Sustainable Plants

There are plenty of sustainable plants to choose from - ones that require no spraying, no synthetic fertilizer, little or no supplemental watering and little or no fussing by the gardener at all. They're earth-friendly and gardener-friendly plants, so what's not to love? Here are the terms you'll see describing these easy plants:

Drought-tolerant. Now if your site is a consistently soggy one, drought-tolerant plants won't work and I suggest Googling "wet plants." But for most situations and increasingly with global warming, drought-tolerance is key to sustainability.

Resistant to disease and severe insect damage. Minor insect damage? Get over it.

Gotta be Native?

The National Wildlife Federation in their advice about sustainable gardening say the plants used should be native, a term that's most often interpreted to mean locally native. (Why? Because no other definition makes any sense. Plants don't behave according to political boundaries like "native to the U.S,".

Plants listed here were all recommended as "sustainable" by the many local gardening experts I consulted for this article, and they include plants that are locally native - or not.

More Myth-Busting

Even the most drought-tolerant plants typically require careful watering during their first year, and sometimes longer. So don't assume a plant is drought-tolerant until at least its second full season. This is especially true of any plant installed in the spring (which is why fall planting is usually best.)

Many drought-tolerant plants are Mediterranean and need good drainage if they're to survive our winter and our wet springs. So berms are helpful and well-draining soil a must. That means that if your soil is mostly clay, remove some and replace it with garden soil, or improve the clay with organic matter and coarse sand.

• Where I've found contradictory information about a plant, with the literature saying one thing and local gardeners another, I've noted them as "possibly" sustainable.

• Some of these plants in this article are on watch lists for possible invasive behavior because of reports from other parts of the country (nandina, liriope, ornamental grasses, butterfly bush, and daylilies), but no plants on local lists of invasive plants have been included. (This article was originally published in two Maryland newspapers.)

• I've used common names where the Latin names are less familiar.

Nonnative Sustainable Plants

I've surveyed gardening experts across the D.C. region for their recommendations, listed below. For more great sustainable plants, see my Perennials and Shrubs pages on this site..

Grasses: Carex, dwarf Mondo grass, Liriope, and most large ornamental grasses.

Perennials: Agastaches, Asters, Baptisia, Chinese Fringe Flower, daylilies, Dianthus, Epimedium, Hellebores, Heucheras, Hostas, Mazus, purple coneflower, Rudbeckias, Sedums,
Penstemon digitalis, Russian sage, Salvias, Sempervivums, and Sweet Autumn clematis.

Shrubs/small trees: Abelias, Aucuba, azaleas, Beautybush, butterfly bush, Caryopteris, Cotoneasters, Crapemyrtles (especially those with Indian names), Deutzia, Forsythias, Fothergilla, several Hydrangea paniculatas, Oakleaf Hydrangea, Asian and hybrid dogwoods, Junipers, Lespedeza, Mahonias, Nandina, Photinia, Rugosa roses, landscape roses like 'Knockout', Sarcococca, Spiraeas, Viburnums, Witch Hazel, Weigelia, Winter jasmine, Yaupon holly, and Yucca.

Sustainable Plants Native to the Mid-Atlantic

Again these are the recommendations of the many regional gardening experts I consulted for this article. For more on this site, see my Native Plant page.

Grasses: Big and Little Bluestems.

Perennials: Threadleaf coreopsis, Liatris, Rudbeckias (including black-eyed Susan, pictured at left), goldenrod, common evening primrose, butterfly milkweed, wild columbine, New England Aster, wild bleeding heart and possibly Amsonia, bee balm and Joe Pye weed.

Shrubs/small trees: Flame azalea, American beautyberry, serviceberry, several sumacs, Witch Hazel and pasture rose.

Parting Shots

The following popular plants really don't like drought: Japanese maples, snowbells, rhododendrums, big-leaf hydrangea, boxwoods, and our native dogwoods. (Sadly, native dogwoods flunk again are also vulnerable to anthracnose. I've lost six to the fungal disease in my own garden, and in 2007, one to drought.)

• Some drought-tolerant plants (like artemesia) have been excluded here because they hate humidity, so that's another good question to ask the nursery staff. (Don't even try asking sales clerks at the big box stores.)

• Got some plants that always look sickly or that require constant vigilance during even moderate droughts? Consider getting rid of it. You'll be glad you did.

This article was originally pubished in Maryland's Voice Newspapers.

If you have comments about this article, send 'em along.

More Good Information in Print

Drought Resistant Planting by Beth Chatto
Beth Chatto's Gravel Garden

Gardening the Mediterranean Way by Gildemeister

Dryland Gardening by Bennett
Plants for Dry Gardensby Taylor

The Well Tended Perennial Garden by DiSabato-Aust

Ann Lovejoy's Organic Garden Design School - by my favorite organic designer.
Naturalistic Gardening by Ann Lovejoy
Color Encyclopedia of Ornamental Grasses by Darke
Organic Lawn Care by Paul Tukey, spokesman for the important SafeLawns campaign.
The Rodale Book of Composting - they've been doing it for decades.
The Secret Life of Compost by Malcolm Beck was recommended to me by a serious composter.
Rodale's All-New Encyclopedia of Organic Gardening
Organic Gardening Magazine - another trusted source for decades.

And on Line

Drought-tolerant shrubs, compiled by North Carolina's Cooperative Extension Service.

Photo of Joe-Pye weed by Julie Wiatt of the Takoma Voice.