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BlueToTheBone

(3,747 posts)
9. So here are a few of my favorite trees
Sun Nov 25, 2012, 11:21 AM
Nov 2012

that are native to your area and will feed wildlife in addition to being beautiful and likely to be more pest free. I don't know the size of the area you're trying to fill so here are also varying sizes of small trees.

DOGWOOD, AMERICAN FLOWERING (Cornus florida)
Height: 20', Spread: 15'-20'. Small tree with flat topped crown. Place in well drained soil. Full sun to partial shade. Has character in all four seasons. Excellent as specimen tree or used on the corner of a house. Bright red berries are an important food source for songbirds including evening grosbeak, cardinals, robins and cedar waxwings.

HOPHORNBEAM/IRONWOOD (Ostrya virginiana)
Height: 30’-50’, Spread: 25’ Hophornbeam has a lovely yellow fall color, and the small nutlets, which ripen in summer and fall, are used by birds and mammals during the winter. Bark is an attractive orange or grayish brown peeling off in longitudinal strips.

SERVICEBERRY or SHADBLOW (Amelanchier canadensis)
Height: 6'-20', Spread: 10'-15'. Erect stems, often clumped. These small trees have attractive bark, flowers, and fruit. White flower. Beautiful orange to red autumn color. Requires little or no maintenance. Important berry producer during the early summer months. Blue-black fruit is eaten by bluebirds, cardinals, and tanagers. Foliage is used by browsers.

SERVICEBERRY, ALLEGHENY (Amelanchier laevis)
Height: 30’-40’, Spread: 15’-20’. Multiple stems are upright and highly branched forming a dense shrub, or if properly pruned a small tree. The tree is short-lived, has a rapid growth rate, and can be used as a filler plant or to attract birds. The main ornamental feature is the white flowers borne in drooping clusters in mid spring. The purplish black berries are sweet and juicy but are soon eaten by birds. The fall color is yellow to red. It is well adapted for planting beneath power lines due to its small size.

SERVICEBERRY, DOWNY (Amelanchier arborea)
Height 15’-25’ Spread: up to 35’ Typically multi-stemmed. A beautiful orange leaf in the fall. Flowers white and in upright clusters. Fruit is preferred by birds. Fruit is sweet and edible.

Sweetbay Magnolia (Magnolia virginiana)
Sweetbay vegetation is used by a variety of wildlife species. Squirrels, other small mammals, song birds wild turkeys and Bobwhite Quail feed on sweetbay seeds. Deer browse sweetbay leaves and twigs throughout the year. Sweetbay leaves are also used in nest construction by several bird species such as Eastern Kingbirds, Northern Mockingbirds, American Robins, Wood Thrushes and Red-eyed Vireos.

For large spaces there are Oaks, Maples, Hickory are all native but here's one if you have unlimited space

Tulip Poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera)
The tulip poplar is a fast-growing, tall North American hardwood tree that can reach a height of over 150 feet! Hummingbirds enjoy its nectar, while Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers enjoy its sap. Tulip poplars produce seeds, which are favorites of Northern Cardinals. Hollow spaces inside this tree provide homes for squirrels and raccoons, among other animals.


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