Our Organic Northwest

Xeriscaping in the Northwest

  

(photo of shrub step ecosystem courtesy Northwest Habitat Institute).

Listen to this feature here.

Host introduction:  Spring is here and the garden is calling. Often times, we answer the call with fertilizers and lots of water. But many people are looking for green alternatives to landscaping. Sueann Ramella reports on a green alternative many gardeners are excited about;  Xeriscaping.

Sueann Ramella:  What do you need to grow a beautiful garden? A green thumb helps but you need soil, [ Sound: digging in soil] or substrate, some plants or seed – hopefully a plan and water [Sound: water from faucet] Lots of water…[Sound: water gets louder] depending on the type of plants you choose and the climate you live in. By the way, you are most likely using… [Sound: gulping water] drinking water to irrigate your gardens and lawns.

In Spokane, the average family triples their water usage in the hot summer months. Most of that water is used outdoors. Bill Rickard  is the Water Quality Coordinator for the City of Spokane.

Bill Rickard:  We have a lot of water, but not necessarily so much that we can waste it. Water use in this area tends to be more acute in the summer. Any urban area, and Spokane is no exception, uses several times more water during the summer; half of all the water that you use all year. So we want to work together to responsibly use our water resources.

Ramella: So what can be done to grow a beautiful garden, and reduce the amount of water used to sustain it?

Kathy Hutton:  Xeriscaping is great because everybody’s is going to be in a water crunch right now.

Ramella:  Kathy Hutton is with Plants of the Wild in Tekoa, Washington.

Ramella: Xeriscaping is the use drought tolerant, often native plants to landscape. If you are imaging bunch grasses, tumbleweeds and lava rock it does not sound attractive and maybe boring...

Chuck Cody:  Well, first of all plants are not boring. There are many, many plants that are native throughout the Western United States that are very exciting!

Ramella: Chuck Cody is the Plant Growth Facilities Manager for the School of Biological Sciences at Washington State University …

Cody:  They’re colorful. They have their own characters if you will. There’s a lot of Penstemons, (common name is beardtongue ..it has bell shaped flowers in many colors )  there’s a lot of  agastache  (stiff and angular flowering stems in pink, mauve or purples..)

Kathy Hutton:  We have a lot of shrubs that are very pretty;  Service berry (Petite white flowering bush),  Chokecherry (a tasty jam!) , low ground covering plants that are very popular for landscaping.  Kinnickinnick [or bearberry] is one of the real popular ones (shrubby with red berries) and wild strawberries …There are some very pretty bushes Low ground covering plans.. Kinnikinnick (shrubby with red berries) and wild strawberries …”

Chuck Cody:  Xeriscaping can be many things though. I mean, it can be a rock garden where you put a lot of succulents or potentially even cacti. There are some cacti that will work in our area.

Sueann Ramella: Many organizations and cities are encouraging people to xeriscape. Plants of the Wild, along with The Washington Department of Ecology, WSU Extension and the cities of Spokane, Post Falls and Coeur D Alene distributed information on wild flower mixes and low maintenance grass seed to residents.

Kathy Hutton:  Spokane and Coeur D Alene realize they are going to have a problem with conserving and rationing water. So they are trying to educate the public on options other than putting in a typical lawn. There are options out there and just giving them some information on some different alternatives.

Ramella: Learning about the types of plants and how to design a xeriscape garden is easy. It just takes a little time and a willingness to change old gardening habits. Kathy Hutton says there’s a growing number of people looking into xeriscaping.

Kathy Hutton:  I think people are beginning to change. We are having a lot more people calling that are interested in xeriscaping and native landscaping and even our turf mixes, which we call our low maintenance mix, where they don’t’ want to put in much water, fertilizer or even as much time. They want it to be low maintenance for them.

Sueann Ramella: For more information on xeriscaping, including photos of drought tolerant plants come to Our Northwest at nwpr.org.

Links:

Washington State University
Hardy Plants for Waterwise Landscapes

Washington Native Plant Society
Washington Native Plant Society (Photogallery)

University of Oregon
Xeriscape is a Water Wise Solution (A Water Wise Solution)

Idaho Native Plant Society

Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife's Wildlife Areas page.

Gallery:

Pentsemons (beardtounge)

Agastache urticifolio (nettleleaf giant hyssop)

Service berry

Chokecherry

  

Kinnikinnick or Bearberry

Plant Images - http://plants.usda.gov/gallery.html

Oregon Lawmakers Approve Field Burning Rampdown

(Flickr photograph by chrisjohnbeckett)

SALEM, OR - Oregon lawmakers narrowly gave final approval on Monday to a bill that would end most field burning in the state over the next two years. The smoke from the burns is blamed for health problems in nearby communities. Some grass seed farmers say they need to burn their fields after harvest to combat pests and weeds. But Charlie Tebbutt with the Western Environmental Law Center dismisses the farmers’ argument. (Full Story)

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(Flickr photograph of the Oregon coast by ru 24 real)

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A Wet June Helps Idaho Fish Down the River

(Snake River Flickr photograph by oregon ducatisti)

COEUR D'ALENE, ID - Most of the Northwest has had normal or drier than usual weather this spring. But some of the traditionally driest areas have experienced one of their wettest Junes in years. Some areas of southern Idaho and eastern Oregon have had three or four times the normal rainfall. That’s good news for salmon. Inland Northwest Correspondent Doug Nadvornick reports.

