This beautiful Pacific Bleeding Heart is prolifically growing under the stairs and surrounding areas!
For links to my full restoration process, visit Restoring a Native Woodland Garden.
Finally, after all the planning and prep work, it’s time to plant! We were blessed to find a number of wonderful native plants already existing in the restored area, most of which were previously hidden by the massive blackberry brambles. Our treasures included beaked hazelnut, salmonberry, osoberry, stinging nettle, bitter cherry and pacific bleeding heart, just to name a handful.
In selecting new plants, I specifically focused on ones that greatly benefit wildlife and will help with erosion. Because we have an incredible view, and we already have a number of very tall trees, I planted trees that max out around 30 feet, allowing us to maintain our view of the water and mountains. I’ll be planting this area out over several years. For this first year, I prioritized getting trees and shrubs into the ground, though I did plant a number of smaller perennials as well. I aimed for diversity and will continue to add new plants as time goes on.
We filled this truck to the max with so many plants!
Over the course of several months, I planted hundreds of plants! Some I had purchased a couple of years prior from the Snohomish Conservation District’s native plant sale. A friend and I drove two hours for this sale because of the incredible selection and great prices. And really, a road trip that involves plants and friendship; what could be better?
Friends were wonderful to share native plants with me that they could no longer use on their own properties, like these ferns that were overcrowding my neighbor’s fruit trees. I also purchased quite a number of plants from my favorite local native nursery Salish Trees Nursery and from the Bainbridge Island Land Trust fall plant sale.
For each plant, I cleared out a section of cover crop, loosened the plant’s roots to separate them from the potting soil, and then I planted them into native soil, being careful to plant at the proper depth. Finally, I put down a layer of wood chips around (but not touching) the plant to keep the cover crop from competing with the new planting. All in all, literally hundreds of plants were nestled into their new homes, and I’ll continue to add more over time.
I have one very steep hill in this section, and digging up blackberry roots wasn’t a viable solution as doing so would destroy the hillside. I planted a cover crop on it, and though I did plant a handful of plants that I already had on hand, most of this hill has not been planted with long-term plants yet. I need a year or two to chop the blackberries back as soon as they appear, and it’s easier to do this if I don’t have to work around a lot of plants I’m trying to keep.
Plant List
This full list (to date) includes the native plants that were already growing in this section of my property along with ones I’ve planted. I’ve included links to help you learn about each plant. Most of the links go to Native Plants PNW, “An Encyclopedia of the Cultural and Natural History of Northwest Native Plants,” while other links use these resources: Washington State Native Plant Society, Real Gardens Grow Natives, Burke Herbarium Image Collection and the King County Native Plant Guide.
Trees
- Big Leaf Maple, Acer macrophyllum
- Bitter Cherry, Prunus emarginata
- Cascara, Frangula purshiana
- Douglas Fir, Pseudotsuga menziesii
- Pacific Crabapple, Malus fusca
- Pacific Madrone, Arbutus menziesii
- Pacific Wax Myrtle, Morella californica
- Red Alder, Alnus rubra
- Shore Pine, Pinus contorta
- Vine Maple, Acer circinatum
- Western Red Cedar, Thuja plicata
- Willows, Salix Sp. – Scouler’s (scouleriana) and Sitka (sitchensis)
This Beaked Hazelnut flower will soon produce a nut that the squirrels will love!
Shrubs & Vines
- Baldhip Rose, Rosa gymnocarpa
- Beaked Hazelnut, Corylus cornuta
- Black Cap Raspberry, Rubus leucodermis
- Black Gooseberry, Ribes divaricatum
- Black Twinberry, Lonicera involucrata
- Blue Elderberry, Sambucus nigra ssp. cerulea
- Douglas Spiraea, Spiraea douglasii
- Evergreen Huckleberry, Vaccinium ovatum
- Goatsbeard, Aruncus dioicus
- Golden Currant, Ribes aureum
- Hairy Honeysuckle, Lonicera hispidula
- Highbush Cranberry, Viburnum edule
- Low Oregon Grape, Mahonia nervosa
- Manzanita Hybrid, Arctostaphylos X. media
- Mock Orange, Philadelphus lewisii
- Mountain Huckleberry, Vaccinium membranaceum
- Nootka Rose, Rosa nutkana
- Oceanspray, Holodiscus discolor
- Osoberry, Oemleria cerasiformis (formerly Indian Plum)
- Pacific Ninebark, Physocarpus capitatus
- Pacific Trailing Blackberry, Rubus Ursinus
- Red Elderberry, Sambucus racemosa
- Red Flowering Currant, Ribes sanguineum
- Salal, Gaultheria shallon
- Salmonberry, Rubus spectabilis
- Saskatoon Serviceberry, Amelanchier alnifolia
- Snowberry, Symphoricarpos albus
- Tall Oregon Grape, Mahonia aquifolium
- Thimbleberry, Rubus parviflorus
Yesterday I was blessed to watch a bee enjoying the flowers on this Black Twinberry!
Perennials & Ferns
- Big Leaf Lupine, Lupinus polyphyllus
- Blanket Flower, Gaillardia aristata
- Bracken Fern, Pteridium aquilinum
- Canada Goldenrod, Solidago lepida
- Coastal Mugwort, Artemisia suksdorfii
- Common Camas, Camassia quamash
- Fringecup, Tellima grandiflora
- Lady Fern, Athyrium filix-femina
- Large-leaved Avens, Geum macrophyllum
- Pearly Everlasting, Anaphalis margaritacea
- Stinging Nettle, Urtica dioica
- Western Maidenhair Fern, Adiantum aleuticum
- Western Sword Fern, Polystichum munitum
- Woodland Strawberry, Fragaria vesca
- Yarrow, Achillea millefolium
I love the lush, fern-like green of the yarrow leaves nestled with the white yarrow flowers and yellow/peach collomia flowers. Some of my favorite plants!
Annuals
- Farewell-to-Spring, Clarkia amoena
- Globe Gilia, Gilia capitata
- Large-flowered Collomia, Collomia grandiflora
- Seablush, Plectritis congesta
Future Additions: I have a number of native flower seeds that I’m working to germinate right now and will be planting out soon. Others will need to wait until fall, as they require cold stratification. In general, I’ll be working to add more flowers and ground cover plants over the next several years, as well as filling in any gaps where there is room for another tree or shrub. I’m specifically planning to plant a Pacific Dogwood (Cornus nuttallii) and Red-twig Dogwood (Cornus sericea) this upcoming fall. Other possible plants include: Sticky Gooseberry (Ribes lobbii), Chokecherry (Prunus virginiana), and Pacific Rhododendron (Rhododendron macrophyllum). As the trees and shrubs mature, I’ll be able to plant more shade lovers. I’ll update this list as new plants are added.
