Biology major here. Making sure most of your garden is native is super important in supporting native wildlife and ecosystems that way species of fauna and flora can continue to thrive. There’s nothing wrong with having a little bit of non native plants as long as they are not invasive. Prioritizing native over non native should be essential and it’s sad how much habitat has been destroyed because of humans.
The food chain concept is so critical, and I don’t hear many people talking about that aspect of promoting native plant use. Feeding the insects IS feeding the birds! (Bonus: much less likely to attract bears than a classic bird feeder full of sunflower seeds or suet, lol) Thanks for the great video!
I’ve seen a swainson’s thrush eating red elderberry berries in my yard about once every three years. They are such shy birds, I’ve never seen one except feeding on the elderberries. (I hear their beautiful song daily, but they are excellent at hiding.). So I tend to let the elderberries impose themselves wherever they volunteer to grow, just to keep those thrushes around!
@@Alluvial. oh, good. I think our wild elderberry are pretty. Likewise, this year, I’ve seen robins go wild for the cascara berries, so I wonder if the swainson’s thrushes like them as well.
@@bethmartof1262 I only have a couple cascara saplings, too young to bear fruit. Good to know the robins will enjoy them in the future, and maybe the swainsons thrushes will too!
These are really good recommendations! I really wanted a willow but I was concerned that it wouldn't be able to deal with the whole summer dry thing, so I picked Scouler's willow because I read that it's more common on upland sites. But good to know they can be more adaptable! Going through its first summer, I am watering it to help it get established and it seems fine. Do you know how long it takes them to flower from a 1 gallon plant? I'm excited to find out what gender mine is. What I love about them is how they sway in the breeze, it's very relaxing 😎. Haven't seen any caterpillars yet but a bunch of ladybugs chose it as their pupation spot this year so that was fun to watch.
Hi! This is super helpful. We have a large patio with very big pots (about 2 ft diameter, 3 feet deep). We're looking for something that provides some privacy, can withstand a ton of direct sunlight in summer (we get a LOT of direct sunlight in summer), and doesn't have super strong water demands (we have no spigot outside so it's cumbersome to do a lot of watering every day). Which of these do you think would be good for this application? The pots have some old soil in them we just removed all the dead plants from - do we need to totally replace this old soil or is there a way we can rejuvenate it? Sorry for the obvious questions, I am a total beginner at this.
I'd recommend stopping by your local nursery and having them help you pick out some plants. Any plants in pots will need frequent and regular watering as they dry out much quicker than in the ground. Which plants to choose will depend on a lot of variables that your local nursery can help you navigate. All new soil in pots is a good idea so you're starting with the best soil possible for your new plants.
Yes, evergreen huckleberry, red huckleberry, salal and many more have edible berries, however be sure to do your own research about identification because there are also toxic berries such as red elderberry that can look similar to edible berries.
Yes! Some really good ones: serviceberry (Amelanchier alnifolia), salmonberry (Rubus spectabilis), thimbleberry (Rubus parviflorus), red huckleberry (Vaccinium parvifolium), evergreen huckleberry (Vaccinium ovatum), osoberry (Oemleria cerasiformis), and whitebark raspberry (Rubus leucodermis). Not sure what area you're in, but these are native to western WA State. Try searching "native plant nursery" on google maps, or contact your county's conservation district about plant sales :)
The "huckleberry" you showed is actually a Blueberry. It's DNA has been run and studied and it is a member of the blueberry family. The only huckleberry is one that grows in the northern east coast. It's not related, nor does it grow like our blueberries.
Thanks for watching! The latin name of the Evergreen Huckleberry we showed is Vaccinium ovatum. It is also less commonly referred to as Evergreen Blueberry. Common names can be variable. We use “huckleberry” instead of “blueberry” because most of the native plant organizations also use that name. Both are as accurate as any common name can ever be. Latin names are always the most specific and accurate but we try to include common names because many gardeners are intimidated by Latin!
