Category: Native Plants
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Improving the Balance in the Soil Seed Bank
“Even the weeds look lovely in May.” From Arthur Lee Jacobson in his book Wild Plants of Greater Seattle. April comes and goes. The rainy season begins to wind down, but the soil remains moist. Days grow longer and highs begin to flirt with 60 degrees. Nighttime lows no longer drop into the 30’s. All…
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Seven Spring Forbs
With the return of spring to our backyard forests, we welcome the native forbs as they awaken from their winter slumbers. In this blog I write about seven species that help fill gaps in the understory.
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Trailing Blackberry X Himalayan Blackberry Hybrids
Does the native Trailing Blackberry hybridize with the invasive Himalayan Blackberry, and if so, what does this mean for backyard forest restoration?
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Two Easy Wet-Season Transplants
Large-Leaved Avens and Fragrant Fringecup are evergreen, perennial forbs native to the Puget Lowlands. I’ve had good success “rescuing” and transplanting both during the wet season without irrigation.
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Fire Ladders and Douglas Firs
Though wildfires are rare in Puget Lowland forests, when they do occur mature Douglas Fir trees can be killed if fire reaches their crowns. One way this can happen is through “fire ladders,” which can be prevented by pruning the lower branches of Western Redcedars and Western Hemlocks.
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Rescuing Sword Fern and Bigleaf Maple
The wet season has returned – time for fall planting. I have been rescuing Sword Ferns and Bigleaf Maples and moving them to spots where they have a better chance to grow to maturity.
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Mycorrhizal Associations Between Douglas Fir and Other Tree Species
Does Douglas Fir form mycorrhizal associations with Red Alder, Western Hemlock, or Western Redcedar?
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Pulling Stinging Nettle in Patches of Hedge Bindweed
As I fight my way through tall vegetation removing masses of Hedge Bindweed, I also pull out any Stinging Nettle I come across even though it may be native to the Pacific Northwest.
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Gardening with Native Plants
In addition to the removal of invasive plants, forest restoration involves efforts to regenerate native plants.
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Choosing the Right Trees to Plant in Our Urban Forests
We have opportunities to plant many trees in our urban forests, but what species should we choose?
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To Plant or Not to Plant: Three Phases in the Growth of Forests
In my last blog, I left off questioning if it makes sense to plant new trees under the canopy of forests, since the existing trees accumulate mass at an ever-increasing rate. I think part of the answer lies in the stages of forest growth in terms of three broad phases of overall biomass accumulation.
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Big Trees Grow Faster Than Small Trees
The largest Douglas Fir in Forest Park has a circumference of over 20’ and is estimated to be 176’ tall. It surprised me to learn that it is probably growing faster than any other Douglas Fir in the park.
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The Sobering Cost of High-Density Planting
Using the spacing guidelines from the Green Seattle Partnership and current retail prices from a local native plant nursery I estimate that installing a dense planting of natives on a site measuring only 10’ by 10’ (100 square feet) would cost about $470.
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What’s Up?
One of the joys of backyard forest restoration is watching the native flowers come up in the Spring.
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Multiplication by Division in our Backyard Forests
March is here, the best time to start multiplying and dividing in earnest – multiplying some of the native plants we already have growing in our backyard forests, using a plant propagation method known as division.
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Dividing Sword Ferns (Between Green Blobs)
Honestly, I hadn’t divided Sword Ferns in years, and had only the vaguest recollection of cutting through root masses with a strong, sharp knife. But to my surprise, each of the ferns that I worked with on this day was already “divided.”
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Evergreens in the Land of Rain
The Douglas Firs, Western Redcedars, and Western Hemlocks are the royalty of the Pacific Northwest forests, and this is their season.
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Himalayan Blackberry Versus Salmonberry
The last few days I’ve been removing Himalayan Blackberry from a patch of Salmonberry shrubs. The poor Salmonberry is taking a real beating. Why?
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Himalayan Blackberry and Its Native Look-Alikes
Himalayan Blackberry, when small, is easily confused with the native Trailing Blackberry. To tell them apart, I focus on the leaves.
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The Future of Plant Identification
If artificial intelligence can master the game of Go, I guess it can learn to identify plants.