Native trees for the Great Lakes and Midwest: Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin

On the heavy clay the glaciers left in these five states, plant bur oak, swamp white oak, hackberry and American basswood, the native linden. Bitternut hickory takes the moist woods and stream borders, and black gum the wet clay as far north as central Michigan. Black oak and northern pin oak belong on the sand of the lakeshore dunes and outwash plains. River bottoms in the south of the region take pecan, and the cold north takes yellow birch and northern white cedar. Plant while the trees are dormant, and choose spring where the winters are hardest.

Zones, the lakes and when to plant

On the 2023 hardiness zone map the five states run from zone 3b in northwestern Wisconsin to 7b at the southern tip of Illinois:

On the state maps the Lake Michigan shore at Milwaukee, Kenosha and Chicago is 6a, warmer than the farmland inland at 5a or 5b. Our ZIP code lookup gives the half zone for any ZIP code, and what a hardiness zone tells you covers what the number leaves out.

Plant while the tree is dormant. The region’s extension services split on the season, and Illinois makes the case for fall:

“The advantage of planting trees in the fall is that the tree is provided a few extra months of root growth prior to the onset of a Midwestern summer.” (Illinois Extension, Autumn is for tree planting)

Michigan State University Extension’s Bert Cregg recommends spring for the Midwest unless there is a compelling reason to plant in fall, since new roots all but stop as the soil cools. The University of Wisconsin’s list of trees that do better planted in spring includes oaks, birches, cherries, plums, beech and arborvitae.

Blue Whale Trees ships live plants from February through May and in October and November, while they are dormant, and holds an order placed in summer for the next window.

Heavy clay and wet lake plains

On the glacial till plains of southwestern Ohio and southern Indiana and Illinois, flat ground over a claypan stays wet through winter and spring. In southern Michigan, bur oak grows thick on low ridges in old glacial lake beds. These trees take that ground:

Pin oak, bald cypress and swamp white oak yellow from iron chlorosis on alkaline clay, so test the soil before choosing them. Where it comes back alkaline, bur oak, hackberry and basswood are the safer shade trees.

For the wettest clay, at a ditch or a pond edge:

• Buttonbush, the round-flowered shrub of swamps and pond shores. Zones 4 to 10, 5 to 12 feet.
• Red osier dogwood, whose roots hold a stream bank and whose red stems show against snow. Zones 2 to 7, 6 to 12 feet.
• Winterberry, the deciduous holly of swamps, with scarlet berries all winter. Zones 3 to 9, 6 to 12 feet.

Native trees and shrubs for heavy clay covers drainage, planting and more species.

Sand dunes and outwash plains

Sand dunes rise along Lake Michigan, and the glaciers left outwash sand inland in Michigan and Wisconsin. On the dunes of northwest Indiana, black oaks stand over prairie grasses in open savanna. Oak savannas once covered roughly fifty million acres from Michigan to Nebraska, and about 30,000 acres remain.

“The black oak savannas of Indiana Dunes National Park are some of the last surviving and highest quality oak savannas in the world.” (National Park Service, Black Oak Savannas)

For dry sand in full sun:

• Black oak, a red oak that takes poor, dry sand. Zones 3 to 9, 50 to 80 feet.
• Northern pin oak, the red oak of the Great Lakes sand plains, hardy in zone 3. Zones 3 to 7, 50 to 70 feet.
• White oak, the state tree of Illinois, for sand that is neither wet nor alkaline. Zones 3 to 9, 50 to 80 feet.
• American plum, the hardiest native plum, whose thorny thickets slow wind erosion. Zones 3 to 8, 15 to 25 feet.
• Chokecherry, a suckering small tree for a windbreak or a hedgerow. Zones 2 to 10, 20 to 30 feet.
• American hazelnut, a nut thicket for grouse and turkeys. Zones 4 to 9, 8 to 12 feet.
• New Jersey tea, a low shrub whose massive roots stand poor, dry ground. Zones 4 to 8, 2 to 3 feet.
• Sand cherry, whose running roots hold the sand of Great Lakes dunes. Zones 3 to 6, 1 to 8 feet.

