# Tree finder

> 53 of our 423 trees and shrubs match: shade, wet soil.

Blue Whale Trees, a native tree nursery in the United States. Web version: https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/tree-finder/?moisture=wet&sun=shade

Find the right native tree or shrub for your site by filtering on USDA hardiness zone, mature size, sun, soil moisture and what you want from each species. The list narrows as you set each filter. Every result is a tree or shrub we grow from seed, so anything it shows can be requested now and ordered once it is priced.

Start from

- [A small tree for shade](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/tree-finder/index.html.md?size=small-tree&sun=shade)
- [A small tree under wires](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/tree-finder/index.html.md?size=small-tree&height=20)
- [An evergreen hedge](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/tree-finder/index.html.md?want=evergreen,screening)
- [Wet ground](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/tree-finder/index.html.md?moisture=wet)
- [Trees for honey bees](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/tree-finder/index.html.md?want=honey)

Without JavaScript the list here does not follow the form: it is the list for the choices in the address, or the finder's own example. The [shop](https://bluewhaletrees.com/shop/index.html.md) lists the same trees and shrubs with its own filters and works without it. Set your choices below and press "Show these in the shop".

53 of our 423 trees and shrubs match

Matching: Shade, Wet soil.

Best fits first: those that list your sun and soil outright, then those that only tolerate them.

