A hardy, valuable tree. Clustered soft blue-green needles. Ideal screen or windbreak. Likes moist, well-drained soils. Grows 50' to 80' with a 20-40' spread in the landscape, up to 135' or more in the wild. (zones 3-8) 

Zone 3-8

Native Habitat: Wide variety of soil, from dry and sandy to moist upland sites, throughout most of Wisconsin.

Mature Size: 50-80 feet tall, 20-40 feet wide

Growth Rate: This tree grows at a fast rate, with height increases of more than 24" per year.

Sun Preference: Full sun and partial shade are best for this tree, meaning it prefers a minimum of four hours of direct, unfiltered sunlight each day.

Soil Preference: Grows in acidic, moist, well-drained and dry soils. While it does best in moist soil, the tree can has been known to tolerate everything from dry, rocky ridges to bogs. 

Description: White pine is the largest conifer in Wisconsin. It has a pyramidal shape and whorls of horizontal branches evenly spaced along the trunk. The bark is thin, smooth, and greenish gray on young trees, but thick, deeply furrowed, and grayish brown on older trees. The soft, flexible, gray-green needles are 2 1/2 to 5 inches long and occur in clusters of five. Cones are 4 to 8 inches long, thick, and usually gummy.

Landscape Use: There's nothing like the scent of pine trees or the sound of wind whistling through their branches. They can be used as specimens on large landscapes, but are usually used for screening and windbreaks. They don't adapt well to urban conditions.

Wildlife Value: White pine seeds are favored by black bears, rabbits, red squirrels and many birds, especially red cross bills. While potentially damaging to the trees, the bark is eaten by mammals such as beavers, snowshoe hares, porcupines, rabbits and mice. White pines provide nesting sites as well for many birds including woodpeckers, common grackles, mourning doves, chickadees and nuthatches.

Attributes:

• Transplants easily

• Works well for windbreaks

• Widely used as a Christmas tree

• Features long, slender, blue-green needles, sometimes reaching 5" in length, grown in bundles of 5 that are soft and flexible

• Produces elongated brown cones that are 3-8" in length. Each is curved slightly and has smooth scales

• Grows in an oval, pyramidal shape

• Sensitive to air pollution, road salt and soil compaction

Description: Midwest Manchurian crabapple is a moderately rapid growing medium-size tree. It is densely branched and oval shaped. This tree is extremely winter hardy and disease resistant, making it well suited to the harsh climatic extremes of the upper Midwest and Great Plains. Midwest may reach a height of 20 feet in 16 years. The dense and rounded growth form is very desirable. When planted in single-row windbreaks and given sufficient growing room, it maintains its branches close to the ground. It is one of the earliest species to leaf out in the spring and is fully leafed before blooming. The blossoms are snowy white. Fruit size ranges from ¼ to ½ inch in diameter. Young trees will grow rapidly at first, as much as 2 feet/year, but the growth rate slows in 7 or 8 years. The leaves are alternate, simple, ovate to oval, finely serrated to irregularly toothed or lobed, and usually dark or olive green above and paler green below. The bark is ridged to scaly and dark gray or reddish gray. Midwest has proved to be insect and disease resistant. Occasionally, fire blight will affect a few leaves, but the infection has never been severe. This tree cannot tolerate chemical sprays, and heavy drift may cause stunting or deformed trees. 

Conservation Uses: Manchurian crabapple is an excellent tree for windbreak, wildlife habitat, and recreational plantings. It is suitable for single-row field windbreaks where a medium-height tree is desired and width is not a factor. It is also suitable for farmstead windbreaks. Wildlife, especially some songbirds and game bird species, waxwings, and squirrels, consume the small fruit readily. The fruit is especially small and often less than one-half the size of Siberian crabapple. The tree provides good nesting and ground cover. It provides browse for rabbit and deer. Since the fruit dries (‘raisins’) on the trees, a winter supply of food is available. 

Establishment & Management for Conservation Plantings: Midwest is easy to grow from seed and produces vigorous seedlings. Field plantings are also easy to establish. Plant spacing should be from 8 to 14 feet for windbreaks. Plant in the spring when moisture conditions are best. Control weeds the first few years of establishment and preferably for the life of the planting. Irrigation may be needed to ensure early survival on drier sites. If animal populations are high, the trees should be protected, or the deer and rabbits controlled until the trees are large enough to withstand the browse. 

