Salal problems
nancyinseattle
12 years ago
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Comments (7)
jean001a
12 years agonancyinseattle
12 years agoRelated Discussions
Arbutus 'Marina' & more for circular driveway garden
Comments (10)I'm not sure what elevation you are at, but assuming the Marina will do ok at your elevation, this looks like a good spot for it. It needs open areas, will take part shade as long is its bright and open, so this looks like it would fit that bill well. I wouldn't hesitate trying the native Madrone there myself, if the soil is well drained. I would NOT add a Japanese maple next to it. They will grow quickly enough to compete for both light and water with the Marina, and though it likes it dry, an active fast growing tree like a Jap maple does not seem like a good fit to me for getting it established. I am intrigued by the thought of the Marina with the Stewartia, honestly. They are both known for their bark, which I think would make for an interesting pairing. The stump may work well for one of your hemlocks too, if you were interested in using it for that. Be aware though, Mountain Hemlock in my experience needs a fair amount of water to get it going, and really prefers more even moisture as it is growing than the Marina may like. Keep the two separated if you plan on supplementing the water for the hemlock. Once established though (which I find takes longer with this alpine than it would for most native conifers, especially if we have dry summers during the establishment phase), they should be fine with the drought, especially if they are growing on or near a "nurse log" which will help with that immensely. Maybe its just my love affair with the native dogwood... but I always like seeing dogwoods up against evergreens, lol. It would probably like the conditions you have their, and would be lovely with the white flowers against the colorful bark and dark green leaves, but I'd be a little worried initially about it overpowering the Marina, especially if you want it to be the star of the bed. Once the Marina gets its head up above the dogwood, it may be less appealing than when its a smaller tree with the combination of the leaves and flowers more apparent. I'm not at all familiar with the Oxydendron, so can't say much of anything about that. Seems to me similar enough in flower shape that if they bloom anywhere close to the same time period, I'd rather see them in separate beds, but close enough to where the flowers can echo each other without looking like you are trying to match them up. But it looks lovely, especially in fall color. On a side note... especially with the woods around you, I kinda get a red neck kick out of the "stump farm" look... I'd be awfully tempted to leave the stumps the way you have them, plug them with different kinds of (edible?) mushrooms, and garden around them for a while. Maybe bowl out the tops of the bigger ones enough to plant some ferns and maybe some ground dogwood in them or something... have fun with them rather than remove them. But then, I like the way these stumps look in the woods as they are decomposing. I kind of think of it as the cycle showing all its splendor right there in front of your eyes, lol. I've had good luck planting red huckleberries, spiny wood fern (Drypopteris expansa), licorice fern and a few others in these stump pots. I think with the new trees and the returning salal etc, you could have a really beautiful bed that way. One trick with this- use something really organic like peat moss or coir to plant these, or if you have it, composted bark. It mimics the decomposing wood, and the roots will be able to adapt easily to the wood as the potting "soil" and stump become one. Most of the usual suspects that grow on nurse logs in the woods will like this kind of organic soil too....See MoreEdible screen or hedge needed
Comments (31)I'd like to be there to observe if you two ever meet face to face. Yeah, my mom has 5 acres out near Shelton, covered with Madrona, evergreen trees, salal, and ehuck. I transplanted some ehuck in the shade of a Red Cedar, I don't quite remember when, maybe even 10 years ago, and it is 4-5' tall and wide, big enough to have berries now. It is very healthy and green. My yard was logged by PO who also jerkily planted grass everywhere at expense of the native flora, but in places there are salal, Oregon Holly Grape, Trillium, Flowering currant, stinging nettle, miner's lettuce, and so on. It's great to re-establish the local flora a little at a time. Not that ehuck is local, but I have seen wild Red Huckleberry. Ehuck would certainly take patience. Blueberries would be fast....See MorePdx under tree cover?
Comments (14)Many local plantings and wild populations of salal acceptable in appearance. I notice heavy mildew on it here and there, and I do not so far see obvious fatal or otherwise spoiling levels of it - unlike with the rhododendron mildew, which has been actually killing some varieties here for some years now. Of course, with the rhododendrons I am looking at individual specimens rather than sometimes quite large patches. With any and all plantings of the highly popular heath family plants such as these you have to provide their particular soil and exposure needs, and pests and diseases may appear and have to be dealt with. With many local plantings the soil is too hot, dry (in summer) or heavy for best results (or even long term survival) of this group. With natively occurring salal (and coast rhododendron, in those scattered districts where it is present as a wild plant) you can actually tell what the soil is generally like on a site (or a situation, like the top of a rotting stump) because these plants are able to grow on it....See MoreUnder a giant Douglas Fir
Comments (19)I don't know if this came up already but creeping St Johns wort also burns during the winter in many positions, so you have to clear away the overwintering foliage early each spring if you want to be rid of it (as gardeners here often do with western sword fern). If you put down bark and do some summer watering birds will often poop berrying shrubs and trees into such spots, giving hints of what might be planted by the gardener: Cotoneaster Hawthorn Holly Ivy Laurel Oregon grape Most of these could be viewed as weeds, of course, and one or two of them are now being officially listed as such--mulched and watered but otherwise dry places under conifers in gardens not being the only locations perching birds will produce a carpet of seedlings here....See MoreEmbothrium
12 years agooliveoyl3
12 years agoWayne Reibold
12 years agoEmbothrium
12 years ago
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