Right Plant, Right Place

Put the right tree or shrub in the right location. Choose plants that are the size for your site when mature. Most plants need sun for 4-6 hours each day. Shade tolerant plants require less sun . Some plants have special soil requirements that need to be considered.

Sites near downspouts may need plants that tolerate wet conditions Choose a plant hardy to your climate and then determine its needs. USDA Hardiness Zones are based upon the best available information and are provided as guidelines only. Elevation, microclimate, topography and other factors will influence your coldest minimum temperatures within a zone. Use appropriate judgement relating to your specific area.

This document is available in PDF format. Print it or save it to your computer for a ready reference for which plant would be best. This page covers the following areas. Click on any link to get to the part of the page you are most interested in viewing.

• Plant Selections for Hedges
• Plants for under the wires
• Frequently asked questions about fruit trees
• Deer Resistant Plant Material
• Conifers for Various Uses
• Shade Tolerant Plants
• Wildlife Plantings for Year Around Food and Cover
• Planting Windbreaks
• Planting Soundbarriers
• Planting Riparian Areas
• Wet Site Species

Plant Selections for Hedges

Virtually any plant can be used to delineate a border or property line. If you want to create a solid hedge, whether formally sheared or informally left to a plant’s natural growth habit, there are select species that can fill this request.

Informal hedges have a naturally rounded character and generally reach the mature height of the plant. Some limited pruning can be used to maintain a somewhat shorter height.

Formal hedges have a specific shape such as squared off edges. They require frequent maintenance to retain the desired shape. Hedge height can vary from 2-3' up to 15'.

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Plants for under the wires

Another landscape situation that requires specific plant selections are areas under power lines. In order to avoid having a mature tree unbecomingly pruned to fit around power lines, why not plant trees that will fit under them without pruning? Small trees and large shrubs can be used for landscape interest and screening. Many of these also have excellent flowering
and fall color.Here’s a list of some species that will work great for power line planting.

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Frequently asked questions about fruit trees...

How do I plant bareroot fruit trees?
It is important in your care and handling of bareroot trees to keep the root system moist at all times. Prior to planting, soak tree roots for 4 to 6 hours. Dig a hole that is adequate to fit the tree’s root system, plus room to grow. Long or coarse roots may be trimmed to fit the planting hole and to encourage the growth of new feeder roots. Make sure to spread roots out in planting hole without crowding them. The tree should be planted at the same depth as it grew in the nursery, which can often be discerned by a slight difference in color on the tree trunk above the top of the root system (darker part was in the soil, while the lighter part was above ground). Otherwise, plant tree with soil level 4-6" above any roots. Water thoroughly after planting and stake if necessary.

Do I need a pollinator?
It is recommended. Even if a tree is listed as ‘self-fertile’, planting more than one variety will ensure better pollination and therefore, better fruit set. Plant a minimum of three varieties for best fruit production.

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Deer Resistant Plant Material

There has been extensive research compiled on deer resistant plant varieties, but the results are mixed. What is called deer resistant in one study is called deer food in another. It is also stated that no matter how resistant a plant can be in one location, in another, that plant may be devoured. In other words - deer will eat just about anything if it suits them. The following list may be used as a guideline for woody plants that are not generally favored by deer.

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Conifers for Various Uses

Screening -
all evergreens except the smallest mature heights

Ornamental -
White Fir (Abies concolor)
Nordman Fir (Abies nordmanniana)
American Larch (Larix laricina)
Dawn Redwood (Metasequoia glyptostroboides
Dwarf Alberta Spruce (Picea glauca conica)
Colorado Blue Spruce (Picea pungens glauca)
Korean Pine (Pinus koraiensis)
Southwestern White Pine (Pinus strobiformis)

Christmas Trees -
White Fir (Abies concolor)
Grand Fir (Abies grandis)
Nordman Fir (Abies nordmanniana)
Colorado Blue Spruce (Picea pungens glauca)
West Coast Douglas Fir (Psuedotsuga menziesii)
Austrian Pine (Pinus nigra)
Southwestern White Pine (Pinus strobiformis)
Scotch Pine (Pinus sylvestris)

Timber - timber species native to the Northwest
Grand Fir (Abies grandis)
Ponderosa Pine (Pinus ponderosa)
West Coast Douglas Fir (Psuedotsuga menziesii)

Drought Tolerance -
White Fir (Abies concolor)
Juniper (Juniper spp.)
Norway Spruce (Picea abies)
Mugo Pine (Pinus mugo mughus)
Austrian Pine (Pinus nigra)
Ponderosa Pine (Pinus ponderosa)

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Shade Tolerant Plants

Wildlife Plantings for Year Around Food and Cover

Food

• Summer fruiting plants such as Cherry, Plum, Hackberry and Serviceberry species. Fall fruit and seed plants such as Viburnum, Dogwood, Elderberry, Green Ash and Oak.
• Winter persistent fruit or seed such as Apple, Viburnum and Sumac or foliage such as Fir or Spruce.
• Spring seed such as Maple, or Elm.

Cover

• Plants with dense branching or persistent foliage such as evergreens, conifers, Caragana, Hawthorn.
• Plants that form dense colonies or thickets such as Rose, Sumac or Dogwood.

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Windbreaks

Old windbreak design included only a single row of trees or shrubs. Often the tall and narrow form of Lombardy Poplar (Populus x nigra ‘Italica’) was repeatedly used in older homesteads. It has now been demonstrated that a single row planting can be ineffective at decreasing wind speed, or at worst, it can increase the turbulence of the wind near the area you are attempting to shelter.

