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Salmon Friendly Gardening
Salmon-friendly Gardening Practices
Build healthy soil with compost
Compost helps grow healthy plants with little water, fertilizer or pesticides. It helps soil absorb and store water, and purifies runoff.
- • Mix 2 to 4 inches of compost into the top 6 to 12 inches of soil when planting.
- • Mulch garden beds annually with compost, leaves, bark or wood chips.
- • Top-dress and aerate lawns. Spread up to ½ inch of compost on lawns. Core aerate to get compost and water down to roots.
- • Leave clippings on the lawn.
- • Compost garden and kitchen wastes at home.
- • Compost-amended soils reduce storm runoff by absorbing rainfall, and filter out pollutants, keeping them from reaching streams.
Choose the right plant for the right place
Proper plant selection will enhance habitat and reduce your need to irrigate or use chemicals.
- • Choose plants adapted to your garden conditions.
- • Plant pest- and disease-resistant varieties to reduce the need for chemicals.
- • Go Native! Native plants thrive with little care, in the right conditions.
- • Minimize lawn areas. Most trees, shrubs and groundcovers need less water and fertilizer.
- • Check our Plant Selection Table for plant ideas.
Use water wisely
Efficient irrigation keeps water in lakes and rivers for salmon and prevents plant problems.
- • Choose plants that need little or no irrigation.
- • Group plants with similar watering needs and water appropriately.
- • Water deeply but infrequently to grow deep roots and prevent disease. Soak the roots, then let the top few inches of soil dry before watering again.
- • Use soaker hoses and drip irrigation. Grow healthier plants with at least 50 percent less water.
Use natural fertilizers and pest controls
Nurture soil and garden life that keep plants healthy.
- • Use "natural organic" or "slow-release" fertilizers. They last longer, enhance soil life and don't wash off into streams as easily.
- • Manage pests with traps, barriers and "least toxic" pesticides. Protect pest predators and other essential garden life and salmon too.
- • Think twice before using "weed and feed" and other herbicides. Pull weeds or "spot spray" to minimize herbicide use.
Direct rain water appropriately
Enhance your garden's ability to filter pollutants and prevent runoff.
- • Use porous materials in place of pavement. Gravel paths and drives, stepping stones in grass, bricks or flagstones in sand and wood decks all reduce runoff.
- • Direct runoff into grassy swales or ponds to percolate into the soil.
- • Plant trees! Trees catch rain and let it evaporate before it reaches the ground.
- • Save native soil! Disturb as little native soil as possible during new construction. Scrape topsoil before grading or excavating and reuse it for planting.
Protect shoreline habitat
Preserve and enhance natural vegetation and beaches to create conditions salmon prefer.
- • Plant and preserve a buffer of native trees, shrubs and groundcovers by streams and lakes. They prevent erosion, attract beneficial insects, and provide shade and shelter for salmon. Wider buffers are better, especially where slopes are steep.
- • Preserve streams as part of new landscapes.
- • Minimize bulkheads, docks and other structures. Structures degrade habitat and often worsen erosion.
- • Consult professionals. Plan erosion controls with a civil engineer, hydrologist or landscape architect. Sometimes native plants are the best erosion control.
Related links
Choosing the Right Plants
Smart Watering
Natural Pest, Weed and Disease Control
Stencil a Storm Drain
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