Seed & Plant Production: The propagation of Midwest is from open-pollinated seed because large quantities are needed for farm and ranch plantings. Commercial production will be the same in most cases. The seed is picked and cleaned in the fall and stored until 30 days before planting. It is then mixed with damp, fine sand and kept at temperatures of 34 to 36º F. A close watch must be maintained the last few days to determine when it breaks dormancy. Seed is then planted about ½ inch deep in beds or rows and mulched lightly, and the surface is kept moist until seed emerges. The planting stock should be two-year-old seedlings that are not in containers and are 12 to 24 inches high before they are transplanted. 

Fastest growing of the spruces. Develops strong graceful branches that are covered with dark green needles. Ideal windbreaker. Matures at 60'; 25' spread. (zones 3-7) 

Zone 3-7

Mature Size: 40-60 feet tall, and 25-30 feet wide

Growth Rate: This tree grows at a medium to fast rate, with height increases of anywhere from 13" to more than 24" per year.

Sun Preference: Full sun is the ideal condition for this tree, meaning it should get at least six hours of direct, unfiltered sunlight each day.

Soil Preference: Acidic, loamy, moist, rich, sandy, well-drained and clay soils. It has some drought tolerance.

Description: Their bark is orange-brown, finely flaking, becoming gray-brown, scaly on old trees. Branches are short and stout, the upper level or ascending, the lower drooping; twigs are orange-brown, usually glabrous. Buds are reddish brown.

Landscape Use: Spruces are vital to northern landscapes and long-lived if properly cared for. Their large size restricts their use, but they can be used for screening, windbreak and shelterbelt plantings.

Wildlife Value: Supports a wide variety of wildlife. They are important as winter cover for deer and small game including grouse, hare and woodcock. Song birds and fur bearers also frequent these forest types. Norway spruce also makes a good roosting tree for hawks and owls.

Attributes:

• Fastest growing of the spruces

• Easy to transplant

• Can be planted on a wide variety of sites

• Works well for windbreaks

• Features dark green needles that are roughly 1/2-1" in length

• Yields light brown, stiffly scaled, 4-6" cones that sit upright on the branch until fertilized, once fertilized, they gradually turn downward

• Grows in a pyramidal shape

• Can begin to look a little unkempt in its old age

Excellent fall foliage color which may be yellow, red, orange or burgundy is just one of the many attributes of this large and attractive native shrub. Showy, snow-white, flat-topped flowers are 3"-4 1/2" in diameter that bloom in mid to late May. Beginning in September, bright red fruits serve as food for birds and wildlife. Grows 8'-12' high with an equal spread. Prefers good, well-drained, moist soil and partial shade to full sun. 

Zone 2-7

Mature Size: 8-12 feet tall, and 8-12 feet wide

Growth Rate: This shrub grows at a medium rate, with height increases of  13-24" per year.

Sun Preference: Full sun and partial shade are best for this shrub, meaning it prefers a minimum of four hours of direct, unfiltered sunlight each day.

Soil Preference: The American cranberrybush viburnum grows in acidic, loamy, moist, rich, sandy, silty loam, well-drained and wet soils.

Description: High-bush cranberry is a large, rounded shrub with gray, smooth branches. From late May into June, it has lovely, white, lace-cap flowers that grow up to 4 inches across. The indented dark green leaves turn beautiful shades of yellow-orange to red in fall. The edible, showy, deep red fruits appear in August and often persist through winter.

Landscape Use: High-bush cranberry has something to offer the landscape all year. Use it in shrub borders, as a specimen plant, in foundation plantings, and for screening. The edible fruits can be used for preserves and are attractive for birds.

Wildlife Value: The fruit serves as food for various birds and wildlife.

Attributes:

• Produces showy white flowers in flat-topped clusters that are 3-4" in diameter and bloom in mid-to late May

• Yields edible bright red drupes from early September to February

• Features lustrous medium to dark green leaves that provide lovely fall color, turning variety of hues from yellow to red-purple

• Grows in a rounded shape

• Makes an excellent choice for screening and informal hedges

Zone 3-8

Native Habitat: Native to dry, sandy soils, often in pure stands, in all but the far southeastern corner of Wisconsin. 

Mature Size: 40-100+ feet tall

Growth Rate: This tree grows at a fast rate, with height increases of more than 24" per year.

Sun Preference: Full sun and partial shade are best for this tree, meaning it prefers a minimum of four hours of direct, unfiltered sunlight each day.