- [Alderleaf Buckthorn](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/alderleaf-buckthorn/index.html.md) (*Rhamnus alnifolia*): Shrub, Zones 3–7, 2–5 ft, Price on request. A low native buckthorn of fens, swamps and wet thickets, with alder-like leaves and black fruit for birds, at home in cold, limy wetlands.
- [American Fly Honeysuckle](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/american-fly-honeysuckle/index.html.md) (*Lonicera canadensis*): Shrub, Zones 3–7, 3–6 ft, Price on request. A native woodland honeysuckle of moist northern and mountain forests, with yellow flowers in pairs and twin red berries for birds.
- [American Hornbeam (Musclewood)](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/american-hornbeam/index.html.md) (*Carpinus caroliniana*): Small tree, Zones 3–9, 20–35 ft, Price on request. Smooth, sinewy gray trunks, orange-red fall color and complete comfort in shade and damp soil.
- [American Snowbell](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/american-snowbell/index.html.md) (*Styrax americanus*): Shrub, Zones 6–10, 6–15 ft, Price on request. Fragrant white bells with swept-back petals cover a slender native shrub in spring, for wet woods, pond edges and shady, acid ground.
- [Arrowwood Viburnum](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/arrowwood-viburnum/index.html.md) (*Viburnum dentatum*): Shrub, Zones 2–8, 5–10 ft, Price on request. Blue-black berries nearly half fat by dry weight ripen from August for robins, bluebirds and catbirds, after flat white flower heads in May for the bees.
- [Balsam Fir](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/balsam-fir/index.html.md) (*Abies balsamea*): Medium tree, Zones 2–7, 40–75 ft, Price on request. The fragrant Christmas-tree fir of the North Woods, with flat, dark needles of strong balsam scent, upright purple cones and a narrow spire of a crown.
- [Bladdernut](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/bladdernut/index.html.md) (*Staphylea trifolia*): Shrub, Zones 4–8, 8–15 ft, Price on request. Drooping white bell flowers in May and papery inflated seed pods that rattle in the fall wind.
- [Bottlebrush Buckeye](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/bottlebrush-buckeye/index.html.md) (*Aesculus parviflora*): Shrub, Zones 4–9, 8–12 ft, Price on request. A shade shrub that spreads into a broad mound and lifts white flower spikes up to a foot long in early summer, when few other shrubs bloom.
- [Canada Yew](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/canada-yew/index.html.md) (*Taxus canadensis*): Shrub, Zones 2–7, 3–6 ft, Price on request. A low, sprawling evergreen for deep shade whose branches root as they spread, with bright red, berry-like fruit that birds eat.
- [Crossvine](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/crossvine/index.html.md) (*Bignonia capreolata*): Shrub, Zones 5–9, 30–50 ft, Price on request. A native evergreen vine that climbs by sticky tendrils, with orange and yellow trumpet flowers that feed hummingbirds in early spring.
- [Dahoon](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/dahoon/index.html.md) (*Ilex cassine*): Small tree, Zones 7–10, 20–30 ft, Price on request. An evergreen holly of southern swamps with glossy, nearly spineless leaves and, on female trees, bright red berries through fall and winter.
- [Devilwood](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/devilwood/index.html.md) (*Cartrema americana*): Small tree, Zones 5–10, 15–30 ft, Price on request. A native evergreen of the olive family for screens in sun or shade, with fragrant spring flowers and, on female trees, dark blue fruit for birds.
- [Dwarf Palmetto](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/dwarf-palmetto/index.html.md) (*Sabal minor*): Shrub, Zones 7–10, 4–10 ft, Price on request. A hardy palm for wet shade whose trunk stays underground, sending up evergreen fans up to 5 feet across and tall stalks of fragrant flowers.
- [Eastern Leatherwood](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/eastern-leatherwood/index.html.md) (*Dirca palustris*): Shrub, Zones 4–9, 3–6 ft, Price on request. Tiny yellow flowers in the first week of spring, on a rare, slow shade shrub with bark you can tie in knots.
- [Florida Anise](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/florida-anise/index.html.md) (*Illicium floridanum*): Shrub, Zones 6–10, 6–10 ft, Price on request. A fast-growing evergreen for shade and wet ground, with leaves that smell of anise when crushed and nodding, dark red spring flowers.
- [Florida Leucothoe](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/florida-leucothoe/index.html.md) (*Agarista populifolia*): Shrub, Zones 5–9, 8–12 ft, Price on request. A tall evergreen for shady stream banks, with arching stems, red new leaves and fragrant white bells hanging beneath the branches in spring.
- [Gray Dogwood](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/gray-dogwood/index.html.md) (*Cornus racemosa*): Shrub, Zones 4–8, 4–10 ft, Price on request. White berries on red stalks, about a third fat, feed migrating warblers and sparrows in September. A thicket shrub for dry or wet ground, sun or shade.
- [Hobblebush](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/hobblebush/index.html.md) (*Viburnum lantanoides*): Shrub, Zones 3–6, 3–12 ft, Price on request. A shade shrub of cool northern woods with lacy white flower heads in spring and big heart-shaped leaves that turn bronze-red and purple in fall.
- [Inkberry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/inkberry/index.html.md) (*Ilex glabra*): Shrub, Zones 4–10, 5–10 ft, Price on request. An evergreen holly with glossy, spineless leaves for hedges and screens on damp, acid ground, and black berries all winter on female plants.
- [Limber Honeysuckle](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/limber-honeysuckle/index.html.md) (*Lonicera dioica*): Shrub, Zones 3–7, 3–10 ft, Price on request. A low native honeysuckle that twines up a fence or sprawls as a shrub, with whorls of yellow to red flowers for hummingbirds and red berries for birds.
- [Mountain Doghobble](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/mountain-doghobble/index.html.md) (*Leucothoe fontanesiana*): Shrub, Zones 4–8, 3–6 ft, Price on request. Arching evergreen stems hung with sprays of waxy white bells in spring, from the thicket shrub of southern Appalachian stream banks.
- [Mountain Fly Honeysuckle](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/mountain-fly-honeysuckle/index.html.md) (*Lonicera villosa*): Shrub, Zones 3–6, 1–5 ft, Price on request. A small native shrub of northern bogs and wet woods, a wild relative of the haskap, with paired pale yellow flowers and edible blue berries.
- [Myrtle Dahoon](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/myrtle-dahoon/index.html.md) (*Ilex myrtifolia*): Small tree, Zones 7–10, 15–25 ft, Price on request. A small-leaved evergreen holly of southern swamp edges, with thick, shiny leaves like a myrtle's and red berries that last into spring.
- [Nannyberry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/nannyberry/index.html.md) (*Viburnum lentago*): Shrub, Zones 2–9, 12–18 ft, Price on request. A big, adaptable viburnum with creamy flowers, edible blue-black fruit and wine-red fall color.
- [Needle Palm](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/needle-palm/index.html.md) (*Rhapidophyllum hystrix*): Shrub, Zones 6–10, 3–6 ft, Price on request. One of the hardiest palms, a trunkless clump of glossy fans up to 30 inches across, guarded at the base by long black needles.
- [Ohio Buckeye](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/ohio-buckeye/index.html.md) (*Aesculus glabra*): Medium tree, Zones 3–7, 20–40 ft, Price on request. Ohio's state tree, among the first to leaf out, with upright clusters of greenish yellow flowers and glossy brown buckeyes in prickly husks.
