Category: Landscape

Here in Washington state, the woodland undergrowth will almost always include salal. As common as ferns yet more tolerant of conditions and widespread from Alaska to California. This dense, sometimes impenetrable bush extends from the eastern side of the Cascades to the west side and on to the coast. A study of the northwest forest…

These projects won’t impress a finished carpenter, but they do serve a purpose. That’s why they were made, to solve a problem. The first is a compost bin created to capture the fall leaves. The amount of fall leaves that drop on this property is immeasurable. Somewhere there’s a forest of deciduous trees with no…

Back in 2015, our plum tree got clobbered by a falling 180 foot tall Douglas fir; practically split it in half from the top down. It survived and since has been left alone. Until the other day when we heard a crack and swish. Not an unfamiliar sound around here, but this was distinctive. Our…

The poor English holly (Ilex latifolia) has a bad reputation for being an invasive species. Described as “highly invasive” and a “serious threat” to other more desirable native species of plants. In my many travels around Washington state I’ve seen massive bushes that stand like trees. So large and wide they become a hedge. But…

This steep hillside along the street once flowed a torrent of salal. The native shrub grows prolifically here and is good for erosion control. But it was feet thick with decades of dead growth underneath. As it cascaded down it covered rocks and ferns alike. Anything in its way got covered and ended up a…