Tis the season to plant on Vashon.
We’re on the leading edge of winter now, a season when, as the cliché goes, the natural world “goes to sleep.” But the cliché is only partly true. Small mammals in the mild-climate maritime Northwest will stay active all winter. And you can see on Vashon right now many species of migratory birds resting temporarily on their arduous trip south to the tropics, where they’ll actively feed all winter.
It's different for a lot of plants. Dormancy takes serious hold of them. Which makes this the perfect time to plant many natives, something the Land Trust’s stewardship crew knows well. This week, the Stew Crew is planting out hundreds of ferns and shrubby plants at Johnson Pond. Last fall, the crew thinned an overstocked stand of Doug-firs at the pond, bringing daylight to the forest floor. But they waited to start planting the understory until temps dropped, the November rains came, and the plants themselves went dormant.
Why wouldn’t they wait even longer, until spring, when the natural world (here comes another cliché) “awakens” and plants start to grow? Because the Stew Crew knows that plants take advantage of winter dormancy in their tops to strengthen root systems below. Planting now, as winter begins, gives individual plants a chance to settle in and secure a living before they have to start putting out top growth and withstanding warmer summer temperatures, which can lead to potentially deadly moisture loss. A droughty summer climate like Vashon’s really challenges plants—even natives adapted to the region—from mid-July to mid-September (and longer, as climate change’s impacts are increasingly felt).
You can plant natives now too. Many native-plant nurseries in the area offer stock to get in the ground as the weather turns. Native conifers like Doug-fir and Western Red Cedar love a good winter of rain and coolness to get settled. Ditto for shrubby plants like sword ferns, evergreen huckleberry, Oregon grape, and so on. You can find plenty of online lists of native plants for Vashon. Or come by the Land Trust for some advice.
The Land Trust will be holding its Annual Tree sale early in 2023 to aid in all of your native planting needs. Sales will be online only from January 3rd - 29th. Plant pickup will be on February 4th from 9:00am - 1:00pm at the Land Trust building. To start planning your planting, please check out the Tree Sale page.
