More tips to make your green thumb a little greener!

There are so many conscious choices you can make in your garden to have a positive impact that we've made multiple Tool Kit posts on the subject of eco-friendly gardening! In this one we focus on how you can support pollinators, water efficiently, and embrace our local conditions for less net impact.

How does conserving water and supporting biodiversity benefit salmon?

Conserving water in the garden keeps more water in streams, which is particularly important during late summer and fall when Pacific salmon are returning to their natal rivers to spawn.

Land and water are connected. Diverse native plants and critters are what Pacific salmon have evolved with and rely on. Supporting biodiversity in your garden keeps that connection.

Here are some suggestions:

Opt for Native Plants

Choosing plants that are native to your region can help reduce your need for fertilizers, pesticides, and watering. Native plants are adapted for our climate and soil, and therefore require less input of nutrients and are suited for our wet winters and dry summers. They also support our local biodiversity by ensuring critters, including native birds and insect pollinators, have access to the plants they have evolved with and depend on.

When planning where and what native species to plant in your garden, consider the light and water conditions of the spot and select accordingly for the best chance for successful establishment and long-term low maintenance. Experts at nurseries can help you identify the perfect plant and how to care for it as it becomes established. Our Planting a Native Garden Tool Kit has a map of nurseries that specialize in native species.

Water Efficiently

When it comes to watering your garden, it is important to be mindful of water usage, while maintaining plant health. Here are some ways to improve the efficiency of your watering routine.

• Timing is everything. When the sun is out, water will evaporate quickly. Water your garden in the early morning or later in the evening to minimize evaporation.
• Mulching also helps prevent evaporation, instead retaining moisture where it is easily available to your plants.
• Harvest rainwater and use it to water your garden. This also reduces stormwater runoff, win-win!
• Plan the layout of your garden. Be mindful of what sections of the garden are shady/sunny, and plant appropriately. Some plants love direct sunlight, whereas others prefer partial sun.
• Plant drought tolerant natives or ornamental plants like Rocky Mountain juniper, Euphorbia, Echinacea, and Yarrow.

• Water the roots, not the leaves. Drip irrigation systems can help you deliver the water exactly where you want it to go, and in the right amount in comparison to a traditional sprinkler system. Not only does this provide hydration efficiently, but by not soaking the entire plant, it causes less disease. A slow release of water also allows the soil to soak up water better, preventing runoff from the soil surface.

Check you this video from the Capital Regional District on how to install different irrigation systems:

Go for Summer Gold!

If you have a lawn, let it go gold in the summer! In our climate of warm dry summers, maintaining a green summer lawn requires a huge input of water, just when we should be adhering to watering restrictions. With climate change and increasing demands on our water supply - it is ever more important to conserve. Letting your lawn dry out is a great way to cut back on water usage.

Did you know that grass naturally hibernates during the summer? There is no harm in letting your lawn turn golden for the summer months, you are working with the natural cycle of your lawn, and you will see it bounce back with the fall rains! So, let your grass have a rest over the summer and save water and you'll also save your self mowing in the summer heat! Check out this info sheet from the Capital Regional District for more Water Wise Lawn Care.

Support Pollinators with a Meadow Lawn

You may have heard of the slogan 'No-Mow May', but this pledge to stop mowing your lawn for the summer is an oversimplified solution and may cause more harm than good, as this article from Rewilding explains. In BC, non-native plant species are abundant, and the chances are that if you leave your lawn to grow over a few weeks, all that will come up will be non-native weedy species like dandelions and white clover. While you may notice that some bees do visit these flowers, they are not the best food sources for native pollinators. Did you know that dandelion pollen is actually a protein deficient food source, and can lead colonies of bees to feed on their own eggs to supplement their diets? Native flower pollen, on the other hand, offers balanced nutrients to sustain native pollinators, since the plants and pollinators would have evolved in the local ecosystem together. While the No-Mow May movement encourages the notion that messy lawns, rather than curated golf greens, are beautiful, we need to take this a step further to ensure that we are supporting our native pollinators. Rather, consider converting your lawn to a meadow!

