to keep, and also thought about the ways she uses her yard- “growing veggies/herbs, relaxing, dining, etc.”- and the spaces those activities require.  Susan would like to include shade-tolerant, xeriscape (i.e. drought-tolerant) plants, flowering shrubs (she already has an existing hedge of mock orange and a wild rose species), and ground cover that can withstand dog traffic- kinnikinnik perhaps?

I (Julia Leach, AmeriCorps Intern) am currently renting a house outside of Leavenworth, that- with a little cleaning up and pruning- has a lovely existing native “yardscape”.

The main challenge created by my yard is somewhat different: rattlesnakes.  The site immediately around our house is mostly sunny and dry, with areas of dense shrubs and large boulders- perfect snake habitat.  With our young, curious pup exploring his domain this summer, my main goal is to try to discourage the snakes from taking up residence near the house again this spring.

I plan on thinning out some of the existing native shrubs (especially the snowberry near the back door) and bringing in plants with a non-thicket- forming habit.  By keeping the lower canopy a little more open, I hope the snakes will go elsewhere to get out of the afternoon sun; if nothing else, we will at least be able to see them before we get too close!

Additionally, I plan on incorporating flowering shrubs, like golden currant and serviceberry, and forbs into currently grassy areas to attract more pollinators and other wildlife, and because our native flowers are fantastic!

 A little later this spring, I'll be checking back with these Cascadia contributors to see how their planting plans have changed, progressed, and/or turned out.  Stay tuned!

Visit our website for more information about Cascadia’s 2012 Native Plant Sale, and to download a plant brochure and order form.  Remember, the last day for orders is Wednesday, February 15^th!

Do you have big (or not so big) plans for a native planting project this year?  Have you taken on a project in the past?  Was it a great success or total disaster?   Share your story by clicking the comments link at the bottom of this post

Thank you for reading!

Julia