Planting the Understory

The striking white trunks of paper bark birches (Betula jacquemontii) highlighted in the shade of the understory. Photo: Greg Graves

I have learned to create layers in the garden. Not only does this make the garden more interesting but it also encourages habitat for birds, insects, and animals. Here in my Northwest garden I have about six layers: tall trees, understory trees, large shrubs, small shrubs, perennials, and ground covers.

My garden is filled with native trees—Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii), Western red cedar (Thuya plicata), and big leaf maples (Acer macrophyllum). The large conifers are more than 100-feet tall and the maple are around 60-feet tall, creating a tall overhead canopy but leaving a lot of space between the big trees and the ground. So, as I was building my garden, I concentrated on the understory, that layer of trees ranging from 20 to 40 feet.

Full moon maple Acer japonicum 'Aconitifolium' at the Elisabeth C. Miller botanical Garden. Photo: Greg Graves

For more than a dozen years I worked at the ...