Instead of a stark golf course lawn, why not use the space to support pollinators, fix nitrogen, manage runoff, and maintain diversity? West Coast Seeds offers different seed blends that you can try as a lawn alternative, including clovers, tall fescue, and even beautiful wildflowers. Watch your lawn space come alive with colour, texture and native bees and butterflies! Check out our Native Plants Tool Kit to learn more, and visit Satinflower Nurseries for more info about meadow-making.

Bonus Fun Tip!

Solar lights

Your green garden can be bright and event-worthy, without adding to your energy bill! There are lots of options for solar powered lights to brighten up your patio space in the evening.

Photo credits: Mina-Marie Michell on Pexels; .Daniel Johnson on Pexels; Devolk on Pixabay.

If we treat our gardens as a natural, functioning system, we can avoid the use of harmful chemicals and still have healthy, thriving plants. Here are some tips on how to make your green thumb greener!

In this Tool Kit we offer suggestions that will help you avoid unnecessary pesticides and fertilizers, along with natural ways to maintain healthy soils.

How does managing garden pests and soil naturally benefit salmon?

Pesticides are often made up of toxic chemicals that can make their way to aquatic environments and directly affect the health of salmon. Avoiding them makes streams and salmon healthier.

Pesticides can indiscriminately kill insects that are not harmful garden pests but are an important part of the ecosystem and a vital food source for salmon.

Maintaining healthy soils without the use of excessive fertilizers helps keep waterways clean and healthy for salmon. Fertilizers contribute to eutrophication and algal blooms which can rob the water of oxygen and lead to fish kills.

Natural Pest Management

Insects are part of a healthy ecosystem – but in our gardens, we would prefer that some insects don’t snack on the broccoli and kale that we have grown for our dinner!

Integrated Pest Management is a holistic approach to pest management that focuses on pest prevention and treating the garden as a system. Remember that insects are a part of this system, so some level of pest damage should be acceptable. Crop rotation is an important principle of pest management, as it helps prevent pests from building up in the soil. Monitoring for pests is crucial. Notice where and how the pest is attacking the plant early on, then correctly identify the culprit. This will help pair the most appropriate treatment for the pest. For example, if you have a group of aphids on the leaves of a plant, a simple spray of the hose can wash them away. Biological controls are a good option before turning to chemical treatments. Biological control can involve the introduction of other insects or even animals! Chickens, for instance, can make quick work of a soil bed with wire worm. You can also include specific plants in your garden to attract beneficial insects. More on this below!

Companion Planting for Pest Control

Include plants that encourage helpful critters like lady bugs. Beneficial insects can be predatory – like green lacewings, ladybugs and hover flies, parasitoid – like certain kinds of wasps, or pollinating – like bees! And don’t forget spiders! Arachnids are especially helpful to have around in the summer time to keep your garden party mosquito-free!

There are many plants that can help attract these critters to your garden community. Nasturtiums, for example, are easy to grow, and produce brightly coloured edible flowers that attract pollinators. If you are having an issue with aphids, beetles or weevils in your veggie garden, consider planting nasturtiums as a companion plant – they attract those pest insects, distracting them and saving your precious kale and broccoli! Other plants that attract beneficial insects include: clover, chamomile, and sunflowers. Read more about supporting and attracting beneficial insects in your garden in this publication from Oregon State University, and check out West Coast Seeds’ Guide to Companion Planting.

Allelopathy is the phenomenon where naturally occurring chemicals in one plant prevent the growth of other particular plants nearby, and/or deter certain insects from coming near it. By planting potent herbs like catmint, chives or dill nearby your garden plots, you can deter many insect pests from coming anywhere near your crops! Borage specifically repels cabbageworm and tomato hornworm, so plant these brilliant purple flowers near your tomatoes and brassicas (cabbage, kale, broccoli, etc.) to add a natural layer of protection from these pests – not to mention, the bees will love it!