Prairie edges and old fields

Where prairie meets forest in northern Illinois, bur oak forms the fringe, and its thick, corky bark carries old trees through prairie fires. On prairie loam and old fields, these take full sun and dry spells:

• Shagbark hickory, drought tolerant once established and host to over a hundred caterpillar species. Zones 4 to 8, 60 to 90 feet.
• Kentucky coffeetree, which takes drought, alkaline soil, road salt and compaction. Zones 3 to 8, 60 to 80 feet.
• Black cherry, a tree of old fields and fence rows whose fruit feeds at least 33 kinds of birds. Zones 2 to 9, 50 to 80 feet.
• Downy hawthorn, a broad hawthorn of the Midwest whose fruit makes jelly. Zones 3 to 8, 20 to 40 feet.
• Nannyberry, for sun or shade, wet or dry, sand or clay. Zones 2 to 8, 12 to 18 feet.
• Ninebark, which takes drought, compaction and road salt. Zones 2 to 8, 5 to 10 feet.

For rows across open farmland, native hedges, screens and windbreaks gives the spacing.

River bottoms

The rich, wet ground along the region’s rivers takes these:

• Bitternut hickory, the hardiest hickory, largest on the bottom lands of the lower Ohio River. Zones 4 to 9, 50 to 80 feet.
• Pecan, a northern-adapted pecan that ripens nuts in short seasons. Zones 5 to 9, 70 to 100 feet.
• Red mulberry, a shade-tolerant floodplain tree, now uncommon because white mulberry hybridizes with it. Zones 4 to 9, 35 to 50 feet.
• Black elderberry, fast along streams and in wet ditches. Zones 3 to 9, 6 to 12 feet.
• Spicebush, for low woods and shaded stream banks. Zones 4 to 9, 6 to 12 feet.

We do not grow sycamore, eastern cottonwood or silver maple. Silver maple is overplanted, and without frequent pruning, wind and ice break its limbs, so it is among the trees not to plant near a house.

The cold north

Yellow birch grows where 60 to 140 inches of snow fall in a winter, and Upper Michigan holds some of its largest stands. Northern white cedar shelters deer in their winter yards, and browsing by deer and hares has kept young cedars from replacing old ones across wide areas.

• Yellow birch, for a cool, moist lawn or stream bank. Zones 3 to 7, 60 to 75 feet.
• Northern white cedar, the wild parent of garden arborvitae. Zones 2 to 7, 40 to 60 feet.
• Tamarack, the larch that is first to invade a bog as a lake fills in. Zones 2 to 6, 50 to 75 feet.
• American mountain ash, whose berries feed waxwings and grosbeaks all winter. Zones 2 to 7, 15 to 30 feet.
• Striped maple, for cool shade under tall hardwoods. Zones 3 to 7, 15 to 35 feet.

We do not grow the northern hardwood forest’s other trees, sugar maple, eastern hemlock, eastern white pine, paper birch and red maple.

Pests, disease, deer and salt

Emerald ash borer

Emerald ash borer was first detected in North America in 2002 in southeast Michigan, and by April 2026 it had been found in 38 states and the District of Columbia. Its larvae tunnel S-shaped galleries under the bark, and an infested tree may die within two to four years. Blue ash is attacked too, but it survives at far higher rates than green or white ash. The borer leaves alone three trees named ash that are not ashes: American mountain ash, common prickly ash and common hoptree, the wafer ash.

Oak wilt

Oak wilt, a fungal disease, kills red oaks fastest: a wilting red oak loses most of its leaves and dies in about a month. That puts northern red oak, black, pin and northern pin oak at risk. Bur and swamp white oaks catch it too but live several years after the first symptoms. Sap beetles carry the spores to fresh wounds, and the risk is greatest from April through July, so prune oaks only in the dormant season.

Beech leaf disease and beech bark disease

Beech leaf disease, caused by a nematode living in the leaves, was first observed in 2012 in Lake County, Ohio, and has spread from Michigan to Maine and south to Virginia. It can kill young and old trees within six years of the first symptoms. Beech bark disease, set off by a scale insect that arrived from Europe about 1890, has killed many big old beeches in the Northeast. Beech leaf disease covers the signs and whether to plant American beech now.

Spotted lanternfly

By August 2025 spotted lanternfly had populations in 19 states and the District of Columbia, Michigan, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois among them, though not Wisconsin. Its preferred host is tree-of-heaven, and it also feeds on grapevines, hops, stone fruit trees and hardwoods.

Dutch elm disease

Dutch elm disease reached the United States in the early 1930s and has killed hundreds of thousands of elms. Every native elm can catch it, rock elm among them. Where an elm died, plant something else: hackberry resists the disease, and Kentucky coffeetree takes the heavy clay and road salt that elms did. Variety is the wider lesson:

“The biggest lesson learned from the devastation of Dutch elm disease is the importance of having a variety of trees […] so that no disease or pest that may arrive can kill a large proportion of the trees.” (The Morton Arboretum, American elm)

A guideline for city trees from Santamour in 1990 puts it in numbers: no more than 10 percent of one species, 20 percent of one genus or 30 percent of one family.

