Native Plants

Q. Who is Mr. Smarty Plants?
A: There are those who suspect Wildflower Center volunteers are the culpable and capable culprits. Yet, others think staff members play some, albeit small, role. You can torture us with your plant questions, but we will never reveal the Green Guru's secret identity.
Did you know you can access the Native Plant Information Network with your web-enabled smartphone?
Ask Mr. Smarty Plants
Ask Mr. Smarty Plants is a free service provided by the staff and volunteers at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.

rate this answer

Monday - April 22, 2013
From: W. Gilgo Beach, NY
Region: Northeast
Topic: Plant Lists, Drought Tolerant, Erosion Control, Shrubs, Trees
Title: Long Island Barrier Beach Plants
Answered by: Anne Van Nest
QUESTION:
I live on the south shore of Long Island on a barrier beach and am landscaping my property as a result of Sandy damage. I am going with a sand base, and I am looking for suitable trees and shrubs for the harsh environment (wind, salt, cold winters). I have pines and cedars. looking for other ideas. I appreciate your help in advance.ANSWER:
Ordinarily, the first place to go to find a list of potential plants is our Native Plant Database. Use the Combination Search feature instead of Recommended Species. This will provide a bigger selection with much more choice to narrow down. The volunteers and staff at the Wildflower Center who maintain the database have partners in different regions to help with these recommended species lists based on what is easy to access in local nurseries.
Under Combination Search, select the following categories: New York, Habit – shrubs or trees, Duration – perennial, Light requirement – sand, Soil moisture – dry. Since the native plant search turned up close to 100 plants and more specific criteria are needed (salt and wind tolerance, for example), another resource to look at is an online presentation, “Seaside Plants for Coastal Area of Long Island Part 1” by Caroline Kiang, Cornell Cooperative Extension of Suffolk County from the Long Island Horticulture Conference held January 28th, 2011. Part 2 of this presentation can also be found online.
This presentation lists plants that have been selected for tolerance to salt spray, wind, sandy soil and appropriate winter hardiness.
Some of the native trees and shrubs that Caroline Kiang recommended that you might consider from this presentation are:
Prunus virginiana (chokecherry)
Prunus serotina (black cherry)
Amelanchier canadensis (Canadian serviceberry)
Baccharis halimifolia (groundseltree)
Morella pensylvanica (northern bayberry)
Prunus maritima (beach plum)
Rhus copallinum (winged sumac)
Rhus typhina (staghorn sumac)
Arctostaphylos uva-ursi (bearberry)
Hudsonia tomentosa (beach heath)
Juniperus horizontalis (creeping juniper)
Crataegus crus-galli (cockspur hawthorn)
Photinia pyrifolia (red chokeberry)
Photinia melanocarpa (black chokeberry)
Clethra alnifolia (coastal sweet pepperbush)
Vaccinium corymbosum (highbush blueberry)
Abies concolor (balsam fir)
Acer rubrum (red maple)
Cercis canadensis (Eastern redbud)
Nyssa sylvatica (blackgum)
From the Image Gallery
More Erosion Control Questions
Erosion control in Charleston WV
August 26, 2009 - I live in Charleston, WV and just purchased a home that has a hill side out back that has some erosion occurring. I was wondering what would be the best ground cover to plant in my area to control the...
view the full question and answer
Erosion for check dam in San Antonio
February 13, 2009 - What are the best trees for a shallow soil wind break in San Antonio?
I am building a check dam (maybe 2' deep by 20' wide tall) over a shallow limestone gully to slow the erosion. the gully drai...
view the full question and answer
Erosion control for a North Carolina creek side
February 29, 2012 - Hello Mr. Smarty Plants! I noticed a question on your website recommending NC native grasses and plants to help prevent erosion on a sloping backyard, including the use of an erosion blanket. The pl...
view the full question and answer
Full Sun, Wind-Tolerant Shrubs and Vines for Steep MN Hillside
June 26, 2013 - My neighbor and I share a very steep, large (in total almost 200 ft. wide) west-facing hillside in Excelsior, MN on Lake Minnetonka. We both have a flat grass area at the bottom so the hillside does n...
view the full question and answer
Plants for difficult site in Jacksonville, TX
July 07, 2010 - East Texas (Cherokee County) red clay hillside, hard-packed, difficult to get to, 40' of it slopes 4' down in about 6'! Another 30' of it is flat. Between the hillside and the flat clay area is a...
view the full question and answer
Support the Wildflower Center by Donating Online or Becoming a Member today. |