Opt for Natural Pesticides

Pesticides can be incredibly harmful. They can harm beneficial insects or wash off your property and impact insect life in streams which is a critical food source for salmon and other aquatic species. You can try these alternative solutions for managing common garden pests:

• Diatomaceous earth, made of fossilized phytoplankton, is another measure way to protect your crops, and can be found at your local gardening shop. Diatoms are tiny creatures with shells made of silica – when dried and ground, this powder is like a layer of glass – which will keep away any soft-bodied pests such as slugs! If you can’t find diatomaceous earth, try sprinkling coffee grounds on the soil for a similar slug-repelling effect.
• Try making your own beer slug trap! A simple DIY project using a can of cheap beer can be super effective at ridding slugs from your garden.
• Neem oil is a great natural alternative to chemical pesticides. It is biodegradable, and safe for use around pets and animal wildlife in your garden, yet effective at deterring insect pests at each stage of their life cycle. To create a spray solution, mix 2 teaspoons of neem oil with one teaspoon of a mild soap such as Castile, with about one litre of water.
• Other at-home concoctions use the principle of allelopathy. One effective plant spray, for example, is a blend of fresh garlic bulbs with water and a few drops of mild soap. Sprayed onto the leaves of your kale, for example, this mixture will deter any flea beetles from nibbling on your crops.
• Make a insecticidal soap spray: Mix one and a half teaspoons of a gentle soap such as Castile soap with one liter of water, mix it up and spray onto the leaves of your crops for a safe and simple option that had broad usage.

Be sure to apply this concoction in the evening, rather than during the day so your soap spray does not evaporate in the sun. Applying the spray in the evening also helps to avoid impacting beneficial insects like pollinators, since they will be less active in the evening. Soap sprays effectively suffocate insect pests, working by coating their bodies, blocking the pores through which they breathe.

Visit this article by TreeHugger.com for more ideas of natural concoctions you can make at home to help deter unwanted insects in your garden. Plus, steer clear of chemical pesticides! Check out our Pesticides to Avoid Tool Kit article to learn more about which chemical pesticides should be avoided at all costs due to their impacts on salmon and other aquatic life.

Keeping out Larger Pests

Sometimes the pests are bigger and require other strategies for protection.

You can make your garden deer proof by surrounding individual shrubs and young trees with deer fencing, or install an angled (45 degrees) fence at least 6 feet high around your entire garden to keep deer out. A simple, inexpensive option is to string up deer netting around your yard, making sure to add flagging on the netting to prevent deer from walking into the nets and becoming entangled. Check out this article from the BC SPCA to learn more about fencing options to keep deer out of your garden. You can also choose garden plants with strong scents or fuzzy or prickly foliage that are naturally not as tasty to deer!

Fencing can also be effective for rabbits and rodents if the mesh is small enough. Another option is a deterrent spray to keep them off of the tender shoots in your garden.  You can use cayenne pepper spray on the plants rabbit seem to enjoy most to help keep them away. Thankfully, this method also works at preventing deer from munching on your plants as well.

Deterrent cayenne Pepper Spray: Mix 2 tsps of cayenne powder or other hot pepper and combine that with 6-8oz of water. You can also add garlic powder in there for added benefit. Spray this around your garden on the plants you want to keep rabbits away from.

Check out this article from Seeds and Grains for more clever tricks to deter rabbits, including setting up motion activated sprinklers to spook them out of your garden.

Optimize Soil Health, the Natural Way

Use Crop Rotation to Manage Pests and Balance Soil Nutrients

Crop rotation, or the practice of changing the plant family growing in your garden plot each season, is a natural method to reduce issues with pests and balance the nutrient budget of your soil. Many veggie garden plants come from a few ‘families’ (e.g. closely related) and share common characteristics like rooting depth, soil pH preference, nutrient requirements, and specific pest and disease susceptibility. When a given family is planted in the same plot year after year, it depletes the soil of the nutrients it needs, leading to an imbalance in soil nutrients that would need to be remedied by the application of fertilizers. Switching up plant families allows the soil to recover and stay balanced in its nutrient composition. Some of the most common plant families in gardening and agriculture can be found in the pictures below.

