Gardening for Wildlife

Gardening for Wildlife: Three Native Evergreen Shrubs

Written by Claire Waltman

This little group of native shrubs includes two evergreen shrubs that vie for being my all-time favorite native plant.  Evergreen huckleberry and Cascade or long-leaved Oregon grape are both stalwarts in my garden.  They behave themselves, are carefree, and provide year-round structure to the garden.  If you’re a rule-follower using the guideline for planning a garden with 1/3 evergreen, 1/3 deciduous, and 1/3 perennial plants, these 2 shrubs are excellent choices.  Both are readily available at most retail nurseries.

Evergreen Huckleberry (Vaccinium ovatum)

Evergreen huckleberry (Vaccinium ovatum) grows moderately fast into a slightly irregularly shaped, 3-6 ft shrub.  It prefers sun to part shade and moist, well-drained soil.  The 1 ¼” glossy leaves form very dense cover for the birds year-round and the berries provide food in summer.  It does occasionally send out a gangly stem or two that can be snipped ff to maintain a very tidy shape if you prefer.  I suppose one could shear it, but I’m not a plant-torturer so I wouldn’t know.  The berries are edible and look like small blueberries.  In my opinion they are best eaten straight off the bush while puttering in the garden because they are small and a little tedious to clean.  Once a year though I do indulge in huckleberry pancakes served with huckleberry syrup.  Specimens can be seen up close at the Bellevue Botanical Garden along the path in the Nature Discovery Garden.

Cascade Oregon grape (Mahonia nervosa)

Cascade Oregon grape (Mahonia nervosa), a very common understory plant in our local forest, is a year-round delight in the garden.  It prefers moist to dry soil in some shade and grows moderately fast into a graceful mounding 2-ft shrub.  This little garden star can be tucked neatly into beds or under trees.  The leaves are dark green in spring and summer turning to a subtle purple red in the fall and winter.  The yellow flowers are held above the foliage in spring to early summer.  The gracefully arching stems provide excellent hiding places for Dark-Eyed Juncos.  This may be a shrub I have over-planted even though good garden design does dictate some repetition.  I have 10-12 scattered about, mostly closely planted in groups of 3.  I’ve also let it grow wild along with sword fern in small section of my back garden where is has spread slowly by rhizomes.  These can also be seen at the Bellevue Botanical Garden throughout the natural area leading to the Ravine Experience Bridge where groups of mahonia can be best appreciated.  Remember that plants growing in the wild must compete for resources and will look a little straggly compared those grown in cultivation.

Note:  There are two Mahonia that I don’t personally recommend.  Tall Oregon grape (Mahonia aquifolium) can grow up to 10 ft in height with shiny green leaves that are a little too prickly for my tastes.  However, if you need to discourage foot traffic, this could be an excellent choice unless you want to go all out with devil’s club (Oplopanax horridus).  Low Oregon grape (Mahonia repens) is an absolutely beautiful 1-ft evergreen shrub with glorious fall color, but you have to like it a lot because it reseeds avidly so you will have many, many more to like over time.

Pacific rhododendron (Rhododendron macrophyllum)

Image courtesy of Canva Images

Pacific rhododendron (Rhododendron macrophyllum), the state flower of Washington, isn’t as flashy as many of the named hybrids and has a somewhat lanky growth habit.  Still, the pink to purple trusses certainly brighten the woodland garden.  Provide it with some shade and moist to dry soil.  Although it can be quite large, to 25 ft in the forest, it is typically much smaller with a little sunlight.  Mine is roughly 5 feet tall at 10 years.  In additional to the more manageable size, it will also produce more flowers with some sun.  

Gardening for Wildlife 101

Gardening for Wildlife 101

Written by Claire Waltman

If you think gardening for wildlife isn’t that important or is just too hard to do, I’d like to change your mind.  Urban and suburban areas are expanding despite the movement to increase density within cities.  Every lot that is cleared for a new home or business removes wildlife habitat.  The birds pushed out of that lot need to go somewhere and many of them would be very happy in your backyard.  In Welcome to Subirdia, John Marzloff discusses his data about bird species in suburban areas.  He found a surprising variety and density of birds sharing the suburban environment with us.

