Slope erosion is a serious problem in the Puget Sound.

In the Miller Library collection we have a booklet called Vegetation management: a guide for Puget Sound bluff property owners, prepared by Elliott Menashe and sponsored by the Washington State Dept. of Ecology. This booklet has been made available online. The booklet has the best information on this subject for homeowners.

Try the Washington Native Plant Society for lists of native plants. (Look in the left-hand menu.)

And King County (Washington) Natural Resources and Parks has a list of nurseries in Washington that sell native plants.

The Miller Library also has information about plant sources.

Season All Season
Date 2007-12-06
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Following is a list of possibilities, most of which come from Water Conserving Plants for the Pacific Northwest West of the Cascades (by the N.W. Perennial Alliance, 1993). The list includes only trees that 1) thrive in soils which are waterlogged in the winter, and, 2) grow to less than 40 feet tall.

ACER (maple):
A. buergeranum (trident maple)
A. campestre (field maple)
A. ginnala (Amur maple)
A. circinatum (vine maple)

CORNUS nuttallii (western dogwood):

CRATAEGUS (hawthorn):
C. douglasii (black hawthorn)
C. monogyna
C. phaenopyrum (Washington thorn)
C. x lavallei (Carriere hawthorn)

HOVENIA dulcis (Japanese raisin tree)

MALUS fusica (Pacific crab apple)

NYSSA sylvatica (black gum)

OXYDENDRUM arboreum (sourwood)

PRUNUS (prune/plum/cherry):
P. virginiana var. melanocarpa (chokecherry)
P. emarginata (bitter cherry)

PYRUS (pear):
P. communis (common pear)
P. pyrifolia (Chinese pear, sand pear)

QUERCUS (oak):
Q. acutissima (sawtooth oak)
Q. imbricaria (shingle oak)

RHAMNUS purshiana (cascara)

Season Winter
Date 2006-05-23
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Native grasses that will do well in a dry meadow setting and grow 2-3 feet tall are:

Festuca idahoensis, Idaho fescue
Bromus carinatus and Bromus marginatus, brome grasses
Elymus glaucus, wild rye grass
Melica species, onion grasses
Calamagrostis nutkaensis, Pacific reedgrass

Each of these grasses grow in very distinct shapes--I recommend that you look at them before choosing which species to plant. Fescues are popular grasses for gardens because of their fine blades and pretty seed heads. Additionally, the Elymus and Bromus will grow much more quickly than the other species.

You can perform searches on each of these species at http://plants.usda.gov/index.html. by typing the plant name into the Plants Name search box--
this database will give you additional information about the species and some pictures.

The Washington Native Plant Society website has a list of native plant vendors.

Season All Season
Date 2008-01-03
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Devil's club does lose its leaves in the winter. Quoting from the source cited below, it is hardy down to at least 5 degrees F, although the young growth is likely to be cut back by spring frosts...On cool moist soils, it forms tall, impenetrable thickets...Plant in sun or part-shade.
(Source: The New Royal Horticulture Society Dictionary of Gardening, Vol.3, 1992, p. 378)

Additionally, devil's club "grows in well-drained to poorly drained soils with sandy, silty, or loamy textures," which indicates that it will appreciate regular watering that ensures moist soil in the summer.
(Source: Propagation of Pacific Northwest Native Plants, R. Rose, et al, 1998, p. 129)

Season Winter
Date 2006-03-20
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The Miller Library website has information on sources for native plants:
http://depts.washington.edu/hortlib/resources/sfp/northwest_natives.shtml

Below is a list of nurseries close to Seattle:
1. MsK Rare Plant Nursery (and lots of NW natives) in Shoreline
2. Colvos Creek Nursery on Vashon Island
3. Washington Native Plant Society -- Plant Sales (twice a year)
4. Woods Creek Wholesale (and Retail) Nursery in Monroe, WA

And here is the Woods Creek Nursery's native plants list.

This should give you a good start on their shopping for natives. This list is not conclusive, but it is a good place to start.

Season All Season
Date 2008-01-10
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From the research I have done, it seems that a pond with a sloping side is a very good idea, but if erosion is a serious issue, you may want to think about both plants and physical controls such as coconut fiber matting to stabilize the banks. The Brooklyn Botanic Garden's guide (1997), The Natural Water Garden, has a description of using coconut fiber tubes (also called biologs) laid horizontally along a bank, which can also be used as a secure planting medium for seedlings.

As far as deer-resistant plants which may work for your site, iris and spiraea appear to be unappealing to deer, so you might want to try some of the irises which prefer moist situations, such as Iris laevigata, and Iris versicolor (blue flag), as well as Spiraea douglasii (hardhack).

Other plants which may help with preventing erosion are Lysichiton americanum (skunk cabbage), Athyrium filix-femina (lady fern), Carex obnupta (sedge), and Cornus stolonifera (red osier dogwood) or C. alba (red twig dogwood).

Some grassy or reedy plants which do well as marginal (water's edge) plants include Acorus calamus 'Variegatus' (variegated sweet flag), Pontederia cordata (pickerelweed), Sagittaria latifolia (American arrowhead), and Typha latifolia (cattail). All of these are deciduous.

For evergreen plants, you could try Scrophularia auriculata 'Variegata' (water figwort), an evergreen perennial with cream-edged foliage. The flowers should be deadheaded to prevent self-seeding. Thalia dealbata (hardy canna) is evergreen, with long-stalked blue-green leaves and violet flower spikes.

Season All Season
Date 2006-03-20
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