site analysis and native plant selection - nc state … · 2015-03-25 · site analysis and native...

Site Analysis and

Native Plant Selection

Al Cooke

Agricultural Extension Agent

Chatham County

[email protected]

http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/chatham/staff/acooke/home.html




Let‟s start with the myths

• Native plants are more aggressive and better

adapted

• Kudzu and “bamboograss” are not native


• Native Plants are disease resistant

• American chestnut; American elm


• Native Plants are insect resistant

Dogwood borer injury

Dogwood clubgall midge

Emerald ash borer

Hemlock wooly adelgid

Asian longhorned beetle

Gypsy moth

Southern pine beetle

…..


• Native Plants are drought tolerant

Water lily


Native Plants grow wild; little or no site

preparation is necessary

• This plant may

produce 1,000s of

seeds; if one seed

grows to maturity, the

parent was successful

• Is that good enough

for gardeners?

Wildflowers

“Because of their delicately balanced adaptation to very specific natural environments, many wild flowers cannot grow in habitats that have been altered or disturbed, nor can they compete with the plants of the more weedy introduced species that rapidly invade the vast areas of land opened or altered by the machines of man for roads, farms, dwellings, and industrial complexes.”

- Justice and Bell, Wild Flowers of North Carolina,

1968

There is no plant native to this site.

What is Native?

• Native to where?

– Continent, region, state, county?

• Native to what?

– Soil type, microclimate, ecological niche?

Plants have developed sophisticated

dispersal strategies.

From before the age of agriculture

plants have used humans as a

means of dispersal

What is Native?

• Native When?

• Before Europeans?

• Before Native Americans?

• Before continental drift?

• What is “native” changes over time.

Ginkgo biloba“Ginkgo” Native to North America

> 100 million years ago

Extinct

Reintroduction route

China -> Japan -> Europe -> NA

Native or not?

Baccharis halimifolia“Eastern Baccharis”

“Believed to have been restricted at one time

to the outer cp.”

How do we know what was here?• John Lawson,

– 1674 - 1711

• Surveyor-General of

North Carolina, 1700

• John Bartram

– 1699 – 1777

• Collected from Ontario to

Florida

• Shipped American plants

to England• William Bartram

– 1739 – 1823

• Traveled with father

• 1773-77, journeys through

southern colonies

• 1791, Travels published

How do we know what was here?

• B.W. Wells

• The Natural Gardens of

North Carolina

• Understanding the plant‟s

relationships in its

community

• 1932, 2002

How do we know what was here?

• Albert E. Radford,

Harry E. Ahles,

C. Ritchie Bell,

1964

• 1st “serious systematic

survey”

• Begun 1956

If the site is no longer

native, salvaged plants

may not thrive even in

their original location

Site Analysis

Site Analysis

• Soil conditions

• Drainage

• Available water

• Slope, Exposure

• Air movement

• What‟s underground and overhead?

Site Analysis:What we need to know about the place

• Expectations

• Size of space(s)

• Utilities

• Soil

• Irrigation?

• Exposure

• Microclimate

Expectations

– What kind of

mental pictures do

you have?

– Hobbies?

– Children? Pets?

Size of space(s)

• What size plants

will fit?

• How many?

• How much mulch?

Site Analysis

• Soil

• Drainage

• Air Movement

• Exposure

Exposure

• North/South/East/West

• Light

• Wind

• Buildings

• Snowfall

Microclimate

• Light/shade

• Hot/Cold

• Wet/Dry

• Proximity to hard

surfaces

Transmit Absorb Reflect

Utilities

• Call before you dig

• The North Carolina One Call Center

• 1-800-632-4949

• Call at least 48 hours before digging

A Landscape is Never Finished

• It includes a living, growing

collection of plants –

• It will change

• It will grow to change the

environment

• Some plants will no longer

be suitable and will need to

be removed and/or replaced

U.S. National Arboretum, Agricultural Research Service,

U.S. Department of Agriculture

http://www.usna.usda.gov/Hardzone/ushzmap.html

http://www.usna.usda.gov/Hardzone/ushzmap.html

American Horticultural Society

Heat Zone Maphttp://www.ahs.org/publications/heat_zone_map.htm

http://www.ahs.org/publications/heat_zone_map.htm

Some Climate Questions

• Cold, heat, and duration

• Wind, water, humidity

• It‟s not how cold it gets; it‟s how it gets

cold

• It‟s not how hot it gets; it‟s how long it

stays hot

Some Criteria for Plant Selection

• Size

• Growth rate

• Growth habit

• Tolerances & Sensitivities

– Sun/shade, drought, wet/compacted soil, cold/heat, insects, disease, fertility, urban pollution

• Flowers, Fruits

• Fall color

• Attractive Bark

• Fragrance

www.ncstate-plants.net

http://www.ncstate-plants.net/



What we need to know

about the plant: Size

• Mature height and width

Mature height and width

What we need to know about the

plant: Rate

• How fast will

it grow

• What does

dwarf mean?