- [Pawpaw](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/pawpaw/index.html.md) (*Asimina triloba*): Small tree, Zones 5–9, 15–30 ft, Price on request. The largest native fruit in North America, custard-sweet and tropical, on an understory tree of rich bottomlands.
- [Pondberry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/pondberry/index.html.md) (*Lindera melissifolia*): Shrub, Zones 7–9, 2–6 ft, Price on request. A rare, colony-forming spicebush of flooded woods and pond edges, with drooping, root-beer-scented leaves, early yellow flowers and red fruit.
- [Pondspice](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/pondspice/index.html.md) (*Litsea aestivalis*): Shrub, Zones 7–9, 10–15 ft, Price on request. A rare coastal plain shrub of pond and swamp edges, with zigzag twigs, small leathery leaves, yellow flowers before the leaves and red fruit.
- [Possumhaw Viburnum](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/possumhaw-viburnum/index.html.md) (*Viburnum nudum*): Shrub, Zones 5–9, 5–12 ft, Price on request. A glossy-leaved viburnum for wet ground whose berries turn pink, blue and purplish black, often all at once in the same cluster.
- [Red Osier Dogwood](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/red-osier-dogwood/index.html.md) (*Cornus sericea*): Shrub, Zones 2–7, 6–12 ft, Price on request. A fast, thicket-forming shrub of wet ground whose young stems turn bright red after the leaves fall and glow against snow all winter.
- [Redbay](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/redbay/index.html.md) (*Persea borbonia*): Medium tree, Zones 7–10, 30–60 ft, Price on request. A spicy-leaved evergreen of the southern coast, with dark blue fruit for birds, now dying across much of its range from laurel wilt.
- [Riverbank Grape](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/riverbank-grape/index.html.md) (*Vitis riparia*): Shrub, Zones 2–9, 35–75 ft, Price on request. A hardy native grape vine that climbs by tendrils along streams and fences, with fragrant spring flowers and tart blue-black grapes for birds and jelly.
- [Rosebay Rhododendron](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/rosebay-rhododendron/index.html.md) (*Rhododendron maximum*): Shrub, Zones 3–7, 10–15 ft, Price on request. The great evergreen rhododendron of Appalachian stream valleys, with pink-white trusses in July.
- [Roughleaf Dogwood](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/roughleaf-dogwood/index.html.md) (*Cornus drummondii*): Shrub, Zones 5–8, 6–15 ft, Price on request. A fast thicket dogwood for dry or wet ground, with creamy flowers in late spring and white berries that dozens of kinds of birds eat.
- [Slippery Elm](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/slippery-elm/index.html.md) (*Ulmus rubra*): Medium tree, Zones 3–9, 40–70 ft, Price on request. The elm of the slippery inner bark, a fast, shade-tolerant tree of moist slopes and bottomlands, best grown in a wild corner among trees of other kinds.
- [Spicebush](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/spicebush/index.html.md) (*Lindera benzoin*): Shrub, Zones 4–9, 6–12 ft, Price on request. Yellow flowers in March, spicy-scented leaves, red berries for thrushes and the host plant of the spicebush swallowtail.
- [Spruce Pine](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/spruce-pine/index.html.md) (*Pinus glabra*): Large tree, Zones 7–9, 40–80 ft, Price on request. A soft-needled pine of southern river bottoms, one of the few pines that grows in part shade, for moist ground or a tall screen.
- [Squashberry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/squashberry/index.html.md) (*Viburnum edule*): Shrub, Zones 2–8, 2–7 ft, Price on request. A northern viburnum with lobed leaves that turn brilliant red in fall and sour red fruit for jam, for cool, moist woods and stream banks.
- [Strawberry Bush](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/strawberry-bush/index.html.md) (*Euonymus americanus*): Shrub, Zones 6–9, 4–6 ft, Price on request. Warty crimson capsules split open in fall to show orange-red seeds, on a slender woodland shrub with square green stems.
- [Sugarberry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/sugarberry/index.html.md) (*Celtis laevigata*): Large tree, Zones 5–10, 50–80 ft, Price on request. The hackberry of southern bottomlands, a fast shade tree for wet or dry ground, with warty gray bark and sweet fruit that birds eat into winter.
- [Swamp Doghobble](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/swamp-doghobble/index.html.md) (*Eubotrys racemosa*): Shrub, Zones 5–9, 4–10 ft, Price on request. Arching sprays of white bell flowers in May on a deciduous heath shrub for wet, acid ground in sun or part shade.
- [Swamp Laurel Oak](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/swamp-laurel-oak/index.html.md) (*Quercus laurifolia*): Large tree, Zones 6–10, 40–80 ft, Price on request. A fast red oak for wet southern ground, with glossy leaves that are often diamond-shaped and big acorn crops that turkeys and deer seek out.
- [Sweet Pepperbush (Summersweet)](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/sweet-pepperbush/index.html.md) (*Clethra alnifolia*): Shrub, Zones 3–9, 4–8 ft, Price on request. Spires of intensely fragrant white flowers in August, when almost nothing else is blooming, and bees know it.
- [Sweetleaf](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/sweetleaf/index.html.md) (*Symplocos tinctoria*): Small tree, Zones 7–9, 15–30 ft, Price on request. A small understory tree with fluffy, fragrant cream flowers on its bare twigs in early spring and leaves with a faintly sweet taste.
- [Sweetshrub](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/sweetshrub/index.html.md) (*Calycanthus floridus*): Shrub, Zones 4–9, 6–12 ft, Price on request. A shrub for sun or deep shade whose maroon spring flowers smell of strawberry, pineapple and banana.
- [Two-wing Silverbell](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/two-wing-silverbell/index.html.md) (*Halesia diptera*): Small tree, Zones 4–9, 15–30 ft, Price on request. White bells in spring and two-winged fruit in fall, on a small tree of southern floodplains that takes shade and wet ground.
- [Velvetleaf Blueberry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/velvetleaf-blueberry/index.html.md) (*Vaccinium myrtilloides*): Shrub, Zones 2–6, 1–4 ft, Price on request. A low wild blueberry of the North with softly hairy leaves that turn red in fall and sweet, tart blue berries from July into September.
- [Virginia Creeper](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/virginia-creeper/index.html.md) (*Parthenocissus quinquefolia*): Shrub, Zones 3–10, 30–50 ft, Price on request. A fast native vine that climbs by sticky pads, turns crimson early in fall and feeds birds through the winter with blue-black berries.
- [Virginia Sweetspire](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/virginia-sweetspire/index.html.md) (*Itea virginica*): Shrub, Zones 5–9, 3–6 ft, Price on request. Fragrant white flower spikes in June, red and gold fall leaves that hang on into winter, and roots that are happy in wet ground.
- [Yaupon](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/yaupon/index.html.md) (*Ilex vomitoria*): Small tree, Zones 7–9, 10–25 ft, Price on request. A native evergreen holly for hedges and screens, with glossy leaves and, on female trees, red berries that birds take in late winter.
- [Yellow Anise](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/yellow-anise/index.html.md) (*Illicium parviflorum*): Shrub, Zones 6–10, 10–20 ft, Price on request. A rare Florida evergreen for shade and wet ground, with olive green leaves that smell of licorice when crushed and nodding pale yellow flowers.
- [Georgia Bully](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/georgia-bully/index.html.md) (*Sideroxylon thornei*): Shrub, Zones 8–9, 3–20 ft, Price on request. A rare thorny buckthorn of limestone swamps in the Deep South, with mildly fragrant white flowers in late spring and small black fruit for wildlife.

