The undesirable parts of a gardenscape can be transformed into budding habitat by utilizing native plants.
Mary Kinney, communications and outreach manager for the Clark Conservation District, highlighted the beauty that can be created among shady areas and marsh, the water-collecting areas of gardens.
“One of the things that is really lovely about shady gardens, especially this time of year, there are deciduous trees that don’t have their leaves out yet. Things aren’t quite in full bloom and in full leaves, so this is really the time that the shady gardens shine,” Kinney said. “And so we get all these beautiful little flowers, and that’s why trillium is one of those early spring flowers. because they’re getting a little bit of extra light before things leaf out above it.”
While bulb plants and deciduous trees are in the very beginnings of growing leaves in early spring, a wide variety of plants that require minimal sunlight either keep their leaves year-round or are blooming well before full-sunlight plants. Oregon grape species bloom in early spring and also are evergreen with year-round foliage. Western sword fern blades that are dying out through the winter give way to fresh growth in early spring, along with many other plant species indigenous to the Pacific Northwest.
Kinney pointed out the fringecup, osoberry and piggyback plants as other options to consider for shaded gardens.
“They’re all native, so they’re all used to the wet winters and the dry summers and they’ll be really happy under your Douglas fir or ponderosa pine or any kind, Western red cedars,” Kinney said, adding that those are her top picks for shade gardens.
When making use of rainwater, creating a rain garden where water already collects or from scratch can provide soil moisture for an extended period of time.
“If you don’t want to go through the trouble of digging out a rain garden, you can do other things that can maintain your soil moisture,” Kinney said. “Leaving the leaves is a great option. That can kind of keep that moisture in the soil so that every plant can be happy there.”
In moist soil conditions, black twinberry, Douglas spiraea, dogwood species and many others can provide layers and color.
“This is a really great time of year to test your soil for rain gardens,” Kinney said. “Essentially, the concept of a rain garden is you’re moving your downspout and your gutters and all the stuff to redirect into a rain garden where you manage pretty much all of your stormwater or some of your stormwater on site so you can keep your soil moist for longer. Typically, we’ll put a lot of native plants in those rain gardens and ones that like wet feet during the winter, but can handle the drought in the summer.”
She added that testing the drainage of soil is critical before planting. A rain garden should stay full of water for roughly an hour or two, she said, adding from her own experience of having three small rain gardens from downspouts. A rain garden can also be in shade or full sun, Kinney said.
“It should be drained out within a day so there’s really not enough time for mosquito larvae or that kind of thing,” Kinney said. “In the rain garden, plants are really happy that can handle wet feet. They kind of keep the moisture for a little bit longer because of the way that the soil is absorbing.”
For more information and resources, including workshops, from the Clark Conservation District, visit clarkcd.org.