Dwarf Burford Holly


plant: Hardiness

• How tough is the plant

• Cold, heat, wind, water

• It‟s not how cold it gets; it‟s how it gets cold

• It‟s not how hot it gets; it‟s how long it stays

hot


plant: Culture

• Sun/shade

• Moist/dry

• pH

• Fertility

• Pruning

• Native habitat

Survival is usually not sufficient


plant: Predictable Problems

• Diseases

• Insects

• The beginning point for IPM


plant: Ozone Tolerance


plant: Fruit

• Ornamental?

• Maintenance problem?


plant: What else does it drop?


plant: Leaves

• Evergreen/Deciduous

© 2000 NC State University


plant: Leaves

• Texture


plant: Stem

• Multi-stem/Single

stem

• Colonial




plant: Stem

• Ornamental bark?

– Color

– Exfoliation

– Shape

– Texture


plant: Flowers

• Color

• Size

• Fragrance

• Allergies?

What about Wildflowers?

• Start seed in flats

• Provides plants for

transplanting that have

a competitive

advantage over the

weeds that follow

• Allows you to

distinguish the plant

from the weeds

http://www.doh.dot.state.nc.us/operations/dp_chief_eng/roadside/wildflowerbook/

http://www.doh.dot.state.nc.us/operations/dp_chief_eng/roadside/wildflowerbook/

• Fit the (intended) character of the site

• Pride of place

• Food sources for wildlife

• Broad gene-pool of characteristics and

adaptations

• Good plants

Why should we use natives?

Why should we use natives?

• Food sources for

wildlife

• The Douglas Tallamy

thesis

– Bringing Nature Home:

How You Can Sustain

Wildlife with Native

Plants by Douglas W.

Tallamy; 2007, 2009

• Site is seldom in its native state

• Non-natives may be pre-adapted due to

having developed in similar geographic

areas

• Broad gene-pool of characteristics and

adaptations

• Good plants (including evergreen shrubs)

Why use non-natives?

http://www.expedia.com/

Acquiring Native Plants

• Transplanting from the wild

• Nursery Grown

•Nursery Propagated

• Grow your own

NATIVE TRUTHS

SOME native plants are

good landscape plants

in SOME locations.

-Dick Bir

-Retired Extension Specialist

-NC State University

Fagus grandifolia“American beech”

Sun to partial shade

50-80‟ high x 40-60‟wide

Moist well-drained soil Rich damp woods

Primarily uplands

Gleditsia triacanthos“honeylocust”

Sun, 50-75‟ high

25-40‟ wide

Creates light shade

Piedmont woods

and borders

Liriodendron tulipiferra“tulip poplar”

Sun to light shade

40-100‟ high x 20-40‟ wide

Rapid growth

Rich low woods

Platanus occidentalis“sycamore”


70-100‟ high x 60-80‟ wide

Moist, well drained soil

Low woods

Prunus serotina“wild cherry”

Sun, 50-80‟ high

Wide soil tolerance

Seldom planted

Fruit used by birds

All parts toxic to livestock

Gil Wojciech, Polish Forest Research Institute, Bugwood.org

Woodlands, fence rows,

pastures

http://www.forestryimages.org/images/768x512/1261023.jpg

Juglans nigra“black walnut”

Deciduous

50-70 ft. high & wide

Drought tolerant

Tough nut

Allelopathic

Thin woods, open areas

Fraxinus pennsylvanica

F. americanaDeciduous, 50 – 60 feet

Sun

Rapid

“Green Ash”

“White Ash”

Deep, rich soils, floodplains

Betula nigra“river birch”

Deciduous

40-70 ft high & wide

Exfoliating bark

Often grown as multi-stemmed tree

Twiggy

Lowlands, floodplains

Nyssa sylvatica“black gum”


40-60‟ high x 20-30‟ wide

Tolerates heavy soil

Difficult to transplant

Thin woods or in open

Quercus spp.“oak” (at least 14 spp. in Chatham)

White

Scarlet

Pin

Willow

Shumard‟s

red

Sun, good drainage

Soil tolerant

Important mast producers

Swamp

chestnut

Acer rubrum“red maple”

Deciduous, 40-60‟ high x 25-45‟ wide

Sun to shade, soil tolerant

Highly variableLow, rich woods

Acer barbatum“Southern Sugar Maple”

Deciduous, 20 – 30 feet

Sun

Good heat, drought tolerance

Good fall color

Wooded valleys, hillsides

Robinia pseudoacacia“black locust”

Deciduous, 30-50 ft.

