Using Native Plants for Landscaping

While most of us recognize the value of our native trees to the environment and to the aesthetics and monetary value of our homes, many of us overlook the vegetation beneath the tall overstory trees. The temperate forests of our coast have vertical "layers" of vegetation which form a complex network of wildlife habitat. This is the vegetation where the great majority of our native wildlife rest, feed, hide from predators and raise families. They rely on this understory vegetation for their survival. These vertical layers, which have large numbers of different plant species, can support large numbers of different wildlife species. Basically, the larger the number of plant species (diversity) present, the larger the diversity of wildlife it will support.

When development "simplifies" complex habitats by removal of some of these layers, the ability of these areas to support diverse wildlife species is greatly reduced. Often, development will remove all of the layers of vegetation except for the overstory trees. When this happens, little to no understory remains, and the wildlife is forced to move into adjacent areas which may not be providing all of their needs. If these areas are already developed, the displaced wildlife often becomes "pests" to many people, eating planted vegetation or nesting in chimneys or attics.

Removal of vegetation layers can also increase erosion, increase the potential for flooding and increase ground and adjacent water body temperatures. A forest tree that is left standing after development can suffer greatly when all other vegetation around it is removed: as the humidity around the tree decreases and ground temperature increases, the tree "sweats" more, losing tens of gallons of water per day that may not be replaced by irrigation systems.

The native plants of our lowcountry home have adapted over long periods of time to our climatic conditions. They are drought-tolerant, which means they need minimal irrigation compared to many introduced species, which can help save money and conserve water. Many of our native plants have developed defense systems to prevent grazing by predators, and therefore tend to be resistant to insects and larger animals. This saves money and environmental damage by reducing the need for pesticides or predator exclusion systems. Using native plants in the landscape also help provide our wildlife with habitat and preserve our lowcountry "sense of place".

Native Freshwater Wetland Plants for Lower Bank/Shallow Water Plantings

Grasses
Soft Rush	Juncus effusus
Maidencane	Panicum hemitomon
Wild Rice	Zizania aquatica
Spikerushes	Eleocharis sp.
Woolgrass bulrush	Scirpus cyperinus
Rushes	Juncus sp.
Flowering Plants
Duck potato	Sagittaria latifolia
Golden club	Orontium aquaticum
Arrow arum	Peltandra virginica
Pickerelweed	Pontederia cordata
Lizard's tail	Saururus cernuus
Bur-marigolds	Bidens sp. (Blooms in Fall)
Blue flag iris	Iris virginica
Hooded pitcher plant	Sarracenia minor
Yellow fringed orchid	Habenaria ciliaris
Yellow canna	Canna flaccida
Buttonbush	Cephalanthus occidentalis
Jack-in-the-pulpit	Arisaema triphyllum
Large marsh pink	Sabatia dodecandra
Swamp rose mallow	Hibiscus moscheutos
Floating Plants
Watershield	Brasenia schreberi
Fragrant water lily	Nymphaea odorata
Floating hearts	Nymphoides aquatica

Native Plants for Upland Sites (Overstory)

Live oak	Quercus virginiana
Laurel oak	Quercus laurifolia
Water oak	Quercus nigra
Southern red oak	Quercus falcata
Southern magnolia	Magnolia grandiflora
Bald cypress	Taxodium distichum
Black gum	Nyssa sylvatica
Sweet gum	Liquidambar styraciflua
Red maple	Acer rubrum
Florida maple	Acer barbatum
Hickories, various species	Carya spp.
Loblolly pine	Pinus taeda
Long leaf pine	Pinus palustris
Slash pine	Pinus elliottii

Native Plants for Upland Sites (Understory)

Southern red cedar	Juniperus silicicola *
Redbay	Persea borbonia
Common persimmon	Diospyros virginiana
American holly	Ilex opaca
Dahoon holly	Ilex cassine
Sassafras	Sassafras albidum
Sugarberry	Celtis laevigata
Loblolly bay	Gordonia lasianthus
Cabbage palmetto	Sabal palmetto *
Saw palm	Serenoa repens *
Wax myrtle	Myrica cerifera *
Salt myrtle	Baccharus halimifolia *
Yaupon holly	Ilex vomitoria *
Sparkleberry	Vaccinium arboreum
Fetterbush	Lyonia lucida
Inkberry	Ilex glabra
Witch hazel	Hamamelis virginiana
Passion flower	Passiflora incarnata (host plant for zebra longwing butterfly)
Cinnamon fern	Osmunda cinnamomea
Cross vine	Anisostichus capreolata (hummingbird favorite)
Trumpet vine	Campsis radicans (hummingbird favorite)
Yellow Jessamine	Gelsemium sempervirens (S.C. state flower)
Mix of wildflowers native to the coastal plain of South Carolina (usually needs full sun)

Native Plants for Salt Marsh Buffers

Black needle rush	Juncus roemarianus
Sea ox-eye	Borrichia frutescens
Salthay	Spartina patens
Those plants listed above followed by an asterisk (*).

Here are some suggestions for native plants that are excellent wildlife plants as well as aesthetically pleasing landscape plants:

In the overstory (tall trees)

Live oak - the signature tree of the lowcountry, spreading, nearly evergreen, provides excellent wildlife habitat and food.

Black gum - provides berries loved by migrating birds, beautiful red leaf color in the fall.

Loblolly bay (Gordonia) - evergreen, provides fragrant white blooms from June through September

In the understory (smaller trees)

Redbay - evergreen, provides berries for birds

Horse sugar (Common sweetleaf) - evergreen, provides yellow flowers in the early spring.

Dahoon holly - evergreen, provides berries for birds

Sparkleberry (High bush blueberry) - masses of white flowers loved by honeybees, berries for birds, reddish exfoliating (peeling) bark

In the shrub layer (shrubs)

Wax myrtle (Southern bayberry) - evergreen, great buffer plant, provides waxy high energy berries for migrating birds, grows almost anywhere

Yaupon holly - evergreen, beautiful red berries for color and birds

Saw palms - evergreen, provides berries and great cover for wildlife, fragrant flowers

Fetterbush (Lyonia) - evergreen with masses of deep pink to white honey-scented flowers for pollinators

In the herb layer (smaller, non-woody plants)

Milkweeds (various species) - bright colored flowers loved by butterflies and other pollinators

Passion flower - beautiful, unusual flowers, host to zebra long wing butterfly

Cross vine - red, trumpet-shaped flowers, favorites of hummingbirds