Why the emphasis on native plants?
Native plants are suited to our local climate and soils so they don’t require watering, fertilizer, or pesticides. Native plants are hosts for many species of beneficial insects (PDF download) that serve as pollinators, food for salmon, trout and birds, and predators of harmful insects. They also provide seeds and fruit for birds. Salmon depend on native plants for shade, shelter (young salmon hide in overhanging shrubs at all times of the year), food (the mayflies, stoneflies, and caddisflies that salmon eat all need native plants), and leaf litter. Many native riparian plants including cottonwood, dogwood, willow, and elderberry grow well from cuttings. Floodwaters frequently break branches and uproot these plants from shorelines and gravel bars. The ability of these plants to grow from cuttings allows them to sprout when they are buried in mud and gravel after floodwaters recede. In this manner, the plants propagate and stabilize scoured streambanks and loose sediment. Snohomish Cou
