Woodlands and Woods Edges
If you are lucky enough to live on property that backs up to a park or a stream, you are in the position of being able to enhance the value of the park or stream corridor by adding plants that support the ecosystem and that keep stormwater runoff from eroding the land and stream banks.
It is illegal to plant, mow, build, or do anything else to disturb the land within the park boundaries! Your help is invaluable in protecting these lands.
Enjoying your woods
Natural forests consist mostly of deep woods, and not of edges. But when we cut down trees for buildings or roads, we create a tremendous amount of edge, which is prime territory for invasive introduced plants. This is why we often see the edge of woods being swallowed by invasive vines. If you are the steward of that edge property, you can protect the woods by removing invasive plants and planting native plants to extend the benefits of the natural area.
What not to plant: Invasive introduced plants are problematic anywhere, as birds often carry their seeds into our natural areas, but it is particularly important to avoid using them right next to parks, where they can creep right in and take over. Examples include English Ivy, Japanese Pachysandra, Periwinkle, and many other groundcovers; some ornamental grasses such as Chinese Silvergrass (Miscanthus); vines such as Chinese Wisteria; trees such as Norway Maple and Callery Pear; and shrubs such as Japanese Barberry, Chinese Privet, and Burning Bush. Click here for a more detailed list.
Do woods need "gardening?"
Your main job as a steward of the woods is to remove non-native invasive plants species and, whevever possible, to protect the native plants from deer browse. Try not to disburb the land otherwise. Adding more plants is unlikely to be beneficial and likely to disrupt the ecosystem. We can never fully restore an ecosystem once it is destroyed.
Tulip Tree (Liriodendron tulipifera)
Pitch Pine (Pinus rigida)
Winged Sumac (Rhus copallinum)
Great plants for forest edges
Forest edges often come with deer. Grasses and ferns are not bothered by deer, and taller shrubs and trees can be protected with wire fence-cloth cages until they grow high enough. Flowering perennials and short shrubs struggle, though, so listed here are perennials that are relatively unpalatable to deer, and shrubs that either grow tall or that are relatively deer resistant. All the listed plants can tolerate part shade and dry soil. For more details and additional options, search our native plant app.
Flowering perennials: Goatsbeard (Aruncus dioicus), Butterfly Weed (Asclepias tuberosa), Blue Wild Indigo (Baptisia australis), Dwarf Crested Iris (Iris cristata), Woodland Phlox (Phlox divaricata), Wild Bergamot (Monarda fistulosa), Lyre-leaved Sage (Salvia lyrata), Blue-stemmed, Zigzag, Grass-leaved, Field, and Sweet Goldenrod (Solidago caesia, flexicaulis, graminifolia, nemoralis, and odora), Blue Wood Aster (Symphyotricum cordifolium)
Ferns: Christmas fern (Polystichum acrostichoides)
Grasses & grasslike: Pennsylvania sedge (Carex pensylvanica), Deertongue Grass (Dichanthelium clandestinum), Bottlebrush Grass (Elymus hystrix), Virginia Wild Rye (Elymus virginicus), Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum), Little Bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium), Purpletop (Tridens flavus).
Shrubs: False indigo (Amorpha fruticosa), Red Chokeberry (Aronia arbuitfolia), Allegheny chinquapin (Castanea pumila), Cockspur Hawthorn (Crataegus crus-galli), Witchhazel (Hamamelis virginiana), Shrubby St. Johns Wort (Hypericum prolificum), Winged Sumac (Rhus copallinum), Common elderberry (Sambucus canadensis), Bladdernut (Staphylea trifolia), Arrow-wood (Viburnum dentatum), Blackhaw viburnum (Viburnum prunifolium)
Understory trees: Downy or Allegheny Serviceberries (Amelanchier arborea or laevis), Devil’s Walking Stick (Aralia spinosa), Eastern Redbud (Cercis canadensis), Fringe Tree (Chionanthus virginicus), Flowering Dogwood (Cornus florida), Wax Myrtle (Morella cerifera), American Wild Plum (Prunus americana), Chickasaw Plum (Prunus angustifolia), Sassafras (Sassafras albidum).
Vines: Crossvine (Bignonia capreolata), Coral Honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens), Virgin’s Bower (Clematis virginiana)