Common veggie garden families:

One common plant family is the Brassicas – or 'the cabbage family', which includes kale, broccoli, kohlrabi, cauliflower and cabbage. This family is a heavy feeder (requires lots of nutrients) and susceptible to cabbage root maggot, so after planting a bed of Brassicas one year, rotate to Legumes, which are not susceptible to the pest and have a symbiotic bacteria that fixes nitrogen around the roots to replenish the soil, then plant Alliums (onions and garlic) and Solunums (peppers, tomatoes) in that plot, then Umbellifers (carrots, parsley) and squash the next year. This is just one example of a four year crop rotation, but there are many other families to play around with to suit the size of your garden and tastes. The important factor is to make sure the same family of plants does not occupy the same space more than once every three or four years. Learn more about how to plan your garden with crop rotation in the Old Farmer’s Almanac Guide to Crop Rotation. To learn more about the different plant families and organic gardening, check out this book: Backyard Bounty: The Complete Guide to Year-Round Organic Gardening in the Pacific Northwest by Linda Gilkeson.

Protect Your Soil All Seasons

Looking after your soil will help you reduce the need for fertilizers and help your plants reach their full potential.

Use Cover Crops in the Off-Season

Don’t forget to plant a cover crop to protect your soil over the winter time! Cover crops are plants that are grown in the off seasons of agricultural crops, and are often hardy plants throughout the winter.

Try out red clover or fall rhye in your garden! Many cover crops like fava beans (a legume) and hairy vetch have the added benefit of fixing nitrogen into the soil, so come spring, you can turn that cover crop into the soil and plant your seeds directly in the nourished soil. Not only do cover crops prevent weeds from taking over your garden box in the absence of crops over winter, they are a key element in maintaining soil health over time. Cover crops can also attract pollinators and provide excellent habitat for beneficial insects like ground beetles.

Mulching

Another option to protect your soil over winter is to cover it with mulch. Mulch adds good organic material without much hassle. You can even use your plants as mulch! Once they are done for the season, pull them out of the soil and leave them on top – this provides nice cover to the soil, but only do so if the plants are not diseased! If there are deciduous trees on your property, consider making use of the leaves that fall from those trees in autumn by either leaving them on top of the grass, or using them as mulch in your garden beds to cover the soil over winter.

The benefits of mulching your garden beds with leaves:

• protects the soil from the heavy rains throughout the winter
• provides insect habitat and food source 
• helps suppress weedy species
• improves soil fertility by decomposing on site 
• prevents compaction
• helps regulate soil temperature (and warmer soil leads to increased microbial activity)

Fertilizers to Use

• Natural sources of nutrients, like compost and manure are your safest bet, environmentally-speaking. They not only add nutrients, but your plants will also benefit from the organic material that comes with compost and is important for rich healthy soil. In most municipalities, you can pick up inexpensive compost or manure from a Public Works Yard, or from your local garden store.
• You can create your own compost, letting your kitchen scraps nourish your garden, and reducing waste! Learn more about composting in our Tool Kit article here, and find the method that works best for you and your garden.
• You can even add some things like egg shells directly into the soil – crush them up and sprinkle around your plants to give them a rich source of calcium. Banana peels and coffee ground are also fabulous additions!
• Learn more about alternative fertilizers – from fish to woodchips – in this Rootsy article.

Avoid runoff of fertilizers

While agricultural crops often benefit from soil nourishment, chemical fertilizers are not ideal, as they are often applied in excess, and can easily leach out of the soil and into nearby waterways. Eutrophication occurs when excess nutrients enter a waterbody – often through runoff of fertilizers – fueling an overgrowth of algae. That algal growth takes over the habitat, then when it completes its life cycle, the dead algae decomposes within that water body – a process which uses up oxygen in the water, making the environment inhospitable for fish and other aquatic life. Don’t contribute to eutrophication in your community, be smart about fertilizer application!

• Only apply the amount of nutrients that your garden will use - in small doses at the base of the plant. If you are worried about certain deficiencies, you could get your soil tested. Generally, though, in a home garden setting, ensuring you are adding organic materials such as compost and rotating your crops each year should create a healthy growing environment for your plants.
• Check the weather, and your local restrictions. Plan to apply your fertilizer outside of the rainy season, or when the weather calls for clear skies for a few days in a row. Some regions even ban fertilizer application during the rainy season!
• Use natural fertilizers like compost and manure. In these natural application types, the nutrients are slowly released, so even if it rains, less nutrients will leach out of the soil.

Bonus Fun Tip!

