What is your experience growing Juniperus horizontalis ( Bar Harbor juniper) in the PNW ? I grew several dozen of them in Cal. as a drought tolerant errosion control on our steep creek bank. We averaged 6.5"- 10" of rainfall / year from Mid Nov..- mid March. I am considering growing them on the new hills excavated from a meandering ( snakelike) dry creek bed 2.5'- 4+' wide and about 1' deep (with sloping banks)that I am currently digging along the 124' S side of the lot. also along the fence. The front of the property is on a cul de sac and faces E. the long side is to the S, the back yard faces W. The side yard is about 80' from the S fence to the house , so full sun all day when it is out. The other side of the house is from 6' to 12' wide and is on the N side.   I would like to get your recomendaations for LOW maintanance trees, shrubs, bushes, and ground covers as destroying years of neglected weeds will take a long time to control.

most of our natives could be considered low maintenance once they are established. A bit of a hedgerow effect along your dry stream might be pretty cool. Is your dry stream bed just for show, or is it actually designed to channel runoff from uphill? That can make a difference with things like vine maple that like the extra water, or for that matter with things like red-flowering currant that DON'T want wet feet.

A foot tall now of loose dirt will virtually disappear over time as things settle though, so unless you plan on refreshing and building up the berm, don't expect that over time to remain as noticeable as it is now. It will however help stuff that likes extra drainage to get established.

Anyway, some natives I would expect would work well;
trees-

Acer circinatum (vine maple)- ubiquitous and quite beautiful, but may not like the full sun and drought so much. It will often respond to that kind of stress by changing to its fall color early in late summer, as in late July and August, which can be somewhat disconcerting

Acer glabrum douglasii (douglas maple)- perhaps better than the vine for your situation, since it is happier in drier and sunnier spots. It likes the extra drainage, in fact, often growing in rocky well drained soils this side of the mountains. Will handle moisture too though, as it is a riparian plant east of the mountains.

Amelanchier alnifolia (serviceberry, shadblow)- cherry like flowers, bluish green summer leaves, blueberry like berries, one of the best large shrub/small trees in our native flora for wildlife and very ornamental too

Rhamnus purshiana (cascara)- simply branched, easy peasy small tree like the above rarely higher than 20 feet, perhaps the best deciduous small tree for wildlife, especially good at attracting the insects that the smaller birds love to eat

shrubs-
Arctostaphylos columbiana (Columbia mazanita)- ok, pushing the "low maintenance" part, though if it does well these ARE low maintenance, cast iron plants. Trouble is, they are difficult to impossible to get established, IF you can find one. Beautiful though, and evergreen, and flowers in late winter, so worth the effort if you have a good spot for them. Needs PERFECT drainage, full sun, and more than its share of prayers, voodoo incantations, or whatever works, lol.

Ceanothus velutinus (buckbrush, snowbush)- the native evergreen, white flowered ceanothus, again like the above hard to find and picky to get started, but cast iron once established. The flowers have an almost intoxicating rich fragrance, that certainly gets its share of polinators. Not easy to establish, but low maintenance once it is.

Cornus sericea (red-twig dogwood, red-osier)- one of the easiest of native shrubs to grow, the one bit of maintenance most people do to it is optional- cutting it back every few years to regenerate the "red" twigs and keep it shorter. This is done in late winter when there isn't as much maintenance to do in the garden too, and as I said it is optional. Left to its own design in full sun it creates a large sprawling shrub to around 10-15 feet, more over time. And the branches that reach soil may well root, gradually expanding the colony. There are lots of cultivars of this one, including dwarf (Kelsei) and semi-dwarf (Isanti) vatieties if size is an issue. The one problem you might have in full hot sun is drought tolerance, but for a wetland plant these are remarkably drought tolerant as well. Just don't push that too much, lol.

