🌿 Native Trees & Shrubs for Tough Long Island Soils

🌳 Native Trees

Black Tupelo / Black Gum (Nyssa sylvatica)

• ✔ Handles sand, clay pockets, and periodic wet spots

• ✔ Drought tolerant once established

• ✔ Excellent fall color

• ⭐ One of the most adaptable LI natives

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Sassafras (Sassafras albidum)

• ✔ Thrives in dry, sandy, acidic soil

• ✔ Great for naturalized areas

• ✔ Colonizes poor soils and stabilizes them

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Pitch Pine (Pinus rigida)

• ✔ Ultimate survivor in dry, nutrient-poor sand

• ✔ Native to the Pine Barrens

• ✔ Extremely drought tolerant

• ✔ Wind & salt tolerant

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Eastern Red Cedar (Juniperus virginiana)

• ✔ Handles:

  • dry soil

  • alkaline or acidic soil

  • salt spray

  • compaction

• ✔ Excellent for coastal sites

• ✔ Great wildlife value

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White Oak (Quercus alba)

• ✔ Deep-rooted → drought resistant

• ✔ Thrives in acidic, well-drained soils

• ✔ Long-lived canopy tree

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Scarlet Oak (Quercus coccinea)

• ✔ Excellent in dry, sandy soils

• ✔ One of the best oaks for poor sites

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Black Cherry (Prunus serotina)

• ✔ Extremely adaptable

• ✔ Fast growing in poor soil

• ✔ Valuable for wildlife

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🌿 Native Shrubs

Bayberry / Northern Bayberry (Morella pensylvanica)

• ✔ Thrives in:

  • sand

  • salt spray

  • drought

  • wind

• ✔ Nitrogen-fixing → improves soil

• ✔ Excellent for massing & erosion control

• ⭐ One of the BEST shrubs for Long Island

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Beach Plum (Prunus maritima)

• ✔ Native to LI dunes

• ✔ Handles:

  • salt

  • sand

  • drought

• ✔ Edible fruit + spring flowers

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Highbush Blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum)

• ✔ Loves acidic sandy soil

• ✔ Great for rain gardens & dry sites (with organic matter)

• ✔ Edible + outstanding fall color

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Lowbush Blueberry (Vaccinium angustifolium)

• ✔ Ideal for dry, nutrient-poor sand

• ✔ Perfect for naturalistic plantings

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Sweet Pepperbush (Clethra alnifolia)

• ✔ Handles both:

  • dry shade

  • wet acidic soil

• ✔ Fragrant summer flowers

• ✔ Great pollinator plant

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Arrowwood Viburnum (Viburnum dentatum)

• ✔ Very soil adaptable

• ✔ Drought tolerant once established

• ✔ Excellent for hedges and screening

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Inkberry (Ilex glabra)

• ✔ Native evergreen for:

  • sandy soil

  • acidic soil

  • coastal exposure

• ✔ Alternative to boxwood

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New Jersey Tea (Ceanothus americanus)

• ✔ Thrives in dry, sandy, infertile soil

• ✔ Nitrogen-fixing

• ✔ Excellent for pollinators

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Sumac (Fragrant or Smooth) (Rhus aromatica, Rhus glabra)

• ✔ Extreme drought tolerance

• ✔ Stabilizes slopes and poor soil

• ✔ Brilliant fall color

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🌊 Best Choices for Coastal / Salt-Exposed Sites

If you’re near the water, these are top tier:

Trees

• Eastern red cedar

• Pitch pine

• Black cherry

Shrubs

• Bayberry ⭐

• Beach plum ⭐

• Sumac

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🌱 Best for Dry Shade (a common LI challenge under oaks & pines)

• Inkberry

• Sweet pepperbush

• Arrowwood viburnum

• Sassafras (edge conditions)

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🏆 The “bulletproof core palette” for Long Island

If you want the most reliable, low-maintenance native structure:

Trees

• Pitch pine

• Black tupelo

• Scarlet oak

• Eastern red cedar

Shrubs

• Bayberry

• Inkberry

• Highbush blueberry

• Sweet pepperbush

These tolerate sand + drought + acidity + coastal exposure better than almost anything else.

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🌼 Soil-building bonus

These natives actually improve poor soil over time:

• Bayberry → nitrogen fixer

• New Jersey tea → nitrogen fixer

• Oaks → heavy leaf litter (natural mulch)