Native Landscaping in Idaho

There are so many beautiful plants that are native to Idaho that can be used to landscape around your home. These plants include many different colors, shapes, heights and peak seasons for blooming! By using native plants, you can help keep a beautiful landscape almost year-round with little effort on your part. Let the Idaho seasons begin! 

Reasons for having native landscape plants include; the short-seasons here in Idaho, native plants have adapted to our regions, native plants have lower water use, and they take less labor and maintenance. Who wouldn’t want to have a native landscape with all of those amazing perks? 

Information on landscaping with native plants can be found at University of Idaho’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences website.

Picking your favorite native plants may be the hardest part of changing your landscape to a native landscape as there are so many beautiful options to choose from. 

Check out a list of native plants at the University of Idaho’s website and this article on Landscaping with Native Plants of the Intermountain Region.

When using native plants to create your landscape you are also helping provide wildlife habitat, improving your soils, and helping your local pollinators. You will reduce your water use as these plants were made to survive Idaho. You will create a beautiful scenery for yourself, a place for pollinators to roam, and a home for wildlife.

Information on how your native landscape is helping provide wildlife with habitat visit Washington State University’s website.

Need more reasons to choose to plant a native garden? Check out this video from Michigan State University and listens to Laurie Kaufman explain her reasons for switching from a traditional landscape to a native garden. 

Vertical Gardening with Pallets

Have you always wanted a garden but didn’t think you had enough outdoor space? How would you like to grow your own ‘salad wall’? Not everyone has access to large garden spaces and cities are becoming more crowded and dependent on apartment living. By 2050, almost 80% of the earth's population will be living in urban areas.

Vertical pallet gardens or “green walls” are an innovative solution that has become quite popular! They are easy to create and very sustainable. Imagine being able to create a decorative succulent wall near your front door, or being able to have fresh vegetables right on your balcony! Vertical gardens help to reduce the carbon footprint by filtering pollutants and carbon dioxide out of the air, which improves our air quality.







Not only is pallet gardening fun and easy, below are a few benefits:

• use your space more efficiently
• conserve water
• decrease insects and disease
• reduce the need to weed
• eliminate back pain by decreasing bending which is easier on your back, knees, and hips

Wood pallets are a perfect choice for your green wall. You can often find them for very little money, or even for free! You can choose to lean or hang your pallet on a wall or fence, or make a stand to hold it. See this video for a variety of pallet gardening examples.




When selecting plants for your vertical garden, choose plants with a shallow root system: lettuce, tomatoes, strawberries, cucumbers, arugula, spinach, chard, dwarf peas, parsley, bush beans, and kale. Herbs like rosemary, thyme, and basil are also perfect for pallet gardening as well.


It is important to know the right type of pallet to use. If you decide to grow food plants, use a pallet that is stamped “HT,” which means heat treated. This type of pallet does not have chemicals that can leach out into your garden. If recycling a used pallet, kill any bacteria that may be lurking inside by scrubbing down the wood with a bleach solution and then soapy water and let it dry before planting.




How to Build a Pallet Garden: See this video for a demonstration.




If you choose to line all 4 sides of the pallet with landscape fabric and cut holes in front for your plant, complete steps 1-3 first. If you choose not to, skip to step 4.

1. Lay your pallet down horizontally, and use a staple gun to adhere landscape fabric to the pallet.
2. Once you have 3 sides done, fill the pallet with potting soil. Press potting soil down firmly. 
3. Staple the last landscape fabric to the front of the pallet.
4. Transfer your plants while the pallet is still lying flat. It is a good idea to leave the pallet laying horizontally for 1-2 weeks to allow the young plants to take root. 
5. When watering, start at the top and water each section a little less because the water will seep downward to the bottom of the pallet. Water frequently as plants will dry out quickly. 
6. Fertilize your plants, as recommended specific to your plants, to provide them the nutrients they need to grow.


I WANT A FRUIT TREE. NOW WHAT?

Selecting fruit trees to grow in your yard or orchard depends on several factors:  available space, height and width restrictions, soil type, exposure to good light and air circulation, preferred type of fruit, type of root-stock, and much more. 

The first step is to plan. 

·         The following factors should be considered as you plan: 

• Climate zone,
• Soil type and pH,
• Location and surrounding landscaping,
  
• Drainage,
• Overhead restrictions (power lines, other trees, shading),
• Width restrictions (fences, buildings, property lines),
• Underground restrictions (sewer/power/telephone lines, septic tanks or drain fields, layers of poor soil, wells),
• Irrigation and fertilizing,
• Time needed for tree care,
• Pruning,
• Harvesting,
• Spraying.

Selection of the trees is one of the most important steps. 

There are several great resources to help you select a tree for your yard.
The Pacific Northwest Handbooks publication EC 819, Growing Tree Fruits and Nuts in the Home Orchard
The Treasure Valley is Area II in this publication.

Other factors to consider are: 

•          Choose a reliable nursery with appropriate stock selected for this area,
•          Choice of fruit,
•          Varieties of chosen fruit that grow best in this region, 
•          Dwarf or semi-dwarf root stock,
•          Bare root, ball and burlap (B&B), or containerized stock,
•         Need of a pollinator or self-pollinator,
•          Blooming and harvest times,
•          Pests – insects, birds, or disease resistant.

To maintain a strong tree or orchard, time must be given towards tree health.   There are numerous publications from Extension Services through the University of Idaho, Washington State University, and Oregon State University to assist you with your specific trees.

https://youtu.be/_YqQPtsC-eA

The following are important items to consider toward maintaining a vigorous home fruit tree:

•          Training of tree branches,
•         Thinning and pruning,
•          Irrigation needs,
•          Fertilization needs,
•          Insect and disease control,
•          Weed 
•          Rodent control.

Click for more fruit tree information 

This helpful publication below is specific to the Treasure Valley. It can be obtained free of charge from the University of Idaho Extension Services offices in Canyon County (208) 459-6003.

In summary, a backyard fruit tree or orchard is a wonderful addition to your landscaping.  Be sure to choose trees that are compatible to your region, soil, and property.  With the proper selection, you can enjoy fruit from your backyard trees for many years to come.