Ask Mr. Smarty Plants

Mr. Smarty Plants thinks you are off to a good start, however, your crab apple may not like the soil acidity.

I've put together a short list of possibilities that you might consider. Four of these are flowering plants, and the rest are conifers.

Inkberry  Ilex glabra (inkberry); this is a mound-shaped shrub growing 6 to 12 feet tall. It produces black berries that persit through winter. May be toxic if ingested.

Great Laurel  Rhododendron maximum (great laurel);  this is an evergreen, thicket forming shrub that grows 4 to 15 feet tall. It has white blossoms and the largest leaves of all the native Rhododendrons.  The plants contain poisonous substances that should not be ingested by humans or animals.

Eastern Teaberry Gaultheria procumbens (eastern teaberry); this is a low, woody ground cover that can grow up to three feet. Deer and smaller animals eat the leaves in winter, and the berries attract birds.

Candleberry Morella pensylvanica (northern bayberry); this is a spreading, much branched shrub, 3-12 feet tall. It attracts birds and butterflies.

Atlantic White Cedar Chamaecyparis thyoides (Atlantic white cedar); this is a conifer with blue-green scale-like leaves on twigs. It can grow 40-75 feet tall in the wild, however there are shorter cultivars available.

Blue Spruce Picea pungens (blue spruce); naturally conical in shape, this conifer can grow up to 100 feet in the wild, but there are shorter cultivars available.

Eastern Red Cedar Juniperus virginiana (eastern redcedar); this conifer posseses fragrant gray-green to blue-green to light or dark-green scale-like leaves, and can grow 30 - 40 feet tall. There are shorter cultivars available.

Another source of information that is closer to home is your Delaware County Extension Director at the Penn State Cooperative Extension.

To find suppliers for these plants, click this link which will bring up the National Suppliers Directory. Type in your city and stqte in the appropriate box and this will give you a list of plant nurseries in your locale.