Soil tolerant

Young growth thorny

Colonial

Thin woods, open areas

Ulmus alata“winged elm”

Deciduous

30-40 ft high & wide

Rapid growth

Uplands

Sassafras albidum“sassafras”

30-60‟ high x 25-40‟wide


Soil tolerant

Difficult to transplant

Swallowtail caterpillars feed

The Dow Gardens Archive, Dow Gardens, Bugwood.org

Fencerows, old fields

Woodland edges


Cercis canadensis“eastern redbud”

Deciduous, 20-30 ft.

Typically wider than tall

Spring bloom

Short-lived

Understory, various types

Aesculus sylvatica“painted buckeye”

Sun to shade, 5-12‟ high

Moist with good drainage

Understory tree

Stream banks

Alluvial woods

Ilex opaca“American holly”

Evergreen, 30-60 ft

½ as wide

Male and female plants

Less dense in woodland sites

Mixed hardwoods

Carpinus caroliniana“ironwood”

20-30‟ high & wide


Thrives in moist to wet soil

Very slow growing

Dense wood

Chris Evans, River to River CWMA, Bugwood.org


Stream banks

Low rich woods



http://www.cas.vanderbilt.edu/bioimages/biohires/c/hcaca18wp24520.JPG

Hamamelis virginiana“witchhazel”

15-30‟ high & wide


Moist well drained soil

Flowers late fall to

early winter

Rich or dry woods



Ilex verticillata“winterberry”

Richard Webb, Garden Restoration, Bugwood.org

6-15‟ high x 6-10‟ wide


Drought tolerant

Attracts birds

Bogs, streamside

Low woods


Asimmina triloba

“pawpaw”15-30‟ high x 15-20‟ wide


Moist, well drained soil

Food for zebra swallowtail larvae

Edible fruit

Low woods

Full of Life Nursery, 742.2897

http://www.triplants.com/




Vaccinium arboreum“farkleberry”

Deciduous, 5-10 ft

Berries gritty, dry; good for birds

Exfoliating bark

Dry sites

Vaccinium fuscatum “black higbush blueberry”

Deciduous, 5-15 ft.

Black berries June – August

Less sweet than cultivated varieties

Partial shade

More sun increases fruit

Dry pine-oak woods©2008 by Will Cook

©2008 by Will Cook

Cyrilla racemiflora“swamp titi”

Evergreen shrub, 10-25 ft high & wide

Requires moisture

Bottomlands

Cephalanthus occidentalis“buttonbush”

Deciduous, 5-10 ft

Moist to wet soil

Poor drought tolerance

Banks of streams, lakes

Cornus amomum“silky dogwood”

Deciduous, 8-10 ft

Multi-trunked shrub

Wet to dry soil

Berries may attract birds

Alluvial lowlands

Fothergilla major“mountain witchalder”

Deciduous

6-12 ft.

White flowers mid spring

Moist to dry soil

Fall Color

Dry woodlands

Itea virginica“Virginia sweetspire”

Deciduous, 3-5 ft

May attract birds and butterflies

Avoid fertilizing

Wooded lowlands

Viburnum rafinesquianum“downy arrowwood”

Deciduous, 4-6 ft

Malodorous flowers

Dense woodlands,

especially with high pH

Euonymus americanus“strawberry bush”

Deciduous, 3-6 ft

Spindly green stems

Fruits late spring to summer

Partial shade

Tolerates wet soil

Low woodlands

Rubus argutus “sawtooth blackberry”

©2008 by Will Cook

©2008 by Will Cook

Deciduous, 5 – 10 ft.

Erect arching stems with thorns

Forms dense thickets

Woods borders, old fields,

fence rows

Full sun to light shade

Wide soil tolerance

The common local blackberry

Rubus occidentalis “blackcap raspberry”

Deciduous, 3 – 6 ft.

Erect arching stems

Glaucous coating on stem

Woodlands, clearings, fence rows

Sun to light shade

Source of cultivated black raspberries

Hypericum prolificum“shrubby St. Johnswort”

Deciduous, 3-5 ft

Sun

Summer bloom

Wide soil tolerance

Meadows, rocky woods,

seepages

Ilex glabra“inkberry”

6-8‟ high x 6-10‟ wide

Sun to light shade

Moist soil

Drought tolerant

Flowers attract bees

Pocossins, low woods

Pine barrens




Rhododendron periclymenoides

“pinxter flower”

Deciduous azalea, 4-10 ft

Flower color variable from light pink to deep rose; some fragrant

StoloniferousDeciduous woods, streamsides

Vaccinium crassifolium“creeping blueberry”

Evergreen to 1 ft

Sun to light shade

Acid soil

Some use as groundcover

Prone to root rot

“Pine barrens”

Ambrosia artemisiifolia“ragweed”

Annual weed

Early colonist of abandoned sites

Best in full sun

Fields, roadsides, waste places

Aquilegia canadensis“columbine”

1-3‟

Sun to shade

Seeds around

Blooms March-April

Rich rocky woods,

Pastures, waste places

Asclepias tuberosa“butterfly weed”

1-2‟ high

Sun

Well drained soil

Blooms mid-summer

Dave Powell, USDA Forest Service, Bugwood.org

John D. Byrd, Mississippi State University, Bugwood.org

Dry fields, roadsides,

Woodland edges




Chrysogonum virginianum“green-and-gold”

6-9 inches, semi-evergreen

Perennial groundcover/edging plant

Flowers in spring, sporadic in summer

Woodlands

Amsonia tabernaemontana“blue star flower”

Perennial, 2-3 ft.