A panel of university researchers funded by the National Science Foundation and working with the National Wildlife Federation Community Wildlife Habitat program have documented the success of gardening for wildlife.  A webinar about their results can be viewed here.  Doug Tallamy’s recent book Nature’s Best Hope underscores the extent of the impact that individuals can have by planting native plants in their own backyard.  So, what are you waiting for?  It’s easy.  It’s fun.  Here’s how to do it.

The basics requirements for wildlife habitat are simple.  (To be honest, I’ve taken this directly from the NWF backyard certification webpage.)

• Food:

  A birdfeeder is not required to provide food to birds.  Seeds, berries, and nuts are common food sources, but perhaps the single most important source is insects.

• Water:

  Birdbaths are an excellent source of water for birds and a source of entertainment for birders.  Even rocks with small indentations that hold rainwater can provide a hydration station.

• Cover:

  Birds need a place to shelter and to hide from predators.  American Robins and European Starlings might be happy with your lawn, but most other birds prefer a more complex environment.  Designing a landscape with layers of trees, shrubs, and groundcover provides a range of places suitable for a wider variety of species.

• Places to raise young:

  Providing nesting sites does not require bird houses.  Trees, shrubs, and snags are natural nesting sites.

• Sustainable practices:

  One of the key elements of gardening for wildlife is the avoidance of pesticides.  Insects are a primary food source for birds and, of course, bees are a primary pollinator for our gardens.

These elements are easily provided in home gardens no matter how small.  The National Wildlife Federation will even certify a balcony as wildlife habitat if it includes the necessary elements.  You don’t have to think big, think small, and move forward.

A word about native plants.  Yes, native plants do provide the optimum habitat for local species, but many of the native plants in our Pacific Northwest forests are just not appropriate for use in urban/suburban gardens.  They are too big, too invasive, or require too much water for use in gardens.  In the next newsletters, I will highlight some our native plants that provide excellent habitat for birds but also fit into small gardens.  

So, if you want to start gardening for wildlife.  Sure, you could hire a landscape architect, rip out all your current garden, and start over.  Or you can take the gentle, let’s not call it lazy, approach and gradually work toward a more bird-friendly garden.  Maybe you can take out a little lawn or expand a current bed to add a few native shrubs.  When updating a bed or planting a tree, you can think first of natives.  Don’t feel like you have to be a purist to provide for wildlife.  Every step helps, every native plant, every pesticide-free yard.  And many nonnative plants benefit birds.  For example, fuchsias are not native to our area, but the hummingbirds and the humans love them.  So, have a cup of coffee, sit down by the window, look out onto your garden, and think about spring and what you could do to support our avian friends.

Here are some resources for getting started.

• National Audubon Plants for Birds webpage has an extensive database of native plants searchable by 5-digit zip code.  Plant descriptions are brief but are linked to a list of birds that may be attracted to each plant.  The Buy Now button is of limited value.

• National Wildlife Federation has had a program of certifying backyard habitats as well as community habitats for years.  Their website details how to provide the essential elements needed by wildlife.  The $20 fee to certify a home garden supports a wide variety of programs.

• Encyclopedia of Northwest Native Plants for Gardens and Landscapes by Robson, Richter, & Filbert is indeed encyclopedic.  The 500-page tome provides photographs of every plant and detailed descriptions of native plants including cultivation and native range.  It is available at the King County Library.

• The Washington Native Plant Society (WNPS) website has links to a number of resources for gardening with native plants.  In addition, WNPS chapters have native plant sales with a wider selection of native plants than can be offered by most commercial nurseries.

• King County has an excellent website with an extensive list of native plants.  The website includes sample landscape designs by area such as dry, shade or moist, sunny.