Ohio Plants for Wildlife Habitat & Conservation Landscaping
The following are WindStar Wildlife Institute’s plant recommendations for wildlife habitats in Ohio:
Trees
Red and Sugar Maple; River Birch; Hornbeam; Shagbark Hickory; Hackbery; Redbud; Flowering Dogwood; Cockspur and Dotted Hawthorn; Persimmon; American Holly; Black Walnut; Eastern Red Cedar; Sweet Gum; Black Gum; Eastern White, Shortleaf, Pitch and Virginia Pine; Sycamore; Wild Plum; Pin Cherry; White, Scarlet, Pin, Willow and Red Oak; Sassafras; American Linden; Eastern Hemlock
Shrubs
Downey Serviceberry; New Jersey Tea; Pogoda, Swamp, Silky and Red-osier Dogwood; Washington Hawthrorn; Bush Honeysuckle; Box Huckleberry; Winterberry; Spicebush; Chokecherry; Fragrant and Smooth Sumac; Prickly Gooseberry; Thimbleberry; Elderberry; Blueberry; Witherod Viburnum; Arrowwood
Wildflowers
Sweet Flag; White Baneberry; Thimbleweed; Columbine; Jack-in-the-pulpit; New England, White and Frost Aster; Butterfly Weed; Blue Wild Indigo; Turtlehead; Maryland Golden Aster; Tall Coreopsis; Dutchman’s Breeches; Shooting Star; Joe-pye Weed; Ox-eye Sunflower; Swamp Rose Mallow; Wood Lily; Cardinal Flower; Great Blue Lobelia; Wild Lupine; Virginia Bluebells; Partridge Berry; Beebalm; Wild Bergamot; Yellow Poind Lily; Beardtongue; Sweet William; Summer and Creeping Phlox; Solomon’s Seal; Black-eyed Susan; Cut-leaf Coneflower; Golden Ragwort; Fire Pink; Blue-stemmed, Gray and Showy Goldenrod; Foam Flower; Virginia Spiderwort; Blue Verbena; Common Blue and Birdsfoot Violet
Doves are very common in the state of Ohio.
Vines
Virginia Creeper; American Bittersweet; Virgin’s Bower; Coral Honeysuckle; Passionflower; Cross Vine
Grasses
Indiangrass; Little and Big Bluestem; Sideoats Grama, Broomsedge, Switchgrass, Bluejoint; Bottlebrush; Prairie Cordgrass; Tall Dropseed
Ohio‘s topography consists of rolling plains for the most part. In the north, Ohio borders Lake Erie. The Lake Erie Plains, part of the Great Lakes Plains, extend southward from the lake into Ohio. The Allegheny Plateau is located in the east. The Central or Till Plains cover the western portion of the state. The Appalachian or Allegheny Plateau covers the eastern half of Ohio, south of the Lake Erie Plains. The northern part of the Appalachian Plateau consists of rolling hills and valleys. The southern two thirds of the Appalachian Plateau consists of steep hills and valleys and is the most rugged area in the state. The Bluegrass Region consists of hilly and gently rolling land. The Ohio shoreline lines 312 miles of Lake Erie.The Ohio Native Plant Society can provide lists of plants for a specific region.
For more information on improving your wildlife habitat, visit the WindStar Wildlife Institute web site. On the web site, you can also apply to certify your property as a wildlife habitat, register for the “Certified Wildlife Habitat Naturalist e-Learning course, become a member and sign up for the FREE WindStar Wildlife Garden Weekly e-mail newsletter.