I'm not sure what elevation you are at, but assuming the Marina will do ok at your elevation, this looks like a good spot for it. It needs open areas, will take part shade as long is its bright and open, so this looks like it would fit that bill well. I wouldn't hesitate trying the native Madrone there myself, if the soil is well drained.

I would NOT add a Japanese maple next to it. They will grow quickly enough to compete for both light and water with the Marina, and though it likes it dry, an active fast growing tree like a Jap maple does not seem like a good fit to me for getting it established.

I am intrigued by the thought of the Marina with the Stewartia, honestly. They are both known for their bark, which I think would make for an interesting pairing. The stump may work well for one of your hemlocks too, if you were interested in using it for that. Be aware though, Mountain Hemlock in my experience needs a fair amount of water to get it going, and really prefers more even moisture as it is growing than the Marina may like. Keep the two separated if you plan on supplementing the water for the hemlock. Once established though (which I find takes longer with this alpine than it would for most native conifers, especially if we have dry summers during the establishment phase), they should be fine with the drought, especially if they are growing on or near a "nurse log" which will help with that immensely.

Maybe its just my love affair with the native dogwood... but I always like seeing dogwoods up against evergreens, lol. It would probably like the conditions you have their, and would be lovely with the white flowers against the colorful bark and dark green leaves, but I'd be a little worried initially about it overpowering the Marina, especially if you want it to be the star of the bed. Once the Marina gets its head up above the dogwood, it may be less appealing than when its a smaller tree with the combination of the leaves and flowers more apparent.

I'm not at all familiar with the Oxydendron, so can't say much of anything about that. Seems to me similar enough in flower shape that if they bloom anywhere close to the same time period, I'd rather see them in separate beds, but close enough to where the flowers can echo each other without looking like you are trying to match them up. But it looks lovely, especially in fall color.

On a side note... especially with the woods around you, I kinda get a red neck kick out of the "stump farm" look... I'd be awfully tempted to leave the stumps the way you have them, plug them with different kinds of (edible?) mushrooms, and garden around them for a while. Maybe bowl out the tops of the bigger ones enough to plant some ferns and maybe some ground dogwood in them or something... have fun with them rather than remove them. But then, I like the way these stumps look in the woods as they are decomposing. I kind of think of it as the cycle showing all its splendor right there in front of your eyes, lol. I've had good luck planting red huckleberries, spiny wood fern (Drypopteris expansa), licorice fern and a few others in these stump pots. I think with the new trees and the returning salal etc, you could have a really beautiful bed that way. One trick with this- use something really organic like peat moss or coir to plant these, or if you have it, composted bark. It mimics the decomposing wood, and the roots will be able to adapt easily to the wood as the potting "soil" and stump become one. Most of the usual suspects that grow on nurse logs in the woods will like this kind of organic soil too.

'Marina' freezes during colder winters in Seattle. The tree that is the basis for the cultivar in North America is in the San Francisco area. And the ferns and moss on the tree to the right indicate your property has a moist atmosphere, Arbutus (and Arctostaphylos) - including the native species - have become quite prone to blackening of the leaves on sites that do not have the perfect soils and exposures for them.

Unless the planting site remains moist on its own the 'Sekkan' may not enjoy a lack of summer irrigation. This tree is not attractive unless happy.

Stumps should be dug out or ground up before much planting of woody plants occurs in their vicinity - as elsewhere in forested regions honey fungus is pretty prevalent here and can grow out from old stumps and destroy planted specimens at any point in the life of the planting. You could get a nice big rhododendron or magnolia etc. developed and then have it go down, many years after planting.

Anybody that is in the vicinity of Seattle, Tacoma or elsewhere around Puget Sound is in USDA 8. In most of the area you have to be quite a few miles out there before your average annual low temperatures for a given 15 year period are 0F-10F. If your site does get below 10F over and over you are liable to be too cold for trees like 'Marina'.

You might be interested in this local tree expert's comments. In addition to the Articles section check out his Plant of the Month columns.

And his books.

Here is a link that might be useful: Trees That Merit Planting in Seattle

This post was edited by bboy on Wed, Jan 8, 14 at 14:27

I second bboy's comments. 'Marina' is iffy at best in this area.

And I'd think twice before jumping into planting some of our natives, like the madrone and dogwood. The madrone in particular is extremely picky with regards to a cultivated garden. Does not like rich, amended soils and any supplemental irrigation. Native stands suffer greatly from a wide assortment of fungal issues that threaten the species in any but the most ideal, roughy, cliffy, seaside conditions. Ditto with our native dogwood, which is very prone to anthracnose and not happy in a cultivated setting.

Personally, I like the kousa dogwoods, stewartias and Japanese maples for a pretty woodsy setting like yours appears to be and they appreciate a less dry soil environment as well. As does the Cryptomeria.....not a very droughty species in my experience :-)

And finally, if your hubby appreciates the cinnamon colored, peeling bark of the madrone, consider Acer griseum, paperbark maple. A much more adaptable and tolerant choice than the disease-prone and/or tender arbutus.

Paperbark maple one of the most admired garden trees in temperate climate regions, including ours.

I'd be interested in knowing more about honey fungus. My brief internet search led me to mushrooms.

I've not noticed a problem of plants dying after trees have been removed. I've lived in 2 other homes just across the street here at our camp since 1989.

What do I look for?

Do some research under Armillaria mellea, the botanical name for honey fungus, aka shoestring fungus. You should be able to view images of roots affected with this fungus, which is one of the more distinguishing characteristics of the pathogen. Unfortunately, it is quite common in NW soils.

I found a list of resistant plants & will look to see if we had this fungus in the trees there.

Here is a link that might be useful: Plants Resistant to Armillaria Root Rot

If you continue to explore the topic the filter will get narrower and narrower until you find that there are darned few plants that are believed to be more or less immune. What becomes noticeable in the field, so to speak is how often it is found on certain prominent and prevalent ornamental plants in this area.

Rhododendrons, for instance.

Corrine, could you use Arbutus unedo instead of Arbutus 'Marina'? It's listed as a lot hardier and as far as I can see, not too different in the peeling bark department your husband likes.
I have yet to lose any plant to Armillaria root rot. Perhaps the dangers of it are overblown.
Mike

Sounds like our potted Arbutus Marina will be short-lived if we plant it here. Might be best to gift it to my in-laws Whidbey Island home and stick with the hardier trees I listed. Grandpa doesn't want any trees on his property, so will need convincing.

Thanks for the suggestions & info. I'm relieved that Mike hasn't had the damage since we have similar settings & location.