Many trees or shrubs are incapable of thriving in the high-alkaline soil that secondary water tends to create. Use the lists below as a guide for what plants are good for your situation.
Deciduous Trees
Do:
- Ash – Fraxinus
- Chokecherry – Prunus virginiana
- Crabapple – Malus
- Elm (Allee) – Ulmus
- Flowering Pear – Pyrus
- Ginkgo
- Goldenrain – Koelreuteria
- Hackberry – Celtis
- Hawthorn – Crataegus
- Honeylocust – Gleditsia
- Ironwood – Parrotia
- Japanese Lilac Tree – Syringa reticulata
- Maple
- Hedge – Acer campestre
- Norway Varieties – Acer platanoides
- Pacific Sunset – Acer trun. x plat.
- Mulberry – Morus alba
- Oak
- Bur – Quercus macrocarpa
- Columnar English – Quercus robur
- Swamp – Quercus bicolor
- Poplar (No Aspen) – Populus
- Purple Robe Locust – Robinia
- Sumac – Rhus
- Sycamore – Platanus
- Willow – Salix
- Zelkova
Don’t:
- Beech – Fagus
- Birch – Betula
- Dogwood – Cornus
- Flowering Cherry – Prunus
- Flowering Plum – Prunus
- Golden Chain – Laburnum
- Hornbeam – Carpinus
- Japanese Maple – Acer palmatum
- Maple (Except for those listed) – Acer
- Mountain Ash – Sorbus
- Red Oak – Quercus rubra
- Redbud – Cercis
- Sweet Gum – Liquidambar
- Tulip Tree – Liriodendron
Evergreen Trees
Do:
- Arizona Cypress – Cupressus glabra
- Austrian Pine – Pinus nigra
- ‘Oregon Green’
- Black Hills Spruce – Picea glauca densata
- Blue Atlas Cedar – Cedrus atlantica glauca
- Bosnian Pine – Pinus leucodermis
- Deodar Cedar – Cedrus deodara
- Juniper – Juniperus
- Upright
Don’t:
- Eastern White Pine – Pinus strobus
- Fir – Abies
- Japanese White Pine – Pinus parviflora
- Spruce (Except those listed) – Picea
- Vanderwolf Limber Pine – Pinus flexilis
Deciduous Shrubs
Do:
- Alpine Currant – Ribes alpinum
- Barberry – Berberis
- Big Sage Brush – Artimesia tridentata
- Blue Mist Spiraea – Caryopteris
- Bridalwreath Spiraea – Spiraea vanhouttei
- Butterfly Bush – Buddleia
- Cranberry Cotoneaster – Cotoneaster apiculatus
- Forsythia
- Lilac – Syringa vulgaris
- Mockorange – Philadelphus
- Mountain Mahogany – Cercocarpus
- Peking Cotoneaster – Cotoneaster acutifolius
- Potentilla
- Privet – Ligustrum
- Pyracantha
- Rabbitbrush – Chrysothamnus
- Rose of Sharon – Hibiscus syriacus
- Rose – Rosea
- Russian Sage – Perovskia
- Scotch Broom – Cytisus
- Siberian Pea Shrub – Caragana
- Smoke Tree/Shrub – Cotinus coggygria
- Snowmound Spiraea – Spiraea nipponica
- Spreading Cotoneaster – Cotoneaster divaricatus
- Sumac – Rhus
- Tallhedge – Rhamnus
- Virginia Creeper – Parthenocissus
- Western Sand Cherry – Prunus besseyi
- Western Serviceberry – Amelanchier
- Willow – Salix
Don’t:
- Azalea – Rhododendron
- Burning Bush – Euonymus
- Cistena – Prunus cistena
- Dogwood – Cornus
- Hydrangea
- Magnolia
- Ninebark – Physocarpos
- Spiraea (Except those listed)
- Viburnum
- Weigela
Evergreen Shrubs
Do:
- Boxwood – Buxus
- Dwarf Mugo Pine – Pinus mugo
- Euonymus
- Juniper – Juniperus
- Mountain Mahogany – Cercocarpus
- William Penn Barberry – Berberis
- Yew – Taxus
- Yucca
Don’t:
- Arborvitae – Thuja
- Dwarf Alberta Spruce – Picea
- Holly – Ilex
- Laurel – Prunus laurocerasus
- Oregon Grape – Mahonia
- Photinia
- Rhododendron