Saving Seeds

Did you have an excellent crop of tomatoes this year? Consider saving the seeds to grow the same variety next year. Seed saving is an age old process. It helps us be more self sufficient and develop seed sovereignty where we are less reliant on commercial seeds. Not to mentioned, saving seeds from your garden can help with maintenance of diversity.

When choosing your plants, consider buying heirloom and open-pollinated varieties. Buy your starts or seeds from local farmers and nurseries that carry varieties that are open-pollinated and adapted to your local environment. Some of the larger commercial seed producers only offer patented seeds where you must repurchase them each year. Many communities have Seedy Saturday events where you can purchase local, open-pollinated varieties. Find an event in your area, and stop by to start your seed saving practice today!

Not sure where to start? Many organizations like the Organic Seed Alliance have made seed saving guides like this one freely available and ready for download.

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Beautiful native gardens enrich your surroundings while supporting local biodiversity - including pollinators and bird species.

Native plants are adapted to our local soils and climate conditions. If native species are planted in the right spots, they will be very low maintenance and require less water and fertilizers.

How does having a garden of native plants help salmon?

Keeping native plants in your garden supports the broader ecosystem including salmon, birds, insects, and terrestrial animals which have all evolved together and are dependent on each other.

Native plants are adapted to local soils and climatic conditions and therefore require less resources such as water and fertilizers which keeps streams healthy for salmon.

So, if you are thinking about starting a native garden, let’s jump in to learn more about the benefits of native plants, and how you can include native species on your property!

The Many Benefits of Native Species

There are a number of benefits to having native species in your garden. Generally:

• Many species are pest-resistant
  • Since native plants have evolved along side the local fauna they have deterrent features or can withstand occasional browsing by deer for example.
• They attract native pollinators
  • Because native plants are adapted to local conditions, their features are perfect for attracting and feeding local pollinators like swallow-tail butterflies, bumble bees, sweat bees, and more! These native pollinators are attracted to certain flower colours and shapes of native plant species. Some non-invasive exotic plants may support pollinators, but be sure to choose local species of plants to better suit the needs of local pollinators.
• They’re water-smart!
  • Many native plants are more deeply-rooted than non-native species. This helps to stabilize the soil and help rain water percolate into the ground. Native species are adapted to our climate of wet winters, dry summers and coastal influences. Many are drought-tolerant, and some coastal plants are even salt-tolerant! Not only are these hardy plants more likely to survive some tough conditions like winter storms and summer heat waves, they will also help you conserve water by not having to irrigate your garden. 
• They require less inputs like fertilizers
  • Again, since these species are suited to local conditions, they grow well naturally in our coastal soils. While tropical species or common ornamental garden species require inputs of fertilizers to remain healthy, their native counterparts thrive with the natural levels of soil nutrients. 
• They are of ecological importance
  • Having native species in your garden supports the local ecosystem. It provides habitat connectivity and cross-pollination opportunities.
• They are of cultural importance
  • Since native plants are endemic, they are interwoven into our cultures and history. Plants like the Camas lily and Salal are both culturally significant plants as staple foods for many Coastal First Nations for millennia. While the fruit from native Bitter Cherry trees is not edible, the bark has traditionally been used to make baskets and the tough branches of Hardhack were used to make hooks for catching, drying and smoking fish. Nootka rose hips were traditionally used as perfume.
  • Native plant species also help support our coastal food web including iconic species like the black bear, bald eagle, and species of Pacific salmon – all of which are culturally significant.

Getting Started

Before planting native species in your garden, you may want to take an inventory of the species that are already there. You may find that you already have some native species that you would like to conserve, or you may have some exotic plants or even invasives that would be beneficial to remove so that your native garden can flourish.

Removing invasive species 

Species with invasive tendencies can out-compete native species that are more beneficial to local organisms, deplete soils of nutrients, and can reduce the biodiversity of the ecosystem overall.

Step 1: Identify

It important to correctly identify the species first so that we can choose the most appropriate method for removal. There are a number of resources you can access to help you name that plant:

• Seek information about which plants are invasive through the Invasive Species Council of BC at: Identify Invasive Species. If you are unsure, contact a specialist to help with identification and help you choose the most appropriate method of removal.  
• Another method that might be helpful is using the iNaturalist app. Simply snap a photo or two of the plant in question and upload it. Often, the app will suggest species that look similar and you can scroll through to see which plant it is likely to be, and whether that species is endemic to your area.
• E-flora BC is also a great resource to check if you are uncertain of the origins of a plant.

