Five Plants to Add to Your Landscape in Oregon

Oregon is located in the Pacific Northwest so planting most plants that love the weather in the Pacific Northwest will give the home a great landscape. Oregon weather is damp most of the year - we do have sunny days during the spring and summer and hot days the end of August and beginning of September. Listed below are a few landscape plants that will love your Oregon yard.

Mugo Pine (Swiss Mountain pine) - Pinus mugo - From the Pinaceae family this great pine loves full sun. The Mugo Pine loves moist loan for its home and originated in the Alpine Europe. Mugo Pine is dark green in color and has 1 to 1 ½ inch long stiff needles (similar to the regular pine tree). The Mugo Pine is a great landscape plant for a front yard and can be used along the side of the house or as a sidepiece along a rock garden area in the yard. Keep in mind that the Mugo Pine can grow to be as tall as 4 to 10 feet so place it where it has room to grow to its full capacity.

Giant Sequoia (Sequoiadendron giganteum) - All along the Pacific Northwest as high as the Olympic peninsula down to Northern California in the Redwood Forest the Giant Sequoia grows. Loving the damp weather and conditions along the coastal areas. These trees grow for hundreds of years and grow to be hundreds if not thousands of feet high. Keep this in mind if planning to use the Giant Sequoia as a landscape tree in the city. It is best to purchase a small start of this tree, begin its life at your home in a planting bucket. Keep it moist and in direct sunlight. It will take approximately 2 -3 years for your Giant Sequoia to need a home in the ground of your landscape. Be sure to put this tree in an area that will accommodate it's gigantic size because moving it once the root system is set will usually kill the tree in it's childhood. These make beautiful additions to landscapes on country homes but can become problematic in a city or town.

Kinnikinnick- (Arctostapylos uva-ursi) - This is a beautiful dark green plant is also called the Bear Berry. Using Kinnikinnick as ground cover in your rock garden or along the edges of the flowerbeds is beautiful and makes a good addition to any home landscape. The Kinnikinnick looks beautiful along the slopping sides of the rock garden. Loves full sun and enjoys the moist ground of the Oregon weather.

Monkey Puzzle Tree is an evergreen tree that has quite the shape and limbs. Always a conversation piece the Monkey Puzzle Tree is great in the front yard as an eye catcher. Ark green, stiff needles cover the tree giving it the appearance of being armored against its enemies. The Monkey Puzzle-Tree needs a large growing space with lots of warm sun and moist soil. Plant it in the landscape area where there is enough room for the Monkey Tree to grow to its full capacity.

Portugal Laurel - Prunus Lustianica - This is a beautiful plant and makes a great addition to any garden. The Portugal Laurel is a dark green shrub; growing very dense it makes a good boarder plant. Place it around the outside areas of your yard or garden as a boarder. With small white flowers that give a fragrant smell in June the Portugal Laurel is great around the patio area for those who spend time out in their yards. Suggestion to planters is that if you live in the city it is not a good idea to plant shrubs around the front of your home for safety reasons. It is always good to keep your home visible from the street for police and emergency vehicles. However, that being said Portugal Laurel loves the State of Oregon as it grows in warm and cool areas and loves the moist rain of the spring and fall times.