If you can only plant one native plant in your yard, plant an Oak. There is a native oak for every soil condition and growth habitat desired. Oak trees are wonderful habitat for wildlife with nesting spots for birds and leafy food for insects. Even heavy caterpillar munching does not phase most oaks and is barely noticeable ascetically. Good choices for Oak for a wetter location are the bur oak and white oak, good choices for a drier location are the Chinquapin oak and the Shumard oak. Any oak will provide habitat and be the foundation of a healthy ecosystem. An oak will need a lot of space to grow to mature size needing about 50 ft around with no obstructions like driveways, buildings, or power lines. If an oak is too large for the space, plant a shrub. Plum, Buttonbush, Buckthorn, Witchhazel, are easy to grow and great for supporting multiple pollinators.
If your goal is to provide habitat and beauty but you only have space for a small tree plant an American plum, Prunus americana. Plum can grow to a 35ft tall tree in average garden soil. Plum will tolerate full sun to full shade just as long as it has enough space. The early white flowers bloom in April and are an important source of food for emerging insects. Plum also makes plums in Aug and Sept that are red and edible and will be eaten by the birds and other wildlife. Plum is the second most popular food source for caterpillars after oaks. A plum can be a beautiful focal point for a yard in any season and the wildlife will love it too.
Looking for something even smaller? Vernal witch hazel, Hamamelis vernalis, is great for a spot is full sun or partial shade. Witch hazel is a small tree that can grow up to 15 ft tall and wide, it is easy to prune to be more tree or shrub like. It’s moisture tolerance is high so it can live in a low spot in the yard or in average moisture. The important thing about witch hazel is that it is the first plant to bloom each year beginning to bloom in January through March. The fragrant yellow flowers open warm winter days to provide a necessary nectar source for any insects that have emerged early. The flowers have the ability to freeze and them bloom again as the weather fluctuates. Without this important food source many early spring bees would starve to death.
If the area you are planting in is a wet low sunny spot, plant a button bush, Cephalanthus occidentalis. Button bush likes full sun to part shade, it grows well on the edge of woods and the edge of ponds. It is a large round plant growing up to 10ft in every direction that branches sometimes go off in interesting directions but it can be pruned to stay nice and round if that is desired. When the button bush flowers it is guaranteed to stop your friends dead in their tracks to ask you what is the cool crazy flower. Pictured above, the blooms are cream white in July and August and look like an exploding firework with a dense round ball at the center and many stamens sicking out. The bees and especially swallowtail butterfly just love this bloom and will spend all day circling around each flower.
If the planting area is dry and sunny it is a good spot for Carolina Buckthorn, Rhamnus caroliniana. Buckthorn likes full to part sun and average to low moisture conditions. It becomes a small tree with a very regular round shape usually maxing out at 15 feet tall and wide. Don’t let the name be misleading since the plant doesn’t actually have thorns. The flowers bloom in May through June and are not large or showy but profuse. When a buckthorn is blooming they are easy to notice because of the heavenly smell and the audible buzzing of the millions of pollinators. Throughout the summer buckthorn sports red berries until the birds eat them all and it also has a showy yellow fall color which looks great with the berries.
When buying a tree it is ok to buy the small size. If a tree is grown in a pot for 3 years it will not be as happy as the tree that was planted in the ground 3 years ago. Trees need space for their roots and as soon as they start their life in the ground as possible, the healthier they will be in the long run. Remember with trees, it is always about the long run. The same goes with flowers, go ahead and buy the small size. In three years there will be no difference between the plant that was planted as a gallon or as a plug. The only reason to buy larger plants is if it is being planted into an established planting and may be smothered otherwise.
Tried and true native flowers for starting your garden are Wild columbine, Lanceleaf coreopsis, purple coneflower, cliff goldenrod, and aromatic aster. Columbine blooms early and provides food for migrating hummingbirds. Coreopsis and coneflower bloom in the spring and through summer and the booms attract pollinators but I love watching the gold finches go crazy over the seed heads all summer long. Goldenrods and asters are fall bloomers and provide that important food source for fall migrants so that they can have the fuel to travel or hibernate. These five species are all comfortable in the average full sun garden and will grow and spread on their own. As the plant reseeds use the babies to start new flower beds or trade plants with your friends to get new species.
It is ok to start your garden small, even with only one plant. Each year you can add another plant and your garden will be easy to maintain. The plants I listed above are easy to grow and will not take over. They are all important pieces to a garden that is home to wildlife. Start small and go wild.
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