Ask Mr. Smarty Plants

Well let me introduce you to our Native Plant Database that can help with finding plants for particular situations. One way of using the Database is to go to the Recommended Species Lists. Click on View Recommended Species Page, and then click on Kentucky on the map. This will bring up 122 commercially available native plant species suitable for planned landscapes in Kentucky. This is more information than you need, so go to the Narrow Your Search box to the right of the window and make the following selections: select Kentucky under State, Shrub under habit, and Perennial under duration. Check Sun under Light Requirement, Moist under Soil Moisture, and 3-6 under Height. Click on the Narrow Your Search button and the list is reduced to six. Clicking on the scientific name of each plant will bring up its NPIN page that has plant characteristics, growth requirements and photos. These can help you select plants suitable for your location.

Another approach is to use the Combination Search Box on the Database page. It works similarly, so make the same selections as before and click on the Submit Combination Search button. In this case, the results are close to the same.

Here are a few possibilities that I gleaned from such a search:

Ilex vomitoria (Yaupon)   (dwarf varieties)

Photinia pyrifolia (Red chokeberry)

Vaccinium corymbosum (Highbush blueberry)     (dwarf varieties)    

Symphoricarpos albus (Common snowberry)

Now these shrubs, or any other that you select, are not going to stop growing at three feet. The shape of the plant, height and width, will be influenced by careful and thoughtful pruning. This link to Purdue University will help you accomplish this.

Ilex vomitoria

Ilex vomitoria

Photinia pyrifolia

Vaccinium corymbosum

Symphoricarpos albus