Ottawa Conservation District
16731 Ferris Street
Grand Haven, MI 49417
616.846.8770 ext. 5 phone
616.842.2820 fax
Hours: 8:00 am - 4:30 pm
www.ottawacd.org
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Tree and Plant Descriptions

Check order form for current year species availability.
Click on the tree name to view additional details.

Native Trees

Trees native to Michigan

Common Name	Growth Rate	Soil Moisture	Shade Tolerance	Notes
White Spruce	Slow	Wet, Moist	Shade	Tolerates heat, drought, and highwater; salt sensitive
Jack Pine	Fast	Dry	Sun	Fire dependent
White Pine	Moderately Fast	Moist, Dry	Part Shade	Salt and juglone sensitive, preferred deer browse
Red Pine	Fast	Moist, Dry	Sun	Salt and juglone sensitive
White Cedar	Very slow	Wet, Moist	Shade	Preferred deer browse, juglone tolerant
Red Cedar	Very slow	Moist, Dry	Sun	Drought resistant, juglone tolerant, browsed by deer
Balsam Fir	Slow	Wet, Moist	Shade	Often browsed by deer
Eastern Hemlock	Very Slow	Moist	Shade	Preferred deer browse, salt sensitive
Canoe Birch	Fast	Wet, Moist	Sun	Fire dependent, does not tolerate harsh conditions
Red Maple	Relatively Fast	Wet, Moist	Shade	Roots can cause structural damage, yellow to red fall color, salt sensitive, preferred deer browse
Silver Maple	Fast	Moist	Sun	Branches brittle, roots can cause structural damage
Sugar Maple	Slow	Moist	Shade	Shallow roots can cause structural damage, salt sensitive, juglone tolerant, preferred deer browse
Red Oak	Relatively Fast	Moist, Dry	Sun	Urban and salt tolerant, brick-red fall color, browsed by deer, acorns mature in 2nd fall, salt tolerant
White Oak	Slow	Moist, Dry	Sun	Somewhat shade tolerant, prefers well draining soils, acorns prefered by wildlife
Tulip Poplar	Very Fast	Wet, Moist	Sun	Sensitive to frost damage and salt, juglone tolerant
Black Walnut	Fast	Moist	Sun	Produces juglone which inhibits the growth of some other plants, sensitive to site conditions, salt tolerant
Black Cherry	Fast	Moist	Sun	Poisonous to livestock, salt tolerant, preferred deer browse
Highbush Cranberry	Slow	Wet, Moist	Part Shade	Red fruit, red-purple fall color, salt sensitive, preferred deer browse
Redoiser Dogwood	Moderate	Wet, Moist	Part Shade	White to blue fruit, purple-red fall color, preferred deer browse, salt sensitive
Silky Dogwood	Moderate	Wet, Moist	Sun	Blue fruit, salt sensitive, preferred deer browse
Gray Dogwood	Moderate	Wet, Moist, Dry	Part Shade	Reddish to purple fall color, white fruit on red stems, salt sensitive, preferred deer browse
Elderberry	Slow (shade) Fast (sun)	Wet, Moist	Part Shade	Purplish-black fruit, vegetative parts may cause poisoning, salt and juglone tolerant
Common Persimmon	Moderate	Moist	Shade	Edible fruits, dioecious, need 2+ trees for fruiting
Winterberry	Moderate			Tolerates poorly drained soil, dioecious, red fruit, salt tolerant, preferred deer browse
Ninebark	Moderate	Moist	Sun	Adaptable to many types of conditions, salt sensitive
Northern Bayberry	Moderate	Moist	Sun	Dioecious, blue fruit, aromatic, salt tolerant
Juneberry (aka Saskatoon Serviceberry)	Moderate	Moist	Sun	Bluish-purple fruits ripen in summer, attracks wildlife
Eastern Redbud	Slow	Moist	Part Shade	Trees flower when 4-5 years old, short lived in urban areas, salt sensitive
Arrowwood	Moderate	Dry, Wet	Sun, Part Shade	Very durable, easy to grow in difficult sites.
Button Bush	Moderate	Wet, Moist	Sun	Tolerates high water and slow-moving, stagnant water
Hackberry	Fast	Dry, Very Dry	Part Shade	Tolerates various soil and site conditions. Drought tolerant. Salt sensitive
American Plum	Slow	Medium	Full sun to part shade	Tolerant of various soil conditions. Moderately drought and salt spray tolerant.
Bittersweet	Rapid	Moist	Full sun to part shade	Prefers full sun and most soil conditions. Plants can get aggressive in rich soil.
Nannyberry	Moderately fast-growing	Medium	Full sun to part shade	Often used as an ornamental for its attractive flowers.
Witch Hazel	Slow	Moist	Part shade	Commonly found as an understory shrub in northern hardwood forests.
Serviceberry (aka Shadblow or Downy Serviceberry)	Slow	Medium	Full sun to part shade	Prefers acidic, moist, well drained soils. Salt sensitive.

Non-Native Trees

Common Name	Growth Rate	Soil Moisture	Shade Tolerance	Notes
Blue Spruce	Slow	Moist	Shade	Salt tolerant
Norway Spruce	Moderately Fast	Moist	Sun	Susceptible to drought and late frost, salt sensitive
Fraser Fir	Slow	Moist	Part Shade	Often browsed by deer, heat intolerant
Rose of Sharon	Moderate	Moist	Sun	Adaptable to various soil conditions
Butterfly Bush	Fast	Moist	Sun	Unkepmt growth habit, may have invasive tendencies
Lavender Lilac	Moderate	Moist	Part Shade	Remove inflorensces after flowering ceases to promote better flowering, juglone tolerant
Concolor Fir	Slow	Moist	Shade	Often browsed by deer, site tolerant
Douglas Fir	Moderately Fast	Moist, Dry	Part Shade	Requires good drainage, drought tolerant
Hybrid Poplar	Fast	Moist	Sun	Yellow fall color, salt tolerant, dioecious
Roselow Sargent Crabapple	Moderate	Moist	Sun	Tolerates dry acid soils and periodic flooding, salt sensitive, juglone tolerant, preferred deer browse

Fruit Trees

Name	Average Picking Dates
Luscious Pear	Late September to Early October
Montmorency Cherry	Mid to Late July
Redchief Apple	Mid September to Early October
Smoothie Apple	Late September to Early October
Apple-Honeycrisp	Mid September
Sweet Cherry-Emperor Francis	Early to Mid July
Peach-Flamin’ Fury®PF-Lucky-13	Early to Mid August
Pear-Harrow Sweet	Mid September to Early October

Daylilies

Name
Hemerocallis (Apricot Sparkles)
Hemerocallis (Black Eyed Susan)
Hemerocallis (Dragon’s Eye)
Hemerocallis (Funny Valentine)
Hemerocallis (Inwood)
Hemerocallis (Pandora’s Box)

Hostas

Name
Hosta (Diamond Tiara)
Hosta (Fortunei Hyacinthina)
Hosta (Regal Splendor)