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lindanc_gw

Trees for wet areas?

18 years ago

My friend's back yard is very wet for about 10 ft. in back by the property line. Besides willows & birches, what would be a good tree to plant back there? Thanks, Linda NC

Comments (10)

  • 18 years ago

    This link on rain gardens may help. There is a link for each region in NC that shows trees, shrubs and perennials with tolerance for water on a 1-3 scale.

    Here is a link that might be useful: rain gardens

  • 18 years ago

    Bald cypress, pond cypress, red maple, loblolly pine, sweetgum, water tupelo, holly, sycamore, hawthorns.

  • 18 years ago

    My favorite tree for that type area is the sweet bay magnolia (magnolia virginiana). Mine is budding up right now and I can't wait for the sweet fragrance. I'm in Chapel Hill and it stayed evergreen here.

  • 18 years ago

    What you might want to use under whatever tree you plant are some florida anise bushes. They stay evergreen,are completely ignored by deer and rabbits(and bugs) and have a neat flower too. They tolerate my rain garden area(underwater sometimes).

  • 18 years ago

    Other shrubs to use are Clethra and Itea, as well as some of the Leucothoes. Pussy willows would like it too.

  • 18 years ago

    Thanks all for your suggestions. I will pass them on to my friend. I hadn't thought about a rain garden, thanks for the link. Linda

  • 18 years ago

    I have illicium (anise) in my rain garden and the deer munched it all winter. It is on the deer-resistant list and they had never bothered the other 3 next to my house, so I thought it would be safe out in my rain garden. It isn't dead, but all the leaves were eaten. It should come back.

    I also have 9 itea 'Little Henry' in my rain garden and they are great little shrubs. This is the first spring (planted last fall when they were brilliant red) and I'm looking forward to the blooms.

  • 18 years ago

    Also try Willow Trees, Ironwood, River Birch.

  • 18 years ago

    Linda, is it wet all the time?
    Many trees can tolerate an occasional flooding but won't last long if planted in permanently soggy soil. There are lots of lists of plants/trees for that site on google.
    Many hollies , especially dahoon and yaupon, can survive well in soggy locations as long as they get good sun. That's another factor to consider as well as what kind of trees are already there on-site.

  • 18 years ago

    If your friend has sandy soil a fever tree (Pinckneya bracteata) would be neat if you can get a hold of one. The NC Botanical Garden often has them for sale and I imagine places like Greer or Woodlanders might have them too. They like wet sandy soil and have pink flowers in summer like poinsettias. For trees they have rather short-lived (about 20 years) but easy as pie to grow from seed.

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