The new design usually includes three to eight rows of plant material. A shrub or hedgerow, a row of conifers, a canopy tree and an understory tree are usually incorporated for maximum effectiveness. It will be important to look at the whole of your residence that will be affected by this windbreak. A windbreak planted too close to homes and structures can create more problems than it solves, such as snow accumulation or stagnant air in summer. In general, buildings should be no closer than 100' from the windward row.

Windbreaks can serve many other beneficial purposes. In more recent years, providing shelter for wildlife has been incorporated into windbreak technology. Plants bearing fruits or nuts for food or forming thickets for cover have been identified to provide this secondary usage for our wild friends.

Aesthetic enhancement is another benefit. Many flowering shrubs or trees such as lilacs, seedling
roses or crabapples provide spring color. Fall color from Rhus spp. or winter color from conifers,
Salix spp. or Cornus spp. add attractiveness to plantings in other seasons. Privacy can also be a benefit. A nearby development can be strategically blocked from view by designing windbreak plantings properly. You can also reduce the noise and sight of a nearby road or highway with plants from your windbreak. The same principles that slow the wind around your home will also reduce the effects of snow and dust.

Some of the more popular plants selected for windbreaks are chosen for their ability to withstand extreme cold, poor soils and periods of drought. Add in wildlife and aesthetic benefits and they can be great selections to enhance your homestead. Plants that are the most cold and wind resistant should be planted on the windward side, and more sensitive fruit or nut trees should be planted on the leeward side of the row.

Your best protection from wind will be determined by the mature height of your windbreak. If your tallest tree is 50' tall, this measurement is your x factor. Maximum protection occurs at a distance of 2x the height of this tallest tree to 5x the height. Anything beyond 500' or 10x the height will receive little or no protection (see diagram below).

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Planting a Sound Barrier

Vegetation can be used to barrier the effects many problems including noise pollution. As with plantings for wind or visual barriers, the selection and arrangement of the plant material is key to a successful outcome.

Noise reduction is achieved by either deflection or absorption of the noise or a combination of the two. Most hardscape barriers work by deflecting sound (example 1). To be effective they should be close to the source of the noise as safety allows. With these barriers vegetation serves to soften the visual effect of the barrier and reduce the reverberation of sound. Earthen berms are often used in combination with trees and shrubs to deflect and absorb sound when the available space is limited (example 2).

Vegetation alone can be used where adequate space is available. To be effective the planting must be multiple rows to about 40-75' in depth. Care also must be taken to plant the first row at 50' from a roadway or any area that should not be subject to extra snow deposits. Conifers or evergreen broadleaf plants will naturally provide the best yeararound noise reduction. Deciduous trees and shrubs can be added to the planting for variety and added summer noise reduction (example 3).

Vegetation should be selected for site conditions with special attention to issues of air pollution and salt spray if used near busy roadways. See urban tolerance chart. It is also important to incorporate fast growing plants and long lived plants for a quick and long lasting barrier.

Shrubs: Plant in rows closest to the sound. Chose dense or thicket forming shrubs that tolerate salt or deicing chemicals and air pollutants.

• Caragana arborescens
• Philadelphus spp.
• Potentilla fruticosa
• Rhus trilobata
• Rhus typhina
• Ribes alpinum
• Rosa rugosa
• Symphoricarpos spp.
• Aesculus hippocastanum

• Abies concolor
• Juniperus spp.
• Larix decudua
• Picea pungens
• Pinus banksiana
• Pinus mughus
• Pinus nigra
• Pinus sylvestris
• Pinus thunbergii
• Acer platanoides
• Acer saccharinum
• Aesculus hippocastanum

Deciduous trees: Taller trees should be selected for the center of the vegetative barrier. Fast growth rate can be considered to provide a more effective barrier more quickly. Smaller trees especially those with attractive flowering and form work well on the inside of the barrier for both visual and sound effect.

• Eleagnus angustifolium
• Fraxinus americana
• Gleditsia triacanthos and its varieties
• Juglans nigra
• Malus species (for inside rows as flowering sensitive to high levels of air pollutants)
• Populus spp.
• Prunus spp.
• Robinia pseudoacacia
• Salix spp.

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Planting Riparian Areas

Planting shrubs and trees along streams, rivers and lakes provides many benefits. It can improve water quality by filtering run off, increase wildlife by providing food, cover and shade, stabilize banks and reduce the effects of flooding, and increase the recreational value of the waterway and adjacent land. To be successful, the riparian plantings must follow the same rule of thumb as in landscape planting: “right plant … right place”.

Nearest the water flood tolerance and bank stabilization are key elements. The bank zone and the overbank zone flood frequently with spring run-off or heavy rains (See the list at right for plants that withstand seasonal flooding). Poplars (Populus spp.) and Willows (Salix spp.), either tree or shrub form, can withstand frequent periods of flooding and provide shade to moderate water temperature for the benefit of fish and other aquatic life. Shrubs that spread by suckering or layering, such as Cornus sericea or Symphoricarpos spp., can quickly stabilize bank areas.

The transition zone between the stream bank and the upland zone is an excellent place to plant trees and shrubs used by wildlife. A mixture of species provides a varied food source that is available throughout the year (see list on page 4 for wildlife uses). The plants nearest the overbank zone should be those with some flood tolerance for the occasional high water.

The transition zone slows and filters run off from the upland zone reducing water pollution. Recommended distance from water’s edge to outer edge of the buffer zone is a minimum 35-150 feet wide depending on the size of the waterway. Additional area may be needed to support wildlife species. The upland zone may be forest, agricultural ground, suburban backyards or urban buildings and streets, but in each case the quality of the waterway, the riparian areas and the upland area is improved by proper care and planting of the riparian zones.

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Wet Site Species

Riparian habitats frequently experience flooded conditions. Tolerance to standing water is therefore
an important aspect in plant selection . The following plants will withstand flooded conditions for a week or more:

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