Species and Varieties
You should always select the best plant for a given location or one that is able to adapt. However, there are so many types of trees and shrubs to choose from. In this section, you’ll find information on selecting the best varieties for your site. Species and varieties covered include walnut, oak, pine, hemlock, beech, ironwood, viburnum, crabapple, boxwood, fir, ash, pachysandra, poplar, privet, hackberry, holly, dogwood, elm, hawthorn, hickory, and more.
How to Choose What Type of Trees to Plant
When you’re planting trees, you first need to consider the site in which you’ll be planting. Pay close attention to the type of soil, hardiness zone, amount of light, exposure, soil compaction, drainage, space, and availability of nutrients. Choose the right plants for your home or the best tree for a given location. With the right guidance, you can easily choose the right tree for the right place.
Being able to correctly identify trees will make the choice easier. Tree and shrub growers should always be able to identify invasive species. Once they’ve become established they can be difficult to control.
Whether or not to choose native trees is a consideration. There are, for example, a wide variety of evergreen shrubs and trees that are ideal for Pennsylvania. They can tolerate the cold Pennsylvania weather, prolonged drought in the summer, and late spring frosts. Evergreen native plants are a good choice because they add interest to the winter landscape.
As well as suitability for the climate, consider whether trees and shrubs are tolerant of wet soil. There are going to be species that grow well when the soil is dry and those that can tolerate shade.
Choosing What Shrubs to Plant
Plant shrubs in your garden, public, or community area and they can provide year-round interest. There is wide variety of shrubs to choose from. Use Penn State Extension’s resources to help you identify the best deciduous performers in Pennsylvania.
Some of the most common shrubs include:
- Russian cypress (Microbiota decussata): Features include cold hardiness and likeness to groundcover juniper. Its dark green needles turn a purplish-bronze in the winter.
- Boxwood: Numerous boxwood varieties and hybrids are available, each with its own unique characteristics.
- Spicebush: Plant as a border shrub in shade or woodland gardens, naturalized areas, rain gardens, and alongside streams or ponds. When you crush the twigs, leaves, or fruit they have a spicy fragrance.
- Shrub honeysuckles: This species was introduced from Europe and East Asia in the 1800s and is well known for its iconic scent and blossoms, a favorite of the European honey bee.
- Hamamelis x intermedia 'Diane': This witch hazel produces copper-red flowers from late-March to early April. In the fall, the leaves turn red, orange, and yellow.
- Mountain laurel: This shrub is very familiar, as it’s the state flower. The healthiest of mountain laurel can take on the stature of a small tree; however, it grows very slowly.
- Oakleaf hydrangea (Hydrangea quercifolia): Provides aesthetic value in the landscape in the spring and fall, as well as in the winter. Its peeling bark adds additional interest.
- White fringetree (Chionanthus Virginicus): Can reach anywhere from 12 to 20 feet. Its most valuable asset is its spring floral display.
Avoid invasive shrubs such as burning bush, privet, Japanese barberry, and butterfly bush as they can be detrimental to local ecosystems.
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ArticlesHemlock Woolly Adelgid
In much of Pennsylvania, the hemlock woolly adelgid has caused significant damage to eastern hemlock in ornamental plantings and the forest. -
ArticlesGalls on Oak
There are a variety of gall-forming species of small wasps that commonly infest oak trees in Pennsylvania. -
ArticlesObscure Scale
The armored obscure scale is a key pest of oak in Pennsylvania, and can attack other woody host plants such as beech, dogwood, hickory, maple, and willow. -
ArticlesCooley Spruce Gall Adelgid
The most common host plants of Cooley spruce gall adelgid are Colorado blue spruce and Douglas-fir that are grown as landscape ornamentals and Christmas trees. -
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ArticlesEuropean Fruit Lecanium
The European fruit lecanium is a key soft scale insect pest of shade trees and other woody ornamental plants in Pennsylvania. -
ArticlesApple Scab in the Home Fruit Garden
Apple scab is Pennsylvania's most important apple disease, attacking wild and cultivated apple and crabapple. Early season disease management is primarily directed at controlling apple scab. -
ArticlesNursery Stock Selection for Home Orchards
The old adage "you get what you pay for" is an important consideration when buying fruit trees. Bargain plants might not be healthy or might be a variety not adapted to your area. -
ArticlesStandard Apple Varieties for Home Fruit Plantings
Traditional apple varieties can be grown in the home orchard, but it is important to manage diseases carefully. -
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ArticlesAlternative to Junipers
Representing the common plants located in many Pennsylvania landscapes are the evergreen workhorses which include; boxwoods, junipers, yews, and arborvitaes. -
ArticlesA Real Head-Turner: Hamamelis x Intermedia 'Diane'
A common element in most landscapes is flowers. A quick windshield survey of yards during the growing season would show a plethora of annual and perennial flowers and flowering trees and shrubs. -
ArticlesSpring Floral Display: Chionanthus Virginicus, White Fringetree
Although the common name, white fringetree, alludes to a tree, it is often treated as a large shrub in the landscape, reaching a range of anywhere from 12 to 20 feet. -
ArticlesPear Psylla in Home Fruit Plantings
Pear psylla adults, Cacopsylla pyricola, look like small cicadas and become active any time the temperature is above 40°F. -
ArticlesOak Leaf Itch Mite
The oak leaf itch mite, thought to have originated in Europe, has been recorded from Australia, India, Egypt, Chile and most recently, the United States. -
ArticlesOystershell Scale
The oystershell scale is a common armored scale insect that causes injury to shade trees and shrubs, most often lilac, ash, dogwood, maple, poplar, and willow. -
ArticlesBoxelder Bug
The boxelder bug frequently becomes a nuisance pest around homes and buildings near plantings of the boxelder, Acer negundo. -
ArticlesElongate Hemlock Scale
The elongate hemlock scale, sometimes known as the fiorinia scale, is a serious armored scale insect pest on ornamental and forest hemlock trees in Pennsylvania. -
ArticlesBrooks Fruit Spot of Apple in the Home Fruit Planting
Brooks fruit spot attacks apple and crabapple trees and rarely is found in well-sprayed orchards. -
ArticlesPhomopsis Canker and Twig Blight in Blueberries in Home Fruit Plantings
Bushes that have been weakened by other factors usually are more prone to phomopsis twig blight and canker. In addition to twig blight and canker, the fungus causes a fruit rot. -
ArticlesPlum Curculio in Home Blueberry Plantings
The plum curculio is dark brown, 1/4 inch long, and has four humps on its back and a long (one-third of the body length) snout projecting forward and downward from its head. -
ArticlesPests and Pesticides in Home Fruit Plantings
Can fruit crops be grown in the home garden without pesticides? The answer is yes, but fruit quantity and quality may decrease. -
ArticlesHome Fruit Plantings: Gooseberry and Currant Variety Selection
Listing of gooseberry and currant that are less susceptible to being the alternate host for White pine blister rust. -
ArticlesCranberry Fruitworm on Blueberries
Found throughout the eastern United States wherever wild blueberries grow, the cranberry fruitworm, Acrobasis vaccinii (Riley), affects cultivated blueberries that are poorly maintained. -
ArticlesBrambles in the Home Fruit Planting
The brambles of concern to the home gardener are raspberries (red, black, and purple), blackberries (thornless and thorny), and hybrids such as tayberries.