1-3 ft. spread


Flowers in spring

Bottomlands, slopes

Arisaema triphyllum“jack-in-the-pulpit”

Perennial 1-2 ft

Shade

Rich, moist, loamy soil

Rich, low areas

Coreopsis lanceolata“lanceleaf tickseed”

Perennial, 1-2 ft.

Dry soil

Sun

Late spring

Roadsides, sandy woods, waste places

Athyrium felix-femina“lady fern”

Fern, 1-3 ft

Clump forming

Shade; will tolerate sun with adequate water

Woods, lowlands

Osmunda cinnamomea“cinnamon fern”

Fern, 2-4 ft.

Sun or shade

Moist soil

May go dormant in drought

Swamps, streambanks

Polystichum acrostichoides“Christmas fern”

Fern, 12-36 inches

Evergreen

Wide soil tolerance

Shade to light sun

Rocky slopes, swamp edges

Eupatorium purpureum“Queen-of-the-Meadow” “Joe Pye Weed”

4 – 7 feet

Sun, afternoon shade

Mid- to Late summer bloom

High water requirement, good in low areas

Wooded slopes

Heuchera americana“alumroot”

„Palace Purple‟1 – 2 feet

Shade to partial sun

Late spring bloom

Good woodland selection

Rich woods

Rock outcrops

Hibiscus moscheutos“rose mallow” “swamp mallow”

4-7 feet, perennial

Full sun

Flower 4-6”, mid-summer to fall

Moist soil

Dwight K. Lauer, Auburn University, Bugwood.org

The Dow Gardens Archive, Dow Gardens, Bugwood.org

Swamp forests

Alluvial meadows



Iris cristata“dwarf crested iris”

6-12 inch perennial

Sun to light shade

Good drainage

Rich wooded slopes

Monarda fistulosa“wild bergamot”

Dave Powell, USDA Forest Service, Bugwood.org

William M. CieslaForest Health Management InternationalBugwood.org

2-5 feet

Sun to light shade

More drought

tolerant and

mildew resistant

than beebalm

Wooded slopes and meadows



Pycnanthemum incanum“mountain mint”

3–4 feet

Sun

Mid- to late-summer, flowers not showy

Attract a wide range of beneficial insects

Fragrant

Woodlands, thickets, pastures,

old fields

Solidago rugosa „Fireworks‟“fireworks goldenrod”

2–4 feet

Sun

Late summer bloom

NCBG introduction

“Goldenrods” popular in

19th century gardens

Low woods, meadows, bogs,

old fields, pine barrens

Rudbeckia fulgida“black-eyed Susan”15–24 inches

Sun

mid to late summer bloom

„Goldsturm‟ blooms earlier

Naturalizes well

„Goldsturm‟

Woodlands, meadows, pastures

Oenothera fruticosa“sundrops”

15–30 inches

Early summer bloom

Best in sun

Tolerates light shade

Drought tolerant

Dry woods

Roadsides

Meadows

Polygonatum biflorum“Solomon‟s seal”

2–3 feet

Shade

Early to mid-spring

Moist woodlands

Toxicodendron radicans“poison ivy”

Woodlands, meadows, waste places

Gelsemium sempervirens“Carolina jessamine”

Size varies with space and light

Evergreen twining vine

Sun to light shade

Good drainage

Drought tolerant

Thickets, woodlands,

fence rows, roadsides


Lonicera sempervirens“coral honeysuckle”

Size varies with space and light

Evergreen twining vine

Sun to light shade

Good drainage

Drought tolerant

Woodlands,

Thickets,

Fencerows

Bignonia capreolata“crossvine”

Vine with twining tendrils

Best in sun

Leaves maroon in winter

Thickets, dense woodlands

Parthenocissus quinquefolia“Virginia creeper”

Vine, tendrils with adhering “feet”

Sun to light shade

Good fall color

Can be grown as

ground cover

Dry, rocky, or rich woods

Vitis rotundifolia“muscadine grape”

Vine twining by tendrils

Best in sun

Upland, lowland, sand

site analysis and native plant selection - nc state … · 2015-03-25 · site analysis and native...

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