Here are some common invasive species you may find in your garden:

You might be surprised to know that even some of the most common garden flowers are not native, and have invasive tendencies. Butterfly bush, for instance, is not an ideal garden flower since it produces a large amount of seeds, which helps it spread to open areas like roadsides and forest edges.

Instead, opt for California lilac (pictured on the left) or a Red-flowering currant. Not only are these species beautiful and fragrant, they are also suited to local conditions and will attract native pollinators. Fortunately, there are many native plants that serve the same function (e.g. attracting pollinators, stabilizing slopes) and have a similar aesthetic as common exotic species. Check out this Grow Me Instead resource the BC Invasive Species Council to find alternatives to common invasive plants, tailored to BC gardens!

Even if a particular non-native plant is not actively taking over your garden, they can outcompete native varieties and cause havoc in systems outside of your property. Yellow flag Iris, for one, has become an extremely problematic species in the estuaries of BC. These brilliant yellow flowers were originally brought over from Europe and western Asia as a beautiful garden variety. However, their resilient seed pods have been carried down streams and into our estuaries where they have made a stamp in the marsh ecosystems. It is important to consider the impacts of the plants we choose in our garden, because often those impacts are much further-reaching than we would expect.

Step 2: Remove

• Be careful when removing invasive species! Many have protective mechanisms or features like thorns or sap that could cause injury.
• Be especially wary of your pets near certain species. Cheatgrass or speargrass, for example, is a very common invasive grass species that has sharp barbs on the seedhead which can injure animals by cutting into their paws or skin.

Removing invasive species is hard work, but by doing so you are helping reduce the spread, and offering a sanctuary where diverse native plants can grow.

Plant Lists and Guides

Now, for the fun stuff! Selecting suitable species and planning your beautiful garden!

• Take a virtual tour of Satinflower Nursery and Coastal Native Plants and be introduced to some wonderful native plants by an expert.
• The CanPlant app is a great place to get started! This inventory of Canadian native plants allows you to search by province of native origin, by plant family, soil type, and other factors!
• Check out the Stewardship Centre’s Green Shores Native Plant Lists for lake and marine shoreline properties.
• Browse through the Washington Native Plan Society’s Native Plant Directory to find the species that will suit your space! Since Washington is in the Pacific Northwest region, these plants listed are also appropriate for BC gardens.
• Local native plant nursery, Satinflower Nurseries has some incredible resources to get you started! Check out this plant list for help with choosing native species to plant based on factors like soil type, ecosystem benefit, and planting requirements.
• Need more of a step-by-step guide? Try these Satinflower ‘how-to’ guides that guide you through specific projects like designing and planting a hedgerow.
• Join the Pollinator Partnership, and check out their ecoregional planting guides to help you select flowering plants that support pollinators in your local environment.
• By working with a landscape architect to develop a riparian planting plan, native plants can be installed according to the location they are best suited for. You can search through the British Columbia Society of Landscape Architects to find a practitioner in your area! Be sure to let them know you are interested in planting a garden rich in native species.

Be(e) Pollinator Friendly

Tips for building your native plant garden with pollinators, such as beautiful native swallowtail butterflies, bees and even birds in mind:

• In terms of flowering plants, select a variety of colours, shapes and types of flowers to attract a broad range of pollinators.

• Plant in clumps by flower type. You want variety in your garden, but be sure to plant all your roses in one area so that it is easier for the pollinators to see this cluster of forage habitat from the air. This also makes cross-pollination much easier if marigold pollen isn’t accidentally being deposited on a rose flower next door!
• Take it one step further, and create nesting habitat for native bees! Use natural (untreated) cardboard and wood to create a mason bee house, and make sure to create an overhanging slanted roof to protect the pollinators from rain.

