WHAT I WISH I KNEW BEFORE STARTING MY NATIVE PLANT GARDEN
When I started my native plant journey, I didn’t know anything! Here are some key tips that I wish I knew before starting to garden with native plants in my front yard landscape.
Avoid neonicotinoids. Even if you do not use pesticides or herbicides, you might unknowingly be introducing these toxic neonicotinoids to your garden. Neonicotinoids are a newer class of chemicals that are highly toxic to bees. (1) Some nursery plants have been sprayed with neonicotinoids and even some seeds are treated with neonicotinoids. Some names of neonicotinoids include imidacloprid, acetamiprid, dinotefuran, clothianidin, and thiamethoxam. (2) Native plant growers are typically less likely to use pesticides, but if you are purchasing ornamentals from a non-native nursery, it’s especially important to ask staff if the plant might have been treated with this category of chemicals.
Buy multiples of the same plant. Rather than buying one of every plant, buy at least three of each plant type. Having fewer plant types can also help your garden look more cohesive.
I did not follow this rule very well when I started! If you do buy singles of multiple plants, the one benefit is that you can see how well they grow before you commit to buying more.
Some pollinators seem to prefer large clumps of flowers; consider planting multiple plants of the same species together. (3)
This large grouping of Douglas Meadowfoam will be helpful to pollinators who don’t want to look far for their next flower.
Try to buy pure native species, not cultivars or named varieties. Cultivars are bred for desirable traits such as a flower color or disease resistance. (Cultivars of native plants are often referred to as ‘Nativars’). Nativars might not be as attractive to pollinators or can have other negative habitat impacts. (4)
Learn which plants are historically native to the location you will be planting, and focus on those. For example, not all Oregon native plants were historically native (before colonization) to my Portland location. The city of Portland publishes a Portland Plant List that lists the plants that are locally native to Portland and the Portland metro region. The list isn’t perfect; depending on your exact location, more plants could be locally native to specific regions.
Both Tall Oregon Grape and Creeping Oregon Grape are on the Portland Plant List, but Cascade Oregon Grape is not. Tall Oregon Grape is Pictured (Berberis aquifolium)
Think twice before amending your soil. Well-draining soil isn’t always best or necessary! In my region of the Pacific Northwest, the common soil type has a high clay percentage, which holds water well. At first, I thought I needed to improve my soil before planting. Silly me! It turns out that most native plants from this region are especially suited to the common soil type of this region, because it holds water well during our long summer dry season.
Focus on providing different plant sizes to create a mini-ecosystem. Different pollinators and birds require different types of plants to support their habitat needs.
For example the Backyard Habitat Certification program recommends having the five vegetation layers: ground layer (small plants), small/medium shrub layer (<5 ft), large shrub layer (5-20ft), understory tree canopy (<30 ft), and overstory tree canopy (>30 ft).
This PNW forest is an example of multiple plant layers, including Doug Fir, Sword Fern, Oregon Oxalis, and Vine Maple.
If you aren’t able to spend a lot of money on plants or garden supplies:
See if you can get free local seeds or native plants from local native plant community groups (the Portland region has several large Facebook groups).
Growing plants from seeds can be a lot cheaper than buying small plants. Follow sowing directions for the best chances of success.
Once you’ve grown plants for one season, learn to collect the seeds to plant or share for next season.
If you need free or low cost wood mulch, Chip Drop is a way to get discarded mulch from tree removal waste.
What do you wish you knew before starting your native garden? Let me know in the comments!