Gaultheria shallon (Salal)- should be called "peace berry" since both the specific epitet (Shallom in arabic) and the common name mean "peace in their respective languages. Evergreen, suckering as it gets older, great background shrub though some give it the stink eye for being so common. Can be tough to get it established but once achieved you can't ask for a more low maintenance shrub. Only thing you will have to do is control the runners on paths, and give it an occasional trim to control die back if it happens. Other than that never needs maintenance. Oh, and edible berries, if you like them.

Holodiscus discolor (oceanspray)- tall shrub to 10-15 feet over time, creamy white pyramidal flowers age to buff fluffy seed heads that are a bounty for winter birds. Very thin but incredibly strong stems offer a haven for small birds building nests too.

Lonicera involucrata (twinberry)- our native bush honeysuckle, with paired tubular yellow flowers wich are followed by black berries, guarded by a perfoliate bract that turns bright red as the berries mature. This is another wetland shrub that may need more water than you can give it naturally, but if it works is low maintenance and easy to either just leave to its own or prune to whatever shape you want.

Mahonia aquifolium (tall Oregon grape)- easy drought tolerant and sun loving shrub to 12 feet plus, spring yellow flowers and summer purple grape like berries. Can sucker quite a bit when the roots are disturbed or the top is pruned too much, but otherwise pretty low maintenance, especially when planted in a hedgerow kind of thing where the persistent leaves aren't a problem.

Myrica californica (wax myrtle)- coastal shrub 10-15 feet tall, evergreen, good cover for birds and other critters, fast growing and easy to care for so long as it gets good drainage and full sun. This is one of the fastest and easiest hedgeable plants in our native flora.

Philadelphus lewisii (western mock orange)- tall sprawling shrub to 15 plus feet, incredible fragrant white flowers in early summer, prefers full sun and good drainage but will take a fair amount of spring moisture if it has to. One of the best native shrubs for polinators, I once saw a shrub east of the mountains with no less than 7 butterfly species nectaring on it, PLUS at least three varietes of flies, 2 beetles, and who knows how many wasps and bees. In other words, any polinator in the area is likely to take advantage when these are in bloom.

Ribes sanguineum (red flowering currant)- there are other members of the ribes clan that will also work, but this is the showiest and easiest to get. Very drought tolerant, but doesn't like wet feet. Fast growing, but not always all that long lived. Easy peasy to grow, and one of the best early spring shrubs for pollinators, especially early hummingbirds and bumblebees, and also has berries several birds find irresistable.

Rosa gymnocarpa (bald-hip rose) the only native rose I usually recomend for gardens since it is the least likely to sucker. Drought tolerant, though might prefer a little protection from the worst of the heat of the sun as it is more of an edge or bright forest species. Tiny dime to knickle sized flowers are not as showy as other wild roses, but the whole bush has a charming quality about it I adore. The tiny leaves and flowers bely its eventual height from 8-10 feet or slightly more.

Sambucus racemosa (red elderberry)- small tree or large shrub to 20 feet or more, early white flwoers and late summer red berries the birds can't get enough of. Drought tolerant too, though can get rather larger than people realize.

Symphoricarpos alba (snowberry)- sprawling shrub to 6-8 feet, more over time, and wider, that would be the main maintenance issue with this one is keeping it from spreading beyond where you want it. Other than that, these are drought and sun tolerant, shade tolerant, will take extra moisture if it happens (especially in winter) but don't need it. White berries are on the shrub all winter when most things in the garden are bare, late spring flowers attract hummers and bees, and are starvation food for the birds that need them. All around great wildlife plant.

Vaccinium ovatum (evergreen huckleberry)- like salal may need some extra care to get it going, but cast iron once it is established. And you can't ask for a better more ornamental evergreen shrub. Should grow 3-6 feet in the garden, over time as much as 15 feet, often a somwhat sprawling, eccentric branched shrub left to its own devices, but is easily prunable, even for topiary or box like hedges. Orange new growth is beautiful, light pink flwoers are important nectar for early bumbles, AND it has edible fruit. What is not to like? lol


Ok, these are the ones that quickly came to mind, but there are certainly others that would work. I didn't get into perennials and annuals, but there are plenty of those kinds of things that will work too. Good luck with this, sounds like a fun project!