Deer and road salt

Deer and rabbits browse young oaks, so guard each sapling with a tube or cage for its first three years. Protecting trees from animals has the hardware. Along a salted road, plant Kentucky coffeetree, black gum or ninebark, which take road salt. Basswood and hackberry do not, and native street trees covers salt spray and salty meltwater.

Where to start

• Your state’s natives: Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin each have a list.
• A tree for the spot: the tree finder is set here to zone 5, a large tree, full sun, wet ground and wildlife.
• Distance from the house: the site check tests a swamp white oak 30 feet from a wall.
• The first summer: the watering calculator gives the water for a bare-root sapling in clay.

Common questions

What native trees grow best in Michigan?

Swamp white oak and bur oak suit the wet clay of old lake beds in the south of the state. Northern pin oak takes the sand plains, and yellow birch the cool north.

What hardiness zone is the Great Lakes region?

On the 2023 map the five states run from zone 3b in northwestern Wisconsin to 7b at the southern tip of Illinois. The lakeshores run warmer than the land inland.

When is the best time to plant trees in the Midwest?

While they are dormant, in spring before bud break or early in fall. In the coldest country, and for oaks, birches and cherries anywhere, spring is the safer season.

Which native trees grow in heavy clay in the Midwest?

Swamp white oak, bur oak, hackberry, black gum, pin oak and American basswood all take heavy clay. Pin oak, black gum and swamp white oak want acid soil, so test the pH first.

What should I plant instead of ash trees?

A mix of other natives, such as swamp white oak, hackberry and Kentucky coffeetree, with no one species over a tenth of the planting. Blue ash survives the borer far better than other ashes.

Sources

• Map Downloads: USDA Agricultural Research Service, 2023 USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map: the state maps of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin, each state’s zone range, and the warmer zones along the Lake Michigan shore.
• Autumn is for tree planting: Illinois Extension (Emily Swihart, 2025): the quotation, the case for fall planting, and the condition that the tree goes in early in fall.
• Is fall really a great time to plant trees?: Michigan State University Extension (Bert Cregg): spring planting recommended for the Midwest, and new root growth stopping as the soil cools in fall.
• Tree Species Recommended for Fall Planting: University of Wisconsin-Madison Extension (Amy Freidig, 2024), with Alternative to Ash Trees (Laura G. Jull): the trees that do better planted in spring, the natives on the list of alternatives to ash, Santamour’s guideline of 10, 20 and 30 percent, hackberry’s resistance to Dutch elm disease, Kentucky coffeetree’s tolerance of heavy clay and salt, and basswood’s and hackberry’s sensitivity to salt.
• Bur Oak: USDA Forest Service, Silvics of North America, with the chapters on pin oak, black tupelo, American basswood, bitternut hickory and yellow birch, and the 2026 revision of the northern white-cedar chapter: bur oak on old glacial lake beds and at the prairie fringe, pin oak flats on the till plains, black gum’s northern limit, basswood as the American linden, bitternut on the lower Ohio bottoms, yellow birch’s snowfall, stands and forest types, and cedar in deer yards.
• Black Oak Savannas: National Park Service, Indiana Dunes National Park: the quotation, oak savanna’s former fifty million acres and the 30,000 left, and the restoration of 1,045 acres at Tolleston Dunes and Miller Woods.
• American elm: The Morton Arboretum, with the pages on Dutch elm disease, emerald ash borer, beech leaf disease, pin oak, bald-cypress, tupelo and silver maple: the quotation on variety, Dutch elm disease’s arrival, toll and reach, the borer’s galleries and speed, blue ash attacked and the three false ashes spared, beech leaf disease’s first find and toll, chlorosis on alkaline soil, black gum’s tolerance of road salt, and silver maple’s weak limbs.
• Emerald Ash Borer: USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, with its Spotted Lanternfly page: the borer’s first detection in southeast Michigan in 2002 and its 38 states and the District of Columbia by April 2026, and the lanternfly’s 19 states and the District of Columbia by August 2025 and its hosts.
• Oak Wilt: Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources: red oaks dead within about a month of wilting, bur and swamp white oaks living several years after symptoms, sap beetles at fresh wounds, and the risk from April through July.