Ask what is ready: [put the first 12 on my request list](https://bluewhaletrees.com/list/#items=alderleaf-buckthorn:1,american-fly-honeysuckle:1,american-hornbeam:1,american-snowbell:1,arrowwood-viburnum:1,balsam-fir:1,bladdernut:1,bottlebrush-buckeye:1,canada-yew:1,crossvine:1,dahoon:1,devilwood:1).

## How the matching works

- **Zone.** A tree or shrub is listed when your zone is inside its hardiness range.
- **Mature size.** The type the catalog gives each one, as in the shop's size boxes.
- **Height limit.** Those whose typical mature height tops out at or under the limit, or at 60 ft or more for its last step. The article on [small trees for a small yard](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/small-native-trees-for-small-yards/index.html.md) says how far each goes from a house or a line.
- **Sun and soil.** What each one is known to tolerate, counting the labels for shade, wet ground and drought.
- **Must have.** Every trait you tick, all at once.
- **Counts.** The number beside each box and each choice is how many would remain if you chose it too.
- **Best fit first.** Trees and shrubs that list your sun and soil outright come before those that only tolerate them. Within that, those with your zone in the middle of their range come before those at its edge.
- **Ties.** Those that can be ordered now come first, then those with a photo, then the rest by name.
- **ZIP code.** It sets the zone from the same listing as the ZIP code tool, and the code itself is not kept.
- **Compare.** Tick Compare on up to four cards, then press Compare side by side for their facts in one table above the list. The trees stay in it while the filters change, and the address carries them, so a copied link opens the table.
- **Hedge spacing.** On a Hedge or screen list each card gives the spacing its own page sets. A hedge length gives how many to set in one straight row, with one at each end. The article on [hedges, screens and windbreaks](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/native-hedges-screens-and-windbreaks/index.html.md) covers staggered rows.

