The RGJ has a good article today about growing native plants in our yards. It provides some advice, but it also mentions some of the challenges. One is the question of whether we even have many local natives that would work as landscape plants. (Drive toward Pyramid Lake past Spanish Springs or east on I-80 past Sparks and see how many plants along the road you'd want in your yard.) The desert has its own beauty, but it is not evident in its most common plants.


I already have the most colorful one: rabbitbrush (Chrysothamnus nauseosus). (I started to say I "grow" it, but it appeared and grows by itself.) We also have greasewood (Sarcobatus vermiculatus) and saltgrass (Distichlis stricta) here. These are all plants with roots that go down to the water table. We do have a high water table; our lot is on what is called a "low-lying lake terrace, " and our soil is clay with a lot of sodium salts and alkali. In other words, we don't even have the sandy soil that a lot of homes around here have and that is required for plants like sagebrush and desert peach (which I would love to grow).

The article says, "In many cases, native plants are inappropriate for use in the home landscape because their growth is limited to a certain elevation, to a specific soil type or by soil drainage requirements." However, it might be possible to choose a native mountain plant, which requires more precipitation than we get here in town, and then replace the precipitation with irrigation. There are more kinds of native mountain plants than desert natives.

If you're really interested in growing natives, I urge you to learn about your unique soil first. The people at the university Coop Extension should be able to help you with that. They also have some helpful publications on line:

"Selected Native Trees of Northern Nevada—Are They Right for the Home Landscape?"
"Selected Native Shrubs of Northern Nevada—Are They Right For The Home Landscape?"

If you have sandy soil, check out the desert peach! I didn't find a non-copyrighted photo in a quick search, so here's a link to photo on the Comstock Seed site that will make it obvious why I'd like to grow it. Comstock Seed is a Gardnerville company that specializes in native seeds.