• To help support native pollinators, and reduce your water consumption, opt for a lawn that is made up of native meadow species. A meadow lawn is beautiful, and turns golf green lawns into species rich habitats. Not to mention, by using native species, you will eliminate the need for inputs like fertilizers, herbicides and excess irrigation. Contact Satinflower Nurseries today for a consultation about meadowscaping your yard.

Some Native Shrubs and Trees to Consider for your garden

Big leaf maple (Acer macrophyllum)

This deciduous tree has so much to offer! Nesting habitat, shade, plus it supports the growth of other smaller species upon it (these are called epiphytes) such as club moss (Selaginella oregano), and lichens (Cladonia, Nephroma, and Crocynia spp.). Not to mention, when the leaves fall in the autumn, you can use them as mulch in your garden beds.

Arbutus or Pacific Madrone (Arbutus menziesii)

If you are looking to have lovely green foliage all year, Arbutus in the only native broad leaf evergreen tree in Canada! It thrives in dry coastal areas around the Strait of Georgia.

Pacific Dogwood (Cornus nuttalii)

Known for their spring show of flowers (which are actually modified leaves), Dogwood is the floral emblem of BC and a protected species. The trees are wonderful showy garden additions.

Salal (Gaultheria shallon)

Salal makes a great riparian buffer. It loves growing near the coast, is salt-tolerant, and provides berries that are a historically important staple food in the diet of many Coastal First Nations. Other native berries you could consider adding to your garden are huckleberry, Oregon grape and salmon berry.

Nootka Rose (Rosa nutkana)

Everyone loves roses, why not grow our beautiful wild roses!

Native ferns

Ferns, which are typically under story plants, make excellent additions to the shady parts of a garden. Native species, such as the pictured Deer fern (Blechnum spicant) or Sword fern (Ploystichum munitum) are green all year.

Hardhack/ steeplebush / rose spirea (Spiraea douglasii)

Perfect for your native plant rain garden, as it loves swamps and moist soils! Its beautiful pink/purple clustered blossoms will bring a nice fragrance to your yard in the spring.

Broad-leaved stonecrop (Sedum spathulifolium)

Need a hardy little ground cover for a sunny rocky spot? Try a native succulent such as the Broad-leaved stonecrop which produces stocks of yellow flowers in early summer and their leaves form cute fleshy rosettes.

Okay, I’ve chosen my native plant species! Now, where do I buy them?

There are many places to learn about planting a native garden, including nurseries that specialize in supplying plants that are native to BC. Native plants are often available at other nurseries, but native plant nurseries will have a focus on providing not only native species, but plants that were grown locally.

Click on the map to be linked to an interactive version to find a local plant nursery that specializes in natives species. Visit these nurseries to source your plants. Do not harvest native plants from parks or other areas so as not to disturb natural areas. Do you own a local native plant nursery business? Get in touch so we can add you to this map! Email ksheehan@psf.ca with your business info.

Why stop at native plants?

There are lots of things you can do to make your garden greener! Consider adding a rain garden to your yard, creating your own compost, and learn about what pesticides are particularly harmful. Also check out our Green Gardening Tool Kit article for other ways to support biodiverity and conserve water.

Photo credit: Maria Catanzaro, Nicole Christiansen, Ando Shev on Unsplash, Madison Inouye on Pexels, Lum3n on Pexels, Kyla Sheehan, Crystal Jo on Unsplash, Noah Boyer on Unsplash

When chemical pesticides are applied to crops and gardens, they can get into the environment and adversely impact fish, pollinating insects, and other wildlife as well as human health.

Pesticides can contaminate groundwater supplies, streams and soil and contribute to air pollution. If you use pesticides, including herbicides and fungicides, it is important consider the environmental impact, strictly follow application instructions, and minimize pesticide use through an integrated pest management plan.

How does avoiding certain pesticides benefit salmon?

Pesticides are often made up of toxic chemicals that can make their way to aquatic environments and directly affect the health of salmon.

Pesticides indiscriminately kill insects that are not harmful garden pests but are an important part of the ecosystem and a vital food source for salmon.

Salmon Safe, whose mission is to transform land management practices so that Pacific Salmon can thrive, has complied a list of hazardous chemicals that are particularly harmful to salmon and aquatic species to avoid on your property.

Photo credit: CDC/ Dawn Arlotta