Native plants can help you reduce your carbon footprint by saving water and electricity. It doesn’t take a lot of work. Start growing native groundcovers, shrubs and trees by planting them in your lawn borders and reducing the grassy areas near your house to help save on your water and electric bill.
“Native plants are any that existed here before Europeans arrived,” said Charles Brun, horticulture advisor for Washington State University Extension. Pacific Northwest native plants have adapted to the wet winters and dry summers and can repel harmful organisms and diseases better than later arrivers.
Most local nurseries sell a few native plants. Knowing the right time of year to plant and where to plant them can be an issue.
“Bare-root plants must go into the ground during the rainy season, January through March, the earlier the better,” Brun said. “Garden centers tend to sell natives in containers that anyone can decant and plant during almost any time of year.”
He reminds those landscaping to know whether native plants need shade.
“Native ground covers often need shade,” he said. “Without the shade, ground covers have a harder time growing.” Wild ginger, bunchberry and deer fern are groundcovers suitable for Southwest Washington.
Growing native plants can reduce fertilizer use. Homeowners spread 20 times more chemicals per acre than farmers, according to the EPA. Once established, natives require less water, fertilizer and pesticide than non-natives. This minimizes the chemicals seeping into the water table and makes yards safer for kids and pets. Also, scientists have linked chemical fertilizers to the decline of songbirds.
Then there’s the energy and water savings.
“From the water and electricity perspective, native plants help lessen the need for these resources when demand is at its highest during July through September,” said Jeff Wittler, environmental resources manager for Clark Public Utilities.
Planting native deciduous trees and plants strategically can cut your home’s energy use. For an unshaded home, a well-planned landscape can reduce air conditioning costs between 15 and 50 percent during summer, says the Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory.
“Deciduous natives lose their leaves before winter when you want sunshine on a house to help warm it,” Wittler said. “Native conifers usually grow too big for urban lots and don’t let winter sunlight through to warm a home. If you have the room for these big trees, plant them on the north side of your home.”
Native deciduous trees suitable for shading homes on tiny urban lots include smaller ones such as the quaking aspen or Douglas maple. For more spacious lots, you might want to consider big leaf maple or an aspen.
Wittler recommends phoning the “call before you dig” line at 811 before you start any planting to avoid cutting any utility or cable lines. He also advises not planting trees or shrubs anywhere near power lines or electrical equipment.
If you’re interested in native plants and trees, talk to local nurseries about what you want to accomplish with them, or check out these local resources:
• Washington Native Plant Society, www.wnps.org, a nonprofit organization where you can research native plants.
• Nothing but Northwest Natives sells plants and consults landscapers about plants in the region, bit.ly/nothingbutnatives
• Clark Public Utilities’ StreamTeam volunteers work for clean water and healthier habitat in the Salmon Creek Watershed. For information about classes or volunteer events, call 360-992-8585 or email StreamTeam@clarkpud.com.
• Clark Public Utilities offers a listing of native plants and a brochure, “Gardening with Native Plants,” at bit.ly/gardeningnatives
Energy Adviser is written by Clark Public Utilities. Send questions to ecod@clarkpud.com or to Energy Adviser, c/o Clark Public Utilities, P.O. Box 8900, Vancouver, WA 98668.
