Native Shrubs for Zone 5, Full Sun, pH 7.3 Sandy loam.

I have a small vacant lot that's been in grass for over 10 years. I planned on planting it entirely in natives this coming spring. In preparation for that I had a full soil test done by the University of Massachusetts. Good thing because the pH came back quite a bit higher than I expected - 7.3. ( My home landscape less than 1/4 mile away has a natural pH of 6.8.) I'm looking for suggestions about native shrubs that will do well in full sun , sandy loam. The plants will be watered the first year only. After that they are on their own. Any ideas?

I also posted in the perennials forum.

This message was edited Jan 15, 2010 5:38 PM

Thinking of shrub things that seem scenic and simple by the sea (lake, river...) shore.

•Amorpha fruticosa
•Symphoricarpos orbiculatus
•Myrica pensylvanica (may be renamed now)
•Ilex glabra
•Callicarpa americana
•Rhus copallina
•Rhus aromatica
•Rhus glabra
•Viburnum dentatum
•Viburnum prunifolium
•Viburnum rufidulum
•Hypericum spp.

There's a start, anyway.

And a darned good one. I'm grateful to you VV. Very grateful. I'm thinking also Viburnum trilobum. This lot is on a busy commercial corner. I'll have to be careful of local zoning regulations but I think I can pull it off.

...you can't have too many viburnums...

...but you could do worse, and forget this one. Duh!

Clethra alnifolia (Summersweet) is pretty tough, but it's hard to find those that aren't cultivars of the species. Same for fothergilla and iteas. Aronias for berries, and isn't one of the witch hazels native?

In case it slipped by, that's a Cotinus obovatus illustrated above.

The American Smoke Tree is my favorite tree of all trees. And no, I didn't identify it from your pic. Shame on me. It's not native here, but for this one I'm making an exception.

Common Witch Hazel is an Ohio native with a preference for acidic soil but is said to tolerate slightly alkaline conditons. Wouldn't hurt to try that one. Clethra is said to prefer acidic soil. Same for Fothergilla, which also likes moist soil. The Itea is an excellent suggestion. That's now on the list as is the Black Chokeberry.


This is going to an intensive, all at once planting. I've got to get a site plan together, a plant list and begin locating them. We are going to roundup the entire planting area, till the dead vegetation and plant everything. I'm hoping to get some friends together to get the stuff in the ground. There is no water at the site, but a neighbor is agreeable to allowing us to use his outdoor tap if I pay his water bill. I've wanted to do this for a long, long time. If either of you have any advice on planting the small meadow areas between shrubs please post them. I'm torn between wildflower seed mixes or just getting the wildflowers in pots. I have access to a broad range of native grasses and wildflowers in pots. There is a very large native plant sale here every spring. It's the wallet that's a consideration. I wont skimp on the shrub/tree stock, but at $2 to $3 per pot plant I might find it necessary to choose seed.

Little Bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium) is a great native grass (photo shot of it in winter), as is Elliott's broom-sedge a.k.a. Elliott's beard grass (Andropogon elliiottii) and Broom-sedge (Andropogon virginicus). The last two, not true sedges, can usually be found in vacant fields or roadsides, easy to transplant or get seedheads from as they stand tall all winter, even through snows. All three thrive in poor soil and mix nicely with wildflowers. If you plant grasses, you could just sow mixed wildflower seed in-between the clumps of grass. Or "cheat" with annual poppies and cosmos, which are the usual first-year flowers of mixes anyway.

How large of an area will you be putting into meadow? I have lots and lots of nice, two-year old clumps of little bluestem I could send to you in early spring. They are warm-season grasses, sprouting in May in my area.

This message was edited Jan 16, 2010 8:46 PM

How generous. I've d-mailed the particulers. Spreading seeds among the grass clumps makes sense and saves some money.