## Common questions

### Which native tree is best for my yard?

In the finder's list the best fit comes first: trees and shrubs whose pages list your sun and soil outright, then those that only tolerate them. Within each group, those with your zone in the middle of their range come before those at its edge.

### Can the tree finder identify a tree from a leaf or photo?

No: the finder lists native trees and shrubs to plant, matched to your zone, size, sun and soil. To name a tree you found, use the [tree identification](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/identify/index.html.md) tool, which names it from a photo of a leaf, the bark, a twig, fruit or a flower.

### What tree can I plant close to my house?

Set the finder's height limit to the room you have: it matches the top of each species' typical mature height. Our article on [small trees for a small yard](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/small-native-trees-for-small-yards/index.html.md) says how far each one goes from a house.

### What trees can I plant under power lines?

Within 15 feet of the wires, the International Society of Arboriculture says a tree should mature at 20 feet or lower. Virginia Cooperative Extension allows trees to 25 feet within 20 feet of the wires, and suggests large shrubs under 15 feet directly under them.

### How many trees or shrubs do I need for a hedge?

Divide the hedge's length by the spacing, round down and add one, since a straight row has one at each end: a 40-foot hedge at 4 feet apart takes 11. On its Hedge or screen list, the finder gives each species the spacing its own page sets.

The address carries every choice, so a copied link opens the same list. The page draws that list before any script runs, so a shared link and the page's Markdown copy show the trees and shrubs themselves. These are its keys:

- **zone**: 2 to 10.
- **size**: shrub, small-tree, medium-tree or large-tree.
- **height**: 15, 20, 30, 40 or 60 for a top height at or under that many feet, or 60-plus.
- **sun**: full, part or shade. **moisture**: dry, average or wet.
- **want**: one or more traits joined by commas, such as want=evergreen,screening. The boxes are flowers, fall-color, winter-interest, wildlife, honey, edible, evergreen, rare, early-bearing, screening, nitrogen-fixing, salt, street-tree and erosion-control. The address also takes drought, wet-tolerant and shade.
- **hedge**: a hedge length in feet, read when screening is wanted. **sort**: name, height, hardy or fast, or the price orders once prices are set.
- **compare**: up to four plant page names joined by commas, such as compare=black-gum,pawpaw, for the table side by side.

Each tree's facts come from its own page: its zones, mature height, sun, soil, labels and hedge spacing. The 20 and 40 ft height steps are the International Society of Arboriculture's zones by overhead wires ([Avoiding Tree & Utility Conflicts](https://www.treesaregood.org/Portals/0/TreesAreGood_Avoid%20Utility%20Conflict_0621.pdf), 2021). Within 15 feet of distribution wires, the species chosen "should have a mature height of 20 feet (6 meters) or lower". From 15 to 50 feet out, it should have "a potential mature height of 40 feet (12 meters) or lower". The planting-site check follows the same zones. The 30 ft step is the small-tree ceiling the [growth estimator](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/growth/index.html.md) uses for its generic small tree. Virginia Cooperative Extension draws the low zone wider, to 20 feet from the line, where "trees in the low zone should not exceed 25 feet at maturity" ([Selecting and Managing Trees to Avoid Conflicts with Overhead Utility Lines](https://www.pubs.ext.vt.edu/430/430-029/430-029.html), 2024). Under the line itself it suggests large shrubs with "a mature height of less than 15 feet", the limit's first step. A ZIP code's zone is the 2023 USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map's ZIP code listing, prepared by the PRISM Climate Group at Oregon State University.

When nothing fits, the site is usually the problem rather than the catalog: [tell us](https://bluewhaletrees.com/support/index.html.md#contact) the zone, soil, sun and what the tree needs to do, and we will suggest something.

The address carries the tree finder's inputs, so a link opens it filled in, and Copy link on a result writes one: zone (a whole number from 2 to 10), size (shrub, small-tree, medium-tree or large-tree), height (a mature height to stay under: 15, 20, 30, 40 or 60 feet, or 60-plus), sun (full, part or shade), moisture (dry, average or wet), want (one or more of flowers, fall-color, winter-interest, wildlife, honey, edible, evergreen, rare, early-bearing, screening, nitrogen-fixing, salt, street-tree, erosion-control, shade, wet-tolerant or drought, joined by commas), hedge (a hedge or screen length in feet, for a plant count), sort (featured, name, price-asc, price-desc, height, hardy or fast), compare (the slugs of the plants to compare, joined by commas). For example, [/tools/tree-finder/?zone=6&size=small-tree&sun=part&moisture=average&want=fall-color](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/tree-finder/index.html.md?zone=6&size=small-tree&sun=part&moisture=average&want=fall-color).