Our Chapter's Landscape Committee is a Busy One!

 Past and Current Projects

• Completing Hazel Hall Trail

• Assessing, planting, labeling, maintaining Waterlife Discovery Center

• Organizing the planting of Mickinnick Trailhead

• Cleaning the creekside area of the Healing Garden

• Reassessing the state of native plants, and possibly planting

• Continuing the plans for a demonstration shadegarden at the Arboretum

Contact Information 

Utilize Native Plants of Bonner County in your Landscaping!   
List of Bonner Cty Natives Compiled by our Chapter!

Landscape Consultation
Landscape Consultation Policy and Consultation

LEARN HOW TO NATURESCAPE

HOW TO GET STARTED WITH NATURESCAPING

The following tips are from the King County, Wash., Department of Natural Resources and Parks.

1. PICK YOUR SPOT

To benefit most from your new landscape, plant natives next to trees, greenbelts, waterfront or a neighbor's natural area. Start with the least used areas of your lawn, or places where the lawn is struggling. That shady corner may be better suited to natives than to turf.

2. CHOOSE YOUR PLANTS

Is your yard dry and sunny? Wet and shady? Select plants that will thrive in your yard's unique environment. Native plants are available for just about every condition. Find the right plant for the right place. Four trees and 16 shrubs in a 400-square-foot area creates a dense planting; fewer plants will make a big difference, too.

3. CHECK YOUR SOIL

Dig a test hole. If your topsoil is less than 6 inches, add more, but find a weed-free source. Build your soil with compost.

4. PLANT

Create a natural appearance by clustering similar species, varying planting distances and curving borders. Plant your new trees and shrubs between October and April and follow the specific planting instructions for your plants carefully. A general guideline is to place trees 10-15 feet apart and shrubs 3-5 feet apart. Plant directly into the lawn, creating a hole at least twice the width of the potted plant. Remove all grass within a foot of the plant's stem.

5. MULCH

Put clean corrugated cardboard over the grass around your newly planted trees and shrubs. Overlap cardboard sheets 6 inches and keep the cardboard and mulch 4 inches from the base of the new plants. Put 4 inches of compost, topsoil, grass clippings or a combination on top. Over time - voila! Your grass is gone and your plants are mulched.

6. MAINTAIN

Planting natives will not free you of all yard work. (Sorry.) You will need to water your new plants for their first two summers, and you'll have to keep after invasive weeds until the natives are established. Don't worry if your plants don't grow much the first year - they are developing healthy root systems and will eventually take off.

Rocks or logs partially buried between grass and natural areas will help keep the grass where you want it.

DID YOU KNOW?

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, use of gas-powered lawn and garden equipment accounts for as much as 5 percent of the total man-made hydrocarbons that contribute to ozone formation each year. If 1,000 gas-powered mowers were taken out of the equation, emissions of volatile organic compounds could be reduced almost 10 tons per year, which is equivalent to taking 230 cars off the road.