– Christine Gelley, Agriculture and Natural Resources Educator, Noble County OSU Extension
Once you have a plan, its time to select your plants.
Once you have a basic outline of the environmental conditions of your landscape and defined goals of what services you want the landscape to provide, it is time to begin researching plants that will deliver results. In this week’s article, we will focus on native trees and shrubs.
Most people don’t think of trees as flowering plants, but they are actually some of the earliest spring-blooming plants in Ohio! Tree blooms are some of the earliest nectar and pollen sources for Ohio bees. Adding native flowering trees and shrubs to your landscape can be an excellent way to provide long-term benefits to the wildlife in your ecosystem.
Some tree species to consider that are native and provide wildlife benefits include:
- Boxelder (Acer negundo)
- Black Maple (Acer nigrum)
- Red Maple (Acer rubrum)
- Silver Maple (Acer saccharinum)
- Ohio Buckeye (Aesculus glabra)
- Paw Paw (Asimina triloba)
- Shagbark Hickory (Carya ovata)
- Mockernut Hickory (Carya tomentosa)
- Hackberry (Celtis occidentalis)
- Red Bud (Cercis canadensis)
- Flowering Dogwood (Cornus florida)
- American Beech (Fagus grandifolia)
- Red or Green Ash (Fraxinus pennsylvanica)
- Honeylocust (Gleditsia triacanthos)
- Common Juniper (Juniperus communis)
- Eastern Red Cedar (Juniperus virginiana)
- Tuliptree (Liriodendron tulipifera)
- Sweetbay Magnolia (Magnolia virginiana)
- Red Mulberry (Morus rubra)
- White Pine (Pinus strobus)
- Eastern Cottonwood (Populus deltoides)
- Black Cherry (Prunus serotina)
- Common Chokecherry (Prunus virginiana)
- White Oak (Quercus alba)
- Scarlet Oak (Quercus coccinea)
- Red Oak (Quercus rubra)
- Black Oak (Quercus velutina)
- Canadian Yew (Taxus canadensis)
- American Basswood (Tilia americana)
Some shrub species to consider that are also native and provide wildlife benefits include:
- Black Chokecherry (Aronia melanocarpa)
- Cockspur Hawthorn (Crataegus crus-galli)
- Thicket Hawthorn (Crataegus punctata)
- Washington Hawthorn (Crataegus phaenopyrum)
- Dogwood (Cornus Spp.)
- Burning Bush (Euonymus atropurpureus)
- Running Strawberry Bush (Euonymus obovatus)
- Common Winterberry (Ilex verticillata)
- Spice Bush (Lindera benzoin)
- Common Ninebark (Physocarpus opulifolius)
- Smooth Sumac (Rhus glabra)
- Elderberry (Sambucus canadensis)
- Bladdernut (Staphylea trifolia)
- Maple-leaf Viburnum (Viburnum acerifolium)
- Arrowwood (Viburnum dentatum)
- Nannyberry (Viburnum lentago)
- Blackhaw Viburnum (Viburnum prunifolium)
In addition to being beneficial to wildlife, many of these trees and shrubs also provide value as shade, timber, and food for humans. There are a wide variety of sizes, shapes, colors, bloom times, and growing condition criteria to choose from to fit your landscape.
You can learn more about the plants listed above in the fact sheet “Native Trees: Creating Living Landscapes for Birds, Butterflies, Bees, and Other Beneficials” by Marne Titchenell and Denise Ellsworth which is available from OSU Extension in print or online at: https://ohioline.osu.edu/factsheet/hyg-5815