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Fidalgo Island Gardening
To appreciate gardening here requires an understanding of the conditions on the site: | | | ■ Beginning around 18,000 years ago, these islands were sculpted by the Cordilleran ice sheet. The soil left behind is called Vashon till: sand, rocks and clay. | | ■ The site exposure is southeast, with a slope to the beach. This is directly facing into the prevailing salt-laden windstorms. | | ■ The effect of the Olympic Rain Shadow has been discussed. Virtually no rain at all from mid-May to mid-September is not unusual. | | | ■ Snails, slugs, deer and rabbits are cohabitants. An ancient deer trail crosses the property. Despite clearing, building, landscaping and 20 years, the deer still follow the route to the beach munching and snacking as they go. | | ■ Mature Douglas firs on the site send out networks of shallow rootlets which efficiently consume all moisture and nutrients from the soil. | Poor soil, salt air, low summer rainfall, pests and competition from the firs require looking to nature for strategies. Plant selection follows a woodland theme and includes both natives and their ornamental counterparts. Attention to drought and wind resistance is also important.
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Plants Indigenous to Site
Common Name | Scientific Name | | California Honeysuckle | Lonicera hispidula | | Deer Fern | Blechnum spicant | Douglas Fir | Pseudotsuga menziesii | | Early Blue Violet | Viola adunca | | Fireweed | Epilobium augustifolium | | Grand Fir | Abies grandis | | Indian Plum | Oemleria cerasiformis | | Lady Fern | Athyrium filix-femina | Nootka Rose | Rosa nutkana | Ocean Spray | Holodiscus discolor | Orange Honeysuckle | Lonicera ciliosa | Oregon Grape | Mahonia aquifolium | Pacific Madrone | Arbutus menziesii | | Perennial Sweet Pea | Lathyrus latifolius | Red Flowering Currant | Ribes sanguineum | Salal | Gaultheria shallon | Snowberry | Symphoricarpos albus (S. racemosus) | Western Hemlock | Tsuga heterophylla | Western Red Cedar | Thuja plicata | Western Sword Fern | Polystichum munitum |
Selected Northwest Natives
Common Name | Scientific Name | Creeping Dogwood | Cornus canadensis | Douglas Iris | Iris douglasiana | | Evergreen Huckleberry | Vaccinium ovatum | | Kinnikinnick | Arctostaphylos uva-ursi | | Oregon Iris | Iris tenax | Pacific Dogwood | Cornus nuttallii | Pacific Rhododendron | Rhododendron macrophyllum | Sedum 'Cape Blanco' | Sedum spathulifolium | Shore Pine | Pinus contorta contorta | Vine Maple | Acer circinatum |
Garden Visitors
Common Name | Scientific Name | Columbian Black-tail Deer | Odocoileus hemionus columbianis | Common Raccoon | Procyon lotor | Cottontail Rabbit | Sylvilagus nuttalli | Coyote | Canis latrans | Deer Mouse | Peromyscus maniculatus | Douglas' Squirrel | Tamiasciurus douglasii | Little Brown Bat | Myotis lucifugus | Opossum | Didelphis virginiana | Pacific Chorus Frog | Pseudacris regilla | | Pacific Mole | Scapanus orarius | Puget Sound Garter Snake | Thamnophis sirtalis pickeringii | River Otter | Lontra canadensis | Striped Skunk | Mephitis mephitis | Townsend's Chipmunk | Tamias townsendii | Western Gray Squirrel | Sciurus griseus |
 Useful Tools
An Automatic Sprinkler System allows scheduling a nightly 5-10 minute 'sip' watering. This has proven the best strategy with the sandy soil and the greedy Doug firs. With the usual weekly hour of watering, most of the water would be wasted.
A Craftsman Chipper/Shredder has proven invaluable. Every windstorm produces broken branches and debris which I did not want to burn. The debris piling up was becoming a problem, but shredding it has made great mulch and compost material.
The Gardens of Japan have always been an inspiration. I can not, however, claim expertise in Japanese gardens. I can only hope to achieve a Japanese flavor in my gardening. The style is compatible with our Northwest climate and esthetics, and works well with the naturalized setting I am developing.
A Pickup Truck is not a necessity, but it sure is a handy tool. Nursery stock, Japanese temple lanterns, bark mulch, you name it, it all has to be hauled home.
I have several gardening books, but the only one I seem to use is the Western Garden Book from Sunset Magazine. I have not found another single reference as complete or as useful.
Check the Ornamental List for plants which will grow here successfully under the conditions described.
Gardening Links Some links you may find useful in your gardening efforts:
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Douglas Fir
Oregon Grape
Western Sword Fern 
Red Flowering Currant 
Ocean Spray  Salal 
Orange Honeysuckle 
Pacific Dogwood  Western Red Cedar 
Pacific Madrone
| Alien Life Forms
An inspiration for Ridley Scott's "Alien" could well be the Himalayan blackberry (Rubus discolor). Luther Burbank thought we needed a dry, tasteless berry with big hairy seeds and introduced them. They have no diseases, parasites or predators to keep them in check. The vines may grow two feet a day. Cleared land can become an impenetrable 10 feet deep within 2 years. They are designed to inflict pain and injury. The canes grow to an inch thick and bear 3/4 inch thorns. Their wrath cannot be avoided. Every encounter means bleeding and pain. The birds spread their seeds and seedlings cling tenaciously to the ground. If vines touch the ground, a new plant will spring up. The roots will also produce new plants. It likes full sun, full shade, wet, dry, whatever you have. Herbicides such as Roundup™ won't kill it. It is the perfect life form, the plant version of the creature in Ridley Scott's film.
With apologies to my friends in the UK, I must add English ivy (Hedera helix and H. hibernica) to my list of problem aliens. It is magnificent growing on the stone walls of English country houses, where it belongs. In the forests of the Northwest, however, it is a pest. It runs rampant over native vegetation choking it out. It grows up the trunks of Douglas firs and other trees. Its roots penetrate the bark, allowing insects and diseases to enter the tree and kill it. The European starling (another alien here) is especially fond of the ivy’s fruit, thus spreading the seeds. This unfortunate symbiotic relationship only serves to extend both species into new territories. |
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