People think it rains all the time in western Oregon, but in reality that's not true. Just don't tell anyone, it's our little secret - We just tell people it always rains so they'll leave us alone. While it can rain quite a bit in the winter months at times, we tend to get long, sunny and relatively dry summers here.
Add to that the fact that a lot of the soil in the area is clay (mine is a reddish clay), and plants have a hard time getting water in the summertime. It's a soil that's got lots of nutrients, but the plants tend to have difficulty absorbing the nutrients and the clay tends to keep the water from effectively reaching the plants. A plant that is set directly in clay is likely to have a hard time without some help at planting time. I've found from my own experience that a little extra work when the hole is dug makes for a much healthier plant.
So, proper soil prep is important, and when it's done well, you can't hardly keep plants from growing in the Pacific Northwest.
Amending clay soil:
- Dig your hole, make it generous in size
- Put a liberal amount of Doctor Earth organic starter fertilizer in the hole first (organic fertilizer is great because it can go next to the roots and it's almost impossible to burn a plant with a good organic starter fertilizer)
- Mix the native clay soil 50-50 with a quality amendment bagged soil before putting it into the hole
- Place the plant and back-fill with your local/amended soil
Just a few plants that can work very well in dry and clay soil (and there are hundreds of others):
- Phormium
- California Lilac (shiny, evergreen, nice and tight, blooms, 4-5')
- Rugosa (wild) or Juniper Roses (low-lying)
- Pampas Grass (grows big)