Hi lakeside,

Welcome to the NE Garden Forum. I hope you are able to find some help here in your quest for the perfect shrubs.

I can't be a huge help to you but, I can tell you that I have just fallen in love with Inkberry. It's a samll holly that needs very little attention and is very easy to keep in shape. The leaves are small, always green and always have a nice shine. It also has wonderful movement when a breeze is blowing.

I also like Winterberry. Green during the growing season, leaves drop in the fall and expose beautiful red berries that the birds LOVE for an early winter food source. After the berries are gone, the structure of the tree/shrub is interesting to look at.

Here is a site that may be a place to start. Lots of great sites out there that are full of great info on exactly this topic. Think about using more than one or two shrubs to accomplish this task. Variety keeps the area interesting to view during the entire year.

http://landscaping.about.com/cs/lazylandscaping/a/wet_area_plants.htm

Good luck and have fun. There are a lot of great folks here that know way more than I.

sooey

Welcome, lakeside! I don't have any wet areas, so I can't help with specific recommendations, but it looks like Sooey's link will take care of that. You might also try the New England Wildflower Society's web page, which I'll link below. I'm just chiming in to offer one piece of advice. Maybe 2.

Pick a plant that has a mature size that will not require trimming, even on a semi-annual basis. Plants that need to be cut back every year just don't end up looking as nice as ones that are allowed to grow more or less according to what their own DNA dictates.

It sounds like this is a natural area, being on a lake, so I'd go for a 'natural' looking planting that doesn't look too formal and fits in with the surrounding vegetation. As part of this, if at all possible, choose natives that do well in your area.

It would help us a lot if you will give us your zone info, or at least the part of MA where you're located, and tell us how much sun the area gets. Then we might be able to make more specific recommendations.

Here is a link that might be useful: New England Wildflower Society

The size is going to be a real issue. About the only thing I have remotely that small is dwarf swamp azalea. Ferns are another possibility.

When you are looking at plants, keep in mind that the sizes given are usually for the plant grown in fairly normal garden soil. Water lovers can get much, much bigger if grown in a wet place.

Dwarf(ish) clethras: Hummingbird or 16 Candles

How about Itea virginica  zone 5-9, height 3-4 great fall color, likes wet feet, great fragrant flowers.

If location is more on a sunny side Itea 'Little Henry' should work (size wise), if it's somewhat shadier then Clethra would be a better choice.
Both shrubs are suckering, so some attention will be needed.
In z5 Itea could have a severe diebacks, though.

i think the Ilex, Itea and Clethra suggestions are good ones. Ilex glabra is the only one that would be evergreen, although Itea may hold onto its red leaves late into the season. You may wish to check out New England Wetland Plants http://www.newp.com. They have an interesting list of shrubs that grow in wetlands. Note what Mad Gallica says - some of these can be a bit aggressive in spreading and can get taller than 3 feet.

My property borders a small lake. The only evergreen shrub growing on the edge is an old mugo pine. I also have buttonbush (cephalanthus), clethra, willow (salix); hazels (corylus) also do well. These can all be trimmed easily. I use grasses (pennisetum and miscanthus) as well as a fargesia bamboo as visual barriers.