EPA gives states OK for tougher tailpipe exhaust rules

(Flickr photograph by aliciagriffin)

OLYMPIA, WA - West Coast states can forge ahead with tougher tailpipe emissions rules. The federal government has granted trendsetter California a long-awaited OK. But the Obama Administration’s plans to increase gas mileage standards on a national basis mean West Coast states will not go it alone. Correspondent Tom Banse reports.

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(Flickr photograph by jen maiser)

Cherry farmers across the Northwest are probably going to churn out a record crop this summer. That’s as long as it doesn’t rain as Richland Correspondent Anna King explains.

In the next month Northwest cherry farmers could make millions, or lose their entire crop. It all depends on Mother Nature. If it gets too hot, cherries ripen cherries faster than workers can pick. Even a small amount of rain can get absorbed into the cherry’s tender flesh and split the fruit. (Full Story)

Crabbers and Scientists Collaborate on Ocean Research

(Flickr photograph by bertabetti)

Oregon crabbers are helping researchers collect data on the ocean's temperature and oxygen levels. The unusual collaboration could help solve some of the mysteries off the Oregon coast. Rachael McDonald reports.

Xeriscape Galleries & Indexes

King County's Native Plant Guide

This site has lots of landscaping information including plans, how-tos and suggestions especially helpful for western Washington, Oregon and parts of B.C.

(pictured: swamp rose or clustered wild rose)

Lady Bird Johnson's Wildflower Center at the University of Austin is a site dedicated to cataloguing and describing thousands of wild plants.

Especially helpful is the  Recommended Species section of the Native Plant Information Network, and the comprehensive Image Gallery, with 23,774 plant images. (pictured: a small camas)

Washington Native Plant Society's Native Plant Gallery Index sorts native plants by category or by botanical name.

An example of their many photos is this mountain lady slipper, which blossoms in the deciduous or mixed forests of the Western Cascades to Montana, Alaska and California in June.

The Seven Principles of Xeriscaping

These principles are not just for xeriscaping, but for any landscape project:

1. Planning and design
2. Soil preparation
3. Use of water-conserving mulch
4. Efficient irrigation
5. Appropriate turf
6. Water-efficient plant materials
7. Appropriate maintenance

 

Pictured:  beautiful, blue camas that blooms in the mountains of British Columbia and Alberta to California and Wyoming in early to late spring.

Planning and design:

Xeriscapes can and should be colorful, interesting and varied. Think about how you want to use your site including where and how you recreate and relax.  Get the help of local landscapers, or contact your county extension office for more information.  Most landscapes evolve over time. Think about slowly switching to a less water-dependent site over the course of several seasons and it won't be as daunting.

Soil prep:

If you have never analyzed the soil in your garden, consider doing it this season. You can get great info at your gardening center (they sell simple, cheap kits) or extension office.  Your soil type will and should determine plant selection, but don't think amendments shouldn't be part of a sustainable garden.

Mulch:

Mulch will help young plants stay moist while they gain root structure and establish themselves. 4 to 6 inches of recommended mulch is the norm for gardens.

Efficient irrigation:

Ideally, once your water-wise landscape is established it will need little to no watering.  But as you introduce new plants and shrubs, consider a drip irrigation system. The idea is to water only those areas that need the water, and then keep those areas covered so that water will not easily evaporate.

Appropriate turf:

Researchers know that Americans have a love-affair with their lawns. That's why low water varieties of turf  have been developed. You may not be able to get away from watering, but you can keep those water bills low. And if you are in a particularly arid region, consider simply letting your yard dry out this year. It won't be as pretty as your lush lawn of yore, but it will mean money in the bank!  Here are some links to help you choose an appropriate grass or grass seed: Little Green Apple, High Country Gardens , WSU Horticulture.

Consider a groundcover instead of grass.  There are many beautiful, low-maintenance ground covers that could create a mow-free blanket of beauty.  Here are two great sites for the Northwest landscaper: OSU's Extension site, WSU's Horticulture site.

Plant selection:

There are great sites for Northwest native plant selection. Here are a few:

• WSU's Hardy Plants for Waterwise Landscapes (also above)

• Washington Native Plant Society's plant resource page

• Native Plant Society of Oregon

• Idaho Native Plant Society

• Native Plant Society of  British Columbia

Appropriate Maintenance:

Whether you want to stick with a plan, or let the dominant plants of your landscape dominate, it's completely up to you!  However, consider the fact that you are creating your own ecosystem. Let it evolve without the undue stress of chemicals whenever and wherever possible.  Every good gardener knows that not every effort will succeed, and that gardening is a process rather than a destination.

Experiment and have fun with your xeriscape.

Xeriscape Essentials

A top pick for xeriscape sights is the Washington Native Plant Society. It includes all kinds of resources from how to plan your xeriscape to native plant and seed sources.

Here are some WNPS resources to check out:

Their landscaping resources include everything from landscaping for wildlife, to lists of plant species to native plant and seed sources.

They have extensive ecosystem information, from the wet San Juan and Olympic Rain Shadow ecosystem to the arid Shrubsteppe ecosystem that prevails east of the cascades.  According to the site: "shrub-steppe communities are amazingly complex...less than 40% of the original area covered by shrub steppe remains unconverted in Washington."

Our Northwest folks especially love the Native Plant Gallery Index.  It contains over 150 detailed discriptions of native trees, grasses and shrubs.

Pictured from the index is a sand-dwelling wallflower that grows in open ridges, talus slopes and rock crevasses of Washington, Oregon and Idaho.

A Guide to Toxins and Fish Consumption

Here's a handy guide from Washington's Department of Health.