Q. Peter, Our family has about four acres a few miles west of Colville. A gravel road and a highway border it and we would like to plant something to help keep out the dust, noise, and increase privacy. The soil is sandy and there are many small volunteer pine trees. Can you suggest something to try keeping in mind that we don’t have a water source? Will laurel or lilacs tolerate the 15-95F-temperature range? Thank you Bill Hilsendeger – Puyallup, WA
A. Considering the conditions that you are describing (no water) and the fact that this sounds like a second residence I would like you to consider using natives. Natives would be tolerant of the temperature range as well as soil conditions. These plants are prepared to fend for themselves without human intervention. For instance I would venture a guess that unless there are some domesticated pine trees near by the “volunteer pine trees” are Western White Pines (Pinus monticola). These are wind resistant trees that will do well in the sandy soil, which is likely low in fertility. They will average around 50 feet tall. So encouraging these volunteers and transplanting them to appropriate locations would be a good first step in establishing a living evergreen barrier. Another idea for evergreen natives would be Western Yew (Taxus brevifolia) about 10-20 feet tall. If you are interested in a deciduous shrub then consider Oceanspray (Holodiscus discolor) a beautiful flowering shrub with creamy flowers that grows to 20ft. These plants would be equally at home west of the cascades as well. Plant & transplant when the rains in Colville are most regular. This will give the plants a chance to establish themselves. Once established they will be ready to fend for themselves, although they probably wouldn’t complain if you gave them a little fertilizer now and then.