Plants for Dry, Sandy, Infertile Soils If you have a recently built home, you may be dealing with sandy, infertile conditions immediately around your house (where you probably want to plant). Pennsylvania has a lot of indigenous sandy soils as well. To check for excess sand, take a pinch of moistened soil and squeeze it together. If it falls apart, you have a sandy soil. You should add organic matter to your planting zone to help reclaim your soil's fertility. If this is impractical, try these sand-tolerant plants. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------TREES Bayberry - Myrica pennsylvanica Amur Maple – Acer ginnala Mugo Pine – Pinus mugho Silver Maple - Acer saccharinum Shrubby Cinquefoil - Potentilla fruticosa Hawthorn – Crataegus spp. Staghorn Sumac - Rhus typhina Honeylocust - Gleditsia triacanthos Shrub Rose – Rosa hybrids Osage-Orange - Maclura pomifera Spiraea - Spiraea spp. Crabapple - Malus spp. Blueberry - Vaccineum corymbosum Dwarf Alberta Spruce - Picea glauca 'Conica' Weigela - Weigela florida Colorado Blue Spruce - Picea pungens Yucca - Yucca filamentosa White Pine - Pinus strobus Mountain Ash – Sorbus americana SHRUBS Red Chokeberry – Aronia arbutifolia VINES Bittersweet - Celastrus scandens Virginia Creeper - Parthenocissus quinquefolia Japanese Barberry - Berberis thunbergii Butterfly Bush - Buddleia davidii PERENNIALS Blue-Mist Shrub - Caryopteris clandonensis Bishop's Weed - Aegopodium podograria Flowering Quince - Chaenomeles speciosa Sandwort - Arenaria montana Purple Smoke Bush - Cotinus coggygria Blue Lyme Grass - Elysmus glauca Siberian Pea-Shrub - Caragana arboscens Black-Eyed Susan - Rudbeckia fuldiga Cotoneaster - Cotoneaster spp Daylily - Hemerocallis hybrids Heath – Erica carnea Russian Sage - Perovskia atriplicifolia Forsythia - Forsythia hybrids Stonecrop - Sedum spp. .Juniper - Juniperus spp. Thyme - Thymus spp. 1035 Fox Hill Rd, State College, PA * (814) 237-9087 * foxhillgardens.com * Mon-Sat 9:30-5:30, Sun 10:00-4:00