Best Native Plants for PNW and How to Garden with Them

Join Tobey Nelson for this in-depth discussion regarding some of our favorite native plants for gardening in the Pacific Northwest!

Plants in this video in order of mention:
Mahonia repens (Creeping Oregon Grape)
Cornus canadensis (Bunchberry)
Oxalis oregana (Redwood Sorrel)
Vaccinium ovatum (Evergreen Huckleberry)
Mahonia aquifolium (Tall Oregon Grape)
Myrica californica (Pacific Wax Myrtle)
Gaultheria shallon (Salal) not pictured
Philadelphus lewisii (Mock Orange)
Ribes sanguineum (Red Flowering Currant) *this was accidentally referred to as red huckleberry
Holodiscus discolor (Oceanspray)
Salix lasiandra (Pacific Willow) and other willow species
Populus spp. (Poplars) not pictured
Amelanchier alnifolia (Western Serviceberry)
Crataegus douglasii (Black Hawthorn)
Malus fusca (Western Crabapple) not pictured
Acer circinatum (Vine Maple)
Acer macrophyllum (Bigleaf Maple)
Thuja plicata (Western Red Cedar)
Thuja plicata 'Excelsa' (Excelsa Cedar) not pictured
Pinus contorta (Shore Pine)

[michaelcarvalho]

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.

[Alluvial.]

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!

[DamBevers]

Thank you! I have areas along a shaded north side of a fence that I haven’t yet figured out what would like growing there. This was very helpful!

[JennyT]

Bunch berry is such a pretty plant. I have some in my backyard and i love it

[HappyDohHoNerd]

Is there a list available of the plants and trees you mentioned ? Happy Gardening 🪴❤️

[bethmartof]

Salmon berry is great too. Hummingbirds love the flowers and robins and swainsons thrush as well as others love the berries.😊

[c.a.parker]

Very useful to learn about plants that are good for larval insects and therefore for birds -- thanks!

[TheSuburbanGardenista]

So much great info here! Great video! 💚

[EsfarC-ff]

I Especially Find of the Pacific Northwest so Even as You Press out of Northern California and into Oregon and Washington Vancouver in Canada Vancouver Island the San Juans I Just I Love it up there. Paul Walker Interview. MassPaws.

[goldensgreensandblues]

Helpful for my new property in a completely different climate.

[Hayley-sllm]

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.

[Sptnm]

I have a couple of evergreen trees so I’m looking for something to plant under those as well. The deer eat the plants as well,

[LittleSpaceCase]

I have many of these and the mock orange smells almost like jasmine flowers

[monawoka]

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.

[NeeNee]

With some of the berries are any of them also safe for humans to consume? I was thinking that the huckleberry was edible

[bamzapwhoosh]

thank you!! would any of these do ok or well in pots?

[Saiya]

We probably need to face facts and split off the south east of Washington to Idaho, because the Columbia Basin is definitely not the same PNW and it makes it soooo hard to find info about what to plant in the 'PNW'.

[shelleypilcher]

Lomger focus up close on plants would tremendously add to your video.

[scoston]

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.

[dianeibsen]

Please get rid of your lawns. The greatly add to the greenhouse gas effect. Plant things you can eat! And nature can eat too!