Soil Preference: Grows in acidic, moist, well-drained and dry soils. While it does best in moist soil, the tree can has been known to tolerate everything from dry, rocky ridges to bogs. 

Description: Bark develops reddish brown plates as it matures, giving this tree its common name. The stiff, 4- to 6- inch needles appear in clusters of two. Cones are about 2 inches long, light brown fading to gray and free of resin. Red Pine thrives on sandy loam and dry soils in full sun and it is disease and insect resistant. Winter burn can be a problem on younger trees. 

Landscape Use: There's nothing like the scent of pine trees or the sound of wind whistling through their branches. They can be used as specimens on large landscapes, but are usually used for screening and windbreaks. They don't adapt well to urban conditions.

The redosier dogwood is loved by gardeners, landscapers, and homeowners for its hardiness and versatility. It can grow in a myriad of conditions, including wet soil. Its thicket-forming habit makes it a great hedge option. And the fibrous root system provides effective erosion control on banks and slopes.

The biggest selling point, though, is the shrub’s deep red stems. This vibrant hue remains through winter, creating a pop of color in the snowy, gray months.

Zone 2-7

Mature Size: 7-9 feet tall, and 10 feet wide

Growth Rate: This shrub grows at a fast rate, with height increases of  more than 24" per year.

Sun Preference: Full sun and partial shade are best for this shrub, meaning it prefers a minimum of four hours of direct, unfiltered sunlight each day.

Soil Preference: Very adaptable, growing in acidic to alkaline soils. It prefers moist soils and often grows in wet swamp lands. It does not, however, tolerate excessively dry soil. 

Description: Native to swamps, low meadows, and forest openings and margins throughout Wisconsin. An attractive 10- to 12- foot landscape shrub, it has deep red stems and twigs that are showy in winter; creamy-white flowers in spring followed by attractive white fruits; and maroon-colored fall leaves. 

Landscape Use: This is an ornamental shrub, typically planted for the visual interest and beauty it can bring to landscape.

Wildlife Value: Provides dense cover for wildlife. The white berries are eaten by at least 18 species of birds including ruffled grouse, bobwhite quail, wild turkey and gray catbird. The twigs and foliage are browsed by elk, deer, moose, rabbits and chipmunks.

Attributes:

• Features vibrant red stems that make a bold statement in the wintertime landscape

• Produces attractive clusters of white flowers in mid- to late spring

• Yields pea-sized white drupes that mature in late summer to early fall

• Easy to transplant

• Needs to be pruned only once a year

• Can be cut back to the ground regularly for the red color of the younger stems to be more prevalent

• Features opposite, simple leaves, ovate to oblong-lancelolate in shape and 2-5" in length. The medium to dark green summer color changes to a ruddy red or purple in the fall

• Has slow horizontal growth

• Grows in a rounded shape

• Can be planted 3-4" apart to make a hedge

A magnificent sight of silver blue-green spruce. Rated one of the most popular evergreens. It grows well while young and matures at 50-75'; 10-'20' spread in the landscape, up to 135' and 35' spread in the wild. 

Zone 2-7

Mature Size: 50-75 feet tall, and 10-20 feet wide

Growth Rate: This tree grows at a slow to medium rate, with height increases of anywhere from less than 12" to 24" per year.

Sun Preference: Full sun is the ideal condition for this tree, meaning it should get at least six hours of direct, unfiltered sunlight each day.

Soil Preference: Adapts well to many soils - growing in acidic, loamy, moist, rich, sandy, well-drained and clay soils. It requires normal moisture with moderate tolerance to flooding and drought. 

Description: Picea pungens, commonly called Colorado Spruce (also Blue Spruce), is a medium to large, narrow, pyramidal conifer with horizontal branching to the ground. Stiff, bristly, four-angled, green to blue-green to silver-blue needles (to 1.5” long) point outward from the branches in all directions. Cylindrical light brown cones (to 4” long) have flexible scales. Dark gray bark furrows on mature trees. From a horticultural standpoint, trees with blue or silver blue foliage are generally more coveted than trees with green foliage. 

Landscape Use: Spruces are vital to northern landscapes and long-lived if properly cared for. Their large size restricts their use, but they can be used for screening, windbreak and shelterbelt plantings.

Wildlife Value: Provides food and shelter for birds, such as; siskins, nuthatches and crossbills.

