Here Are The Best Native Plants For San Carlos Gardens

SAN CARLOS, CA — Planting season, as San Carlos gardeners know, is officially upon us. And before you dig out those dusty trowels and gloves, take note of the plants that naturally grow in the area. We’re talking about native plants, which grew here long before Europeans started building settlements. They’re the foundation of the region’s biodiversity, and provide key food sources and shelter to birds.

Fortunately the folks at the National Audubon Society have done all the hard work to ensure gardeners have what they need to find the best native plants. The group has a database that includes perennials, shrubs, grasses, succulents, trees, vines and evergreens. Each entry also details what types of birds the plants attract.

The database allows users to filter results by plant type, resources and bird species they attract.
Regional Audubon experts hand-select the “best results” for each. In San Carlos, some of the best flowers to grow this season include the Big Leaf Maple, which attracts mockingbirds, thrashers and vireos.

This deciduous tree usually grows 20 to 75 feet tall with a large, often multi-stemmed trunk, a loose, broad crown, and leaves that are the largest of all the maples. Its glossy, dark green foliage turns an attractive yellow-orange in the fall, and its fruit, sweet-tasting flowers, and sap are favored by surrounding wildlife including deer and squirrels. This tree can grow in full sun to shade, and in cool, dry to moist soils.

These plants are key resources for birds and are relatively easy to grow. Perhaps just as importantly, many are available at local native plant nurseries, which the organization also lists.

Here are places where you can buy native plants:

• San Bruno Mountain Watch
  44 Visitacion Avenue, Suite 206 in Brisbane

Americans spent a record $47.8 billion on lawn and garden retail sales in 2017, according to the National Gardening Survey. The average household spent more than $500 on gardening. And while older adults accounted for 35 percent of all gardeners, millennials were getting their hands and knees dirty at all-time high levels. Adults 18-34 accounted for 29 percent of all gardeners, the survey found.

Among the recent trends — more people are investing in raised beds as opposed to digging holes, and they’re spending money on apps rather than glossy gardening books.

—Patch national staffer Dan Hampton contributed to this report.