Currently in the process of rewilding most of our backyard with natives. We decided to start in this corner of our yard because we want some privacy from the neighbors (hence the Pacific Wax Myrtle along the fence). We also plan on planting a medium sized deciduous tree (Dogwood maybe?) near the stump towards the bottom of the first picture. All wood chips are from cedar and douglas fir that we got from some neighbors who had some trees taken down.
Anyways, the bed faces west and is fully exposed to the sun in the afternoon. The deciduous tree we plant will eventually provide shade in the summer, but that will obviously take a while. We plan on installing a simple flagstone path through the chip bed and I’m not sure of what to plant along the path.
Any and all suggestions are welcome. And not just for the path either!
by Treydy
10 Comments
USDA Zone 8b. The first photo includes the proposed path and the following photos are to give a better idea of what the area looks like.
You could buy NW wildflower seed mixes. Threw seeds down in part of my yard and love it! Constant flowering spring through fall.
A few great shrubs that will take sun and eventually more shade are Mahonia repens and Vaccinium ovatum. Both are evergreen as well. A few of my favorite and sometimes overlooked natives are Lewisia cotyledon, Erythronium oreganum, and Iris tenax. I also love to spread seed for Limnanthes douglasii and Eschscholzia californica around when plants are new and there is lots of bare space. There are lots of great local seed companies you could find these at!
I would stick with shorter native wildflowers, sedges, and a few grasses. Path rush around the path would be a good option.
Since you have fences on 2 sides, be careful not to pick larger native warm season grasses. Those will get super floppy due to shade and this area wouldn’t be easy to burn / periodically mow.
For sedges, you’ll need to just google “sedges / Carex Washington state”. There’s so many to choose from.
Ferns, Oregon grape, etc. walk around a nearby forest.
https://piercecd.org/189/Native-Plant-Sale
wonder if this might be something youre interested in. Pierce County native plant sale by the conservation district
*Mahonia repens* is bulletproof for light shade to full sun. Drought tolerant once established. Good for pollinators and birds.
If you want some color; yarrow, lupine, columbine.
If you want a more modern flowerless look tufted hair/tussock grass and maidenhair ferns.
Maybe alternate some from each group together.
How about these apples?
[**Pacific NW Native Plants for Western Washington Gardens**](https://www.wnps.org/content/documents/plants/gardening/Pacific%20NW%20Native%20Plants%20for%20Western%20Washington%20Gardens.pdf) via the [Washington Native Plant Society](https://www.wnps.org/native-gardening/resources)
^(Unfortunately, there are no apples listed) [](https://www.wnps.org/content/documents/plants/gardening/Pacific%20NW%20Native%20Plants%20for%20Western%20Washington%20Gardens.pdf)
Hmmm…. It’s a little tricky since you have sun now, but you won’t once your trees are established. You may need to plan for some succession planting once the area is shadier. I’m in your general area and and since you mentioned rewilding I am assuming you want native plant suggestions.
These are plants that do well in sun and shade. The shrubs and ferns wouldn’t go right next to the path, but you have some space and some of these might be appealing.
Shrubs: Flowering Red Currant (it gets tall), Snowberry ( Symphoricarpos albus), Oregon Grape (both high and low), and Evergreen Huckleberry. The huckleberry will take a long time to grow. Plant it where you can give it some protection from the afternoon sun. You could also consider dogwood shrubs. They have a dwarf variety. Nice winter interest with those.
Ferns: for this situation will be the sword fern since it can handle some sun and it doesn’t spread as much as a lady fern. Lady ferns are awesome, but they will take over. They do have edible fiddleheads that are quite tasty though.
Taller perennials, Western goldenrod, Douglas Aster, Goatsbeard (needs some shade)
Shorter Perennials: Yarrow, Scottish Harebells, Pacific Bleeding Heart, Western Columbine, Pearly everlasting, Douglas Iris, Toughleaf Iris, Oregon Sunshine, Henderson’s Checkermallow, California Poppy, Large Leaf Lupine, Camas (bulbs). The yarrow, columbine, and poppy grow well from seed – and the poppy can only grow from seed.
Groundcover: Kinnickinick – this may handle shade, but the rest of this list will likely need to be replaced as the shade starts building in. Sunny: Beach Strawberry, showy fleabane, nodding onion, Oregon stonecrop. Once the shade is established: wild ginger, western foamflower, oxalis, and inside out flower.
Grasses: Slough sedge, tufted hairgrass
I recommend the book Planting in a Post Wild World. I really like how it explained a more naturalistic style planting. Plants grow in communities and they fill up every available space when you let them. So you should have plants at every level of the canopy.
You can actually find Pacific Dogwood these days, but they are susceptible to a fungus called anthracnose. There are hybrids like Eddie’s White Wonder you can use that don’t have the same issue.