Trees For Wet Sites

Many of the trees for wet sites that do well in the Mid-South are native to your area and thrive on river banks or near other sources of water. If you have an area that drains slowly after a rain, or if you have a pond or stream, the trees in the following list will grow very quickly.

Bob McCartney, who helped assemble this list of trees in the book The Southern Gardener's Book of Lists by Lois Trigg Chaplin, had these comments to add: "Most species of trees native to bottomlands (floodplains) don't mind inundation and are often under water for months during the winter and spring seasons. Some like the Atlantic white cedar, dahoon holly, loblolly bay and sweet bay magnolia, like moisture but not flooding, but bald cypress does not adapt to long periods of inundation."

Special Note The roots of larger trees grow rapidly and some can grow out up to 60 feet from the base of the tree, so be sure not to put them near a septic tank.

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The following list of sites is especially suited for the Mid-South

• Sycamore (Plantanus occidentalis)
• American hornbeam (Carpinus corolinaiana)
• Overcup oak (Quercus lyrata)
• Bald cypress (Taxodium distichum)
• River birch (Betula nigra)
• London plane tree (Plataus xacerifolia)
• Cherrybark oak (Quercus falcata var. pagodifolia)
• Mayhaw (Crataegus aestivalis)
• Water tupelo (Nyssa aquatica)
• Sweet bay magnolia (Magnolia virginiana)
• Laural oak (Quercus laurifolia)
• Nutall oak (Quercus Nutallii)

If you have a low spot in your yard, where your feet get wet just walking through the area, these are the trees for you!