Blue Whale Trees
Find my tree

Companion species

Pick one native tree or shrub and see what grows with it. The matches come in three groups. Some species share its ground in the wild, and others live under its canopy or are the trees it can be planted beneath. The rest suit the same yard because they want the same sun, soil and climate. Every match is explained on the page, so you can see why a species is listed.

Medium tree, 40–60 ft, zones 2–7, full or part sun, average or wet soil. Catalog page.

In the wild

Northern White Cedar grows in rocky ground, stream banks, swamps and wet flats

These natives share that ground, so they will look right together and want the same care.

Sweet Azalea
Rhododendron arborescens Shrub, 8–20 ft Possumhaw
Ilex decidua Shrub, 7–15 ft Long-stalked Holly
Ilex collina Shrub, 10–13 ft Yellow Birch
Betula alleghaniensis Large tree, 60–75 ft · shares stream banks, swamps and wet flats Catberry
Ilex mucronata Shrub, 3–10 ft · shares stream banks, swamps and wet flats Mountain Maple
Acer spicatum Small tree, 10–25 ft · shares rocky ground and stream banks Tamarack
Larix laricina Large tree, 50–75 ft · shares stream banks, swamps and wet flats Winterberry Holly
Ilex verticillata Shrub, 6–12 ft · shares stream banks, swamps and wet flats

In the yard

Under its canopy

Shrubs that take the shade a northern white cedar casts and like the same soil.

Drought tolerantTolerates wet soil

Gray Dogwood

Cornus racemosa
Shrub Zones 4–8 4–10 ft

Shares rocky ground and stream banks in the wild. Hardy in zones 4 to 7 of the northern white cedar's 2 to 7.

Price on request See availability

In the yard

Beside it

Plants that want the same sun and soil, for a bed, a hedge or a grove, with the same size class first.

Tolerates wet soil

River Birch

Betula nigra
Medium tree Zones 3–9 40–70 ft

Shares stream banks, swamps and wet flats in the wild. Hardy in zones 3 to 7 of the northern white cedar's 2 to 7.

Price on request See availability
Tolerates wet soilFall color

Pond Cypress

Taxodium ascendens
Medium tree Zones 5–10 30–70 ft

Shares stream banks, swamps and wet flats in the wild. Hardy in zones 5 to 7 of the northern white cedar's 2 to 7.

Price on request See availability
Tolerates wet soilRare

Water Locust

Gleditsia aquatica
Medium tree Zones 6–10 40–60 ft

Shares stream banks, swamps and wet flats in the wild. Hardy in zones 6 to 7 of the northern white cedar's 2 to 7.

Price on request See availability
EvergreenTolerates wet soil

Redbay

Persea borbonia
Medium tree Zones 7–10 30–60 ft

Shares stream banks, swamps and wet flats in the wild. Hardy only in zone 7 of the northern white cedar's 2 to 7.

Price on request See availability
Tolerates wet soilEdible

Swamp White Oak

Quercus bicolor
Medium tree Zones 3–8 50–60 ft

Shares stream banks, swamps and wet flats in the wild. Hardy in zones 3 to 7 of the northern white cedar's 2 to 7.

Price on request See availability

Plan the planting

Be first

Email me when Northern White Cedar or a companion is ready to order

For Northern White Cedar, Squashberry, Alderleaf Buckthorn, Gray Dogwood, Virginia Sweetspire, Canada Yew, Wild Black Currant, River Birch, Atlantic White Cedar, Pond Cypress, Water Locust, Redbay: one email per plant when it is priced or back in stock, and nothing else.

How the matches are made

  • Natural communities. Every species we grow is tagged with the communities it lives in: floodplain forests, swamps and wet flats, stream banks, rich moist slopes, dry uplands, sandy barrens, rocky ground, old fields and edges, the forest understory, the Appalachians and the coast.
  • In the wild. Up to eight natives that share one of those communities with it and grow wild in one of its states. The most communities in common come first, then the native range most like its own. A species in a yard list is not repeated here.
  • Under its canopy, or trees to plant it under. Up to six species at least two sizes apart, the smaller one taking part shade or shade: shrubs under a medium tree, shrubs and small trees under a large one.
  • Beside it. Up to six that share a sun with it, the same size first.
  • The order of a yard list. Every yard pick shares a zone, a soil and a state of native range with it. A shared community counts two points, and a shared sun or soil one. Under a canopy, a species of the forest understory counts two more, and one that takes full shade one more. Of equal scores, the one hardy in more of its zones comes first.
  • Your zone. With a zone chosen, the yard lists keep only species rated hardy in it.
  • Black walnut. The 37 species we grow that the Morton Arboretum lists as sensitive to its juglone are left out of its answer, and it is left out of theirs. Under a walnut, the species on Morton's tolerant lists come first and are marked.
  • Eastern red cedar. The 25 crabapples, hawthorns, serviceberries, chokeberries and mountain ash we grow are left out of its answer, and it is left out of theirs: the cedar-apple, hawthorn, quince and juniper broom rusts live on both, and the University of Minnesota Extension says to keep them a few hundred yards apart.
  • A tree we do not grow. The note under the menu names a relative we grow, in the words of its page.

The communities are our own tags. The states of native range are the USDA PLANTS Database's records, read on 2026-09-23, as the native trees by state tool reads them. Zones, sun and soil are each species' own page. The juglone lists are the Morton Arboretum's, read on 2026-10-05, which warns that "any list regarding this topic is incomplete and some of the information may be anecdotal." The rusts' hosts are the University of Minnesota Extension's, read on 2026-10-06. What to plant under a big tree and the article on juglone cover the subject.

Sharing a habitat tag does not mean two plants always grow side by side, and a tag says nothing about how far apart to plant them. Use the planting-site check for the spot itself, and the growth estimator for how much room each one will want in twenty years.