If you want native plant landscaping in Woodland, WA, the plants already know the climate. Red-flowering currant, Oregon grape, salal and sword fern grew here long before lawns did, and once established they get through dry summers on little extra water.
A rain garden takes that further: instead of letting roof water puddle on the lawn, it catches the water in a shallow planted bowl and lets it soak in. Bogar Landscaping designs and builds both, across Clark and Cowlitz County.
Native Plant Landscaping in Woodland, WA: What It Includes
Native plant landscaping in Woodland is still a designed garden, built from plants adapted to Southwest Washington. It covers:
- Plant plan. Natives grouped by sun, shade and winter wetness, often mixed with lawn and a few ornamentals.
- Clearing invasives. Himalayan blackberry and English ivy have to go first. Our blackberry and ivy removal crew digs out the root crowns.
- Soil and planting. Compost where the ground is compacted, plants set at the right depth and spacing.
- Mulch and water. Wood chips or bark dust, and a watering plan for the first summers. WSU notes most plants need 1 to 2 years to establish.
Native Plants That Work in Southwest Washington Yards
| Plant | Where it fits | Why we use it |
|---|---|---|
| Red-flowering currant | Sun to part shade, dry once established | Early pink flowers that feed hummingbirds |
| Tall Oregon grape | Sun or shade | Evergreen, yellow flowers, blue berries |
| Salal and sword fern | Dry shade under Douglas fir and cedar | Evergreen cover where lawn fails |
| Red-twig dogwood and Pacific ninebark | Moist to wet ground | Screening, red winter stems, takes wet feet |
| Snowberry and evergreen huckleberry | Sun or shade | Tough hedging and berries for birds |
| Kinnikinnick | Sunny, dry banks | Low evergreen groundcover |
| Slough sedge and camas | Winter-wet low spots | Rain garden bottoms and wet meadows |
Rain Garden Installation: How a Rain Garden Works
A rain garden is a shallow, flat-bottomed bowl of loose, compost-rich soil, planted with species that handle wet winters and dry summers. Roof water flows in, ponds briefly and soaks in; extra water leaves by a rock-lined overflow.
The Rain Garden Handbook for Western Washington, written by WSU Extension and published by the Department of Ecology, is the standard guide. It calls for a ponding depth of 6 or 12 inches and a soil mix of roughly 60% sand and 40% compost. Ecology now also hosts an updated 2025 edition from the Snohomish Conservation District. Plants go in by zone, with sedges and dogwood in the wet bottom and Oregon grape or red-flowering currant on the dry rim.
Signs Your Yard Is a Good Fit for a Rain Garden
- Downspouts dump onto the lawn or splash against the foundation.
- Water sheets across the yard toward a patio, walk or neighbor.
- There is open, gently sloped ground away from the house.
- The soil drains when you dig into it in winter.
The handbook also lists places a rain garden should not go: within 10 feet of a foundation, within 50 feet uphill or 10 feet downhill of a septic system, within 100 feet of a drinking-water well, over utilities, or where winter groundwater sits high. On those sites we look at a downspout drainage or catch basin solution instead.
How We Install a Rain Garden
- Locate and site. We request a utility locate, as state law requires, and apply the handbook's setbacks.
- Test infiltration. We dig a test hole about 2 feet deep, fill it and time the drop, ideally in the wet season.
- Size it. The area draining to it times the handbook's sizing factor for your rainfall and soil.
- Route the water by pipe or swale, with a rock pad where it enters.
- Excavate without compacting the flat, level bottom.
- Add the soil mix and shape an overflow that never points at the house or a neighbor.
- Plant by zone and mulch with coarse wood chips.
- Water through the first two summers.
Rain Garden vs. Dry Creek Bed vs. French Drain
| Option | What it does | Best for | Limits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rain garden | Holds roof water and soaks it in on site | Downspouts with open, draining ground | Needs space, setbacks and decent infiltration |
| Dry creek bed | Carries water across the yard in river rock | Moving roof water to an outlet, adding a feature | Moves water rather than soaking much of it in |
| French drain | Collects groundwater in a buried perforated pipe | Soggy lawns, wet foundations, hillside seepage | Needs somewhere lower to send the water |
The river rock dry creek in our photos carries roof water across a new-build yard; ending one in a rain garden is a natural pairing. See our French drain page for buried drainage.
Rain Garden Installation in Woodland: Rain, Soil and Groundwater
NOAA's 1991 to 2020 normals put Longview at 48.12 inches of rain a year and Battle Ground at 52.37, so rain garden installation in Woodland falls near the line between the handbook's 40 to 50 and 50 to 70 inch sizing regions. With soil draining 0.25 to 0.49 inches per hour, the factors are 11% and 12%, so 1,000 square feet of roof needs roughly 110 to 120 square feet of rain garden.
Soil varies block to block. Sandy river soils in town drain well, but the heavy Caples silty clay loam of the Woodland Bottoms has a seasonal water table 1.5 to 2.5 feet down from November to April, ruling out many spots. For permitted projects in Clark County, the county stormwater manual requires a measured infiltration rate of at least 0.3 inches per hour.
What Affects the Cost of Native Plantings and Rain Gardens
- Size. Planting area, or rain garden area set by your roof and soil.
- Invasive removal. Blackberry, ivy and old turf add labor and haul-off.
- Soil. Replacing heavy clay with rain garden mix costs more than amending soil that already drains.
- Piping. Distance from downspouts, and trenching around walks or drives.
- Plant sizes and planting density.
Rain garden estimates follow the infiltration test.
