Confessions of a transplanted gardener

Story and photos by Sue Stafford

I lived the first 60 years of my life on the west side of the Cascade Mountains where the landscape is lush and green, and gardens contain the requisite rhododendrons, azaleas, tulips, roses, and manicured lawns.

Moving to Central Oregon 17 years ago, I dutifully enrolled in the Oregon State University Extension Master Gardeners program because I realized I knew nothing about gardening on the “dry side,” and I loved to garden. But I didnʼt get the message those many years ago, and continued my westside ways with a few minor alterations.

Almost two decades later, the Central Oregon environment, with its native dry soil and roaming wildlife, has convinced me to not replace the deer fencing around what used to be typical “wet side” perennial beds and the now sickly lawn (due to my desire to not use chemical fertilizers). It started when I stopped removing dandelions from the lawn after I read they are one of the first food sources for bees in the spring.

Mother Nature has made me a believer in the importance of my fitting into her landscape. Seeing as how lawns cover at least 50,000 square miles of the U.S., in my little backyard I can at least do my part to restore the native ecosystem around my house. The deer have been trying to tell me that ever since I moved in by cooperatively eating my nonnative planting choices. My perennial beds have died out due to native soil conditions, the deer, and the underground critters that actually had the audacity to pull the plants down into the ground.

American goldfinches at backyard bird feeder in the winter.

This is the year I finally decided to join forces with Mother Nature and begin to transform my backyard into a biodiverse world of native plants suited to the environment, able to provide food, shelter, water, and a place to raise their young for insects, pollinators, birds, rodents, and mammals while reducing/eliminating the need for excess watering and the use of nonorganic fertilizers.

Online can be found a myriad of resources that explain the why and how of building wildlife habitat by using native plants. Simply google either term. A whole world will open up. The Deschutes County OSU Extension office website is home to helpful local information on the topics (http://extension.oregonstate.edu/deschutes), as well as plant, tree, and shrub lists.

The National Wildlife Federation (www.nwf.org) offers a program that will recognize your yard or garden (or a portion thereof) as a Certified Wildlife Habitat. The $20 application processing fee and sign purchase directly support the NWFʼs programs to protect wildlife and its habitat. Their website outlines what is Ecologist Douglas Tallamyʼs book, “Natureʼs Best Hope,” explains that the best way to protect biodiversity is for people to plant native plants and promote conservation in every yard.

Kalin Emrich, of The Garden Angel here in Sisters, believes you can be a good steward while also enjoying a great garden. He says that using native plants and organic materials in the landscape can yield beneficial results over the long term for you and nature.

Emrich and his crew practice a natural approach to landscape maintenance.

Another local source, C & C Nursery, on the corner of West Hood Avenue and South Pine Street, can provide you with cold-hardy, deerresistant shrubs and perennials. You can also find butterfly-, bee-, and hummingbird-friendly plants as well as succulents and ornamental grasses.

California Tortoiseshell butterflies make a stop in Sisters every April to sample the sap on the River Birch in my backyard. Their numbers are dwindling each year.

Winter Creek Restoration and Nursery on Deschutes Market Road has an informative website (www. wintercreeknative.com) and sells native plants grown from local seed and cuttings. They also offer knowledgeable consultation, design, and installation services for those deciding to “go native.”

Now, while we are waiting for the snow to leave Black Butte, is a great time to do your homework by researching information about native plants suited to your landscape environment. You can start small; no need to tackle the whole yard at once. We canʼt change the world or stop climate change, but we can begin to restore the biodiversity in our own backyard and improve habitat for our crawling, winged, and four-footed neighbors.

Indian paintbrush is a colorful addition to a native-plant landscape, although it is hemiparasitic — has the ability to photosynthesize on its own, but it forms modified roots that draw water and nutrients from its chosen host plant, often a perennial wildflower or grass. So plant carefully.