Attributes:

• Displays its unique silvery blue-green color year-round

• Withstands wind better than most spruces due to a wide-spreading and moderately deep root system

• Is a long-lived specimen

• Features needles that are stiff, prickly and roughly 1-1 1/2" in length

• Provides privacy and a windbreak when planted in a row

• Yields light brown, 3-4" cones which hang downward on the branches and are concentrated in the upper crown

• Grows in a columnar, pyramidal shape

The American Filbert is a multi-stemmed shrub with a rounded top and an open, often wide-spreading base. Because of its size, it is adapts well to naturalizing and other non-formal areas. It bears annual, abundant crops of small, sweet tasting nuts. It will bear in 2-3 years after planting. The nuts are easy to crack and drop free of the husk when mature. (Plant multiple trees with the same flowering time to ensure pollination) (zone 4-9) 

Zone 4-9

Mature Size: 15-18 feet tall, and 10-12 feet wide

Growth Rate: This shrub grows at a medium to fast rate, with height increases of anywhere from 13" to more than 24" per year.

Sun Preference: Full sun and partial shade are best for this shrub, meaning it prefers a minimum of 4 hours of direct, unfiltered sunlight each day.

Soil Preference: Grows in acidic, alkaline, loamy, moist, rich, sandy, well-drained and clay soils. It is drought-tolerate.

Description: This multi-stemmed, rounded shrub has dark green leaves that are slightly hairy above and soft hairy beneath. Fall color is sometimes yellowish. The small but interesting dangling catkins appear in early to mid-April and are followed by edible nuts that mature in fall. Plants often form large thickets.

Landscape Use: American hazelnut has attractive summer foliage and interesting fall fruits, but its large size and coarse growth habit limit its landscape use to screening, naturalistic plantings, or large shrub borders. The nuts are favorites of squirrels.

Wildlife Value: The nuts produced by this shrub are a preferred by squirrels, deer, turkey, woodpeckers, pheasants, grouse, quail and jays. The male catkins are a food staple of ruffed grouse throughout the winter.

Attributes:

• Can be harvested typically from September to October

• Will begin producing nuts approximately 2-3 years after planting, 8 years if grown from seed

• Grows in a rounded shape

• Takes on a multi-stemmed form with an open, often wide-spreading base

• Produces red female flowers and yellowish-brown male catkins on the same plant (but it is not self-fertile)

• Should be planted in multiples (2 or 3) to ensure cross-pollination

Zone 3-7

Mature Size: 8-15 feet tall, and 6-12 feet wide

Growth Rate: This shrub grows at a medium rate, with height increases of 13-24" per year.

Sun Preference: Full sun and partial shade are best for this shrub, meaning it prefers a minimum of 4 hours of direct, unfiltered sunlight each day.

Soil Preference: Grows well in acidic, alkaline, moist, sandy and well-drained soils.

Description: The lilac is a deciduous, multi-stemmed shrub with an irregular, rounded outline. It is fast growing when young, but slows to about one foot a year with age. The stems are dark gray to gray-brown, and the wood is strong. The leaves are dark green to blue-green above and pale green below. In shades of lilac, light purple, or lavender, the clusters of four petal flowers bloom in April or May. They are extremely fragrant, While the lilac grows best in sunny sites, it will not tolerate hot, humid conditions. It prefers well drained, moist soil with a neutral or slightly alkaline pH. The soil can be supplemented with peat or leaf mold. Old flowers should be removed as soon as they fade. The best time to prune lilacs is just flowering. It is preferable to prune the shrub to emphasize medium-aged wood, which will produce good blooms and still lend good size to the plant. To do this, remove one-third of the oldest stems at ground level every year. At the same time, any corrective pruning, such as removing conflicting branches or sucker growth can be done. Older lilacs that are a major landscape feature can be pruned as small multiple-branched trees, removing sucker growth and emphasizing a few large, old trunks. The shrub also can be trimmed into a single stemmed tree. Overgrown lilacs can be cut to within a few inches of the ground. Within 3-4 years, they will flower again, For a hedge, plant about 3-4 feet apart depending upon the mature height. 

Wildlife Value: Lilacs attract butterflies, provide caterpillar food and offer cover for birds and butterflies.

Attributes:

• Produces very fragrant, light purple, 1/2" florets borne in 4-8" panicles usually in pairs on previous year's growth

• Blooms in April or May

• Features simple, ovate leaves that are dark green to bluish-green in color and 2-5" long

• Grows in a rounded shape

• Should be planted 3-4' apart for a hedge

• Will not tolerate hot, humid conditions

• Can be pruned into a single-stemmed or multi-stemmed tree