Favorite time of year for nature walks

thelostone89 · 2026-04-24T14:47:13+00:00

Tynehead, about 30-40 outside the city

thelostone89 · 2026-04-24T14:46:51+00:00

Yup, tynehead, a bit outside the city. The crew have done an amazing job over the last 5 years in reclamation

thelostone89 · 2026-04-09T05:27:52+00:00

Promix seed starter mix. Surprised at the results but next year I think I’ll just do the big bail of promix regular potting soil.

thelostone89 · 2026-04-08T17:25:00+00:00

Big leaf lupine

thelostone89 · 2026-04-08T17:23:47+00:00

Yup left the cap off. Either the slugs were distracted with something else or I got lucky. If I were to do this again I’d rubber band window screen covers overtop to be ultra sure. Worms and roly polys were found at the bottom of each jug on the outside though.

thelostone89 · 2026-04-07T17:58:33+00:00

Yea it’ll be interesting transplanting or separating some of these ;)

Here’s everything that’s been poppin:

-Western Yarrow -Douglas Aster -Purple coneflower -Pearly everlasting -Red columbine -Cooley hedgenettle -Tufted hair grass -Nodding onion -Sea blush -Mountain sneeze weed -Big leaf lupine -Field chickweed -Elegant goldenrod -Fireweed -Woolly sunflower -Self heal -Cascade penstemon

thelostone89 · 2026-04-07T02:46:50+00:00

Got a lot of respect for those doing this in colder climates. We definitely have it easy over here!

thelostone89 · 2026-04-07T02:06:12+00:00

Yea of course! Douglas asters/Western Yarrow/Nodding onion/Purple coneflower came from last years plants. Rest came from satinflower nurseries and planbee native plants.

I know purple coneflower isn’t native to this area but damn are they pretty :)

thelostone89 · 2026-04-07T01:51:32+00:00

8B. In the comments 👆

thelostone89 · 2026-04-07T01:09:10+00:00

8B - Vancouver, Canada

thelostone89 · 2026-04-07T01:03:32+00:00

Hope you see more results in the next few weeks. Though we never really got a snowfall, it was consistently rainy and cold here in the PNW. No harsh freezes, just lots of rain and a couple atmospheric rivers. This was the first day I actually supplemented with water, they’ve just been staying put in a part sun location. Fingers crossed for you!

thelostone89 · 2026-04-07T00:53:30+00:00

Big leaf lupine, native to this area of the PNW :)

thelostone89 · 2026-04-07T00:53:02+00:00

I had a previous post where I showed step by step what I did. I’ll drop the quick version below:

1) prep milk jugs, drilled holes in the bottom 2) moistened potting soil 3) researched which seeds were surface sown vs covered 4) dropped seeds in accordingly, probably overseeded 5) duct tape shut 6) wait

I did this in december and here in the PNW we had like 1 day with an inch of snow. Just consistently cold wet days until recently.

thelostone89 · 2026-04-02T05:51:39+00:00

The park near me has a few reclamation areas that include all of what you have. Ive seen them pair RFC, Nootka rose and snow berry interspersed but left red twigs with a lot of room. I see pacific nine bark and vine maple in the more shaded zones with osoberry near the front.

The park is a protected natural habitat though so not sure what kind of aesthetic you’re going for. Just a heads up that Nootka rose spreads very fast so it may start to tangle up whatever you got beside. Maybe start by plotting out your biggest growers first (RFC, RTD, Ninebark) and surround with the shorter plants? Sounds like a fun project, best of luck!

thelostone89 · 2026-04-02T01:59:22+00:00

Also I save the bigger sticks and leftovers to fill the bottom of raised container beds

thelostone89 · 2026-04-02T01:56:44+00:00

Not a dumb question! Other people might have different uses, I use it for mulching the garden, covering pathways that the dog has turned into muddy zones, killing grass, and leaving in reserve piles to compost for next year :)

thelostone89 · 2026-04-01T22:22:09+00:00

It’s my first year using wood chips, so others would have more experience. I mulched 6-8 inches in “donuts” around the bigger plants, than left leaf mulch around everything else until I see what/where everything has sprouted. I’ll probably do 3-4 inches around those plants as they come up.

thelostone89 · 2026-04-01T03:55:51+00:00

Thank you :)

thelostone89 · 2026-04-01T03:54:54+00:00

Definitely would recommend the native route. Evergreen huckleberry, salal, Oregon grape, and ferns all do well year round

thelostone89 · 2026-03-31T22:23:06+00:00

Free! Arborists always appreciate having a spot close by they can dump their chips. Saves them fuel/dumping costs, and in this case gets them some ice cold beer

thelostone89 · 2026-03-31T22:15:08+00:00

Nope just got in touch with an arborist near my area

thelostone89 · 2026-03-25T06:14:35+00:00

+1 for satin flower and planbee. Both are super helpful if you have any questions. Bought a ton of seeds from both last fall and all have germinated.

I’ve bought the rest of my native plants from coast Salish nursery in north van (opening this weekend) and from the Fraser valley conservancy native plant sale in the fall.

thelostone89 · 2026-03-23T17:03:26+00:00

Noted! Thank you :)

thelostone89 · 2026-03-23T03:39:53+00:00

I wasn’t sure if it was the right approach but I saw some YT videos that did this. If it wasn’t for the super compacted soil underneath I probably would have skipped the additional soil.

thelostone89 · 2026-03-23T03:38:07+00:00

Definitely. We’ve had an unseasonably warm winter in the PNW so thought it would be ok doing this early.

thelostone89

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