Native Plants

Using native plants to help preserve and enhance healthy ecosystem function and a water resource legacy for future generations.

Purpose

The Snohomish County Native Plant Program supports the surface water management mission by providing native plants and skilled plant installation for a variety of projects.

Project goals range from the minimization of damage from flooding and erosion to the protection and enhancement of our aquatic habitat and water quality.

The Native Plant Program also provides ongoing vegetation monitoring for these projects to guide our adaptive management approach to natural resource management.

Where the Plants Come From

The same types of plants from different places aren't always equally suited for survival in the same conditions.

Douglas Fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) trees can be found living here in Washington's western lowland forests. This environment is much different than what the Douglas Firs living on the eastern slopes of the Cascade Mountains have adapted to.

The Native Plant Program considers these observations and gets its bare root plant stock from local nurseries throughout the Puget Sound lowlands and also from:

• The harvest of seeds and seedlings from project specific watersheds (i.e. from the lands surrounding a water body which drain to it)
• Within a project site's locally adapted gene pool when available (i.e. existing vegetation at a restoration site is propagated for that site)

Plants destined for surface water management restoration sites arrive at the Snohomish County Native Plant Nursery, in Lake Stevens, during the winter months while they are dormant.

Newsletters

Past Native Plant Program newsletters provide helpful information and highlight previous planting events. Browse the archive of "Going Native" and "Root and Twig" and see what the program has accomplished.