Gardening Answers Knowledgebase

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.

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Date 2006-03-20
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FAC+ is a wetland indicator status term meaning "Facultative," i.e., more likely to occur in wetlands but also found in non-wetlands.

I found a list in Restoring Wetlands in Washington Publ#93-17 and picked out the FAC-identified ones, eliminating all the tall trees and shrubs. Symphoricarpos (Snowberry) would be a good option, but Rosa nutkana (Nootka Rose) and Rubus spectabilis (Salmonberry) get too big for your purposes. A different rose I could recommend is Rosa gymnocarpa (Baldhip Rose). Many of the following recommendations are grasses of one sort or another. (See the USDA Wetland Indicator status definitions.)

Allium geyeri (non-native) FACU
Athyrium filix femina FAC
Carex aperta (non-native) FACW
Carex stipata FACW
Deschampsia caespitosa FACW
Juncus effusus and ensifolius FACW
Ledum glandulosum FACW
Sambucus racemosa var. melanocarpa FACU
Spirea douglasii FACW

You might also try the Snohomish County Conservation District website.

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Date 2006-11-14
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Most Northwest native plants I can think of are not ideal for growing indoors. However, I asked my colleague who used to garden for the Seattle Public Library, and she says that the library is growing native species of ferns indoors. She notes that they are especially prone to pests (whitefly) and diseases (scale), and must be watered every day.

Below is the list of plants being grown in the main (Central) library branch:

• Acorus
• Blechnum spicant
• Adiantum pedatum
• Carex elata 'Bowles Golden'(tall)
• other fern (Rumohra adiantiformis?)

I hope this helps. If you wish to reconsider using natives in favor of more traditional choices for indoor plants, there are many more choices available. Below are a few links that may be use to you:

Low Light Houseplants from University of Vermont Extension

Growing Indoor Plants with Success from University of Georgia Cooperative Extension

Interior Plants: Selection and Care from University of Arizona Cooperative Extension

Season All Season
Date 2007-06-08
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Adding sand to clay soil is not recommended as a way of lightening the soil, as it "may create a concrete-like structure", according to the booklet Ecologically Sound Lawn Care for the Pacific Northwest by David K. McDonald. Linda Chalker-Scott addresses the reasons for this in depth in "The Myth of Soil Amendments Part II".

Instead of adding sand, David McDonald recommends trying to till in compost. At least two inches of compost tilled into the upper six to eight inches of soil is recommended, but four inches tilled into the upper twelve inches is preferable . Try to avoid doing this when the soil is waterlogged, as it may damage the soil structure.

Composting the horse manure and shavings you have access to could be a feasible way to obtain the compost to till into the soil. Whatcom County's WSU extension has an extensive discussion of how to compost and use horse manure.They recommend curing such compost at least a few weeks before application, and suggest that one to three months is a good, typical composting time in summer or three to six months in winter.

Alternatively, according to David McDonald, if there are a few months of warm weather between autumn and seeding time, you could simply till the fall leaves and grass clippings into your soil. Depending on your planned schedule, this could be very easy. (You can find McDonald's full booklet "Ecologically Sound Lawn Care for the Pacific Northwest: Findings from the Scientific Literature and Recommendations from Turf Professionals" online as a very large PDF.)

Another option might be to consider some sort of groundcover if you discover that establishing a lawn is an excessively extensive project. Carex species or possibly Juncus phaeocephalus phaeocephalus are more naturally adapted to heavy soils in wet areas than lawn grasses and so may be less work in the end. Though they would not be appropriate for a heavy traffic area, they would be grasslike in structure. Sagina subulata might be more amenable to heavy traffic.

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Date 2008-05-14
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According to The Plant Care Manual by Stefan Buczacki (Crown, 1993), most sedges (such as Carex) require little maintenance. Even those with tall flower stems don't need staking, and only need their dead flower stems removed in spring, or if damaged by rain or wind. In general, foliage may be trimmed lightly in spring as needed.

Rick Darke's Encyclopedia of Grasses for Livable Landscapes (Timber, 2007) says that Carex dolichostaya 'Kaga Nishiki' will form "a symmetrical fountainlike mound, eventually to 2 feet in diameter. Long-lived and durable, suited for groundcover sweeps. Fully evergreen into Zone 6. Prefers fertile organic soils and light shade or full sun with adequate moisture. Fairly drought-tolerant in shade once established."

Darke says that Carex hashijoensis is similar to Carex oshimensis but not as cold-hardy. The variegated cultivar you mention, 'Evergold,' is actually a cultivar of C. oshimensis, not C. hachijoensis, but there is confusion in the nursery trade.

Carex morrowi 'Ice Dance' is described as "strongly rhizomatous but not so fast as to be a nuisance. A superb, self-repairing groundcover." There are other cultivars, such as C. morrowi 'Gilt' (leaf margins cream-white), 'Gold Band' (leaf margins cream-yellow), and 'Variegata' (a catch-all name for otherwise unnamed variegated selections).

You may find this of interest: Darke's section on cutting back grasses and sedges states that "most grasses require little maintenance other than being cut back once yearly, and even this is done more for neatness than for the needs of the grass. [...] Many evergreen grasses and sedges do not need to be cut back yearly and may grow attractively for a number of years with just minor grooming. Old growth or discolored foliage is often easily removed by gently combing plants by hand."

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Date 2011-07-15
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