Growing Shrubs and Evergreens That are Salt Tolerant
Below you will find a list of Evergreens and Shrubs from our plant database that have salt tolerance. If you click on any of the photos, you will see a Virtual Plant Tag that may contain photos, plant descriptions, usage suggestions and a link to where you can buy that plant for your landscaping. The concept of a shrub can be difficult to define since different people might consider the same plant a groundcover, broadleaf evergreen, bush or tree.
Uses for these bushes vary by variety, and may thrive in full shade, partial shade or full sun and a variety of soil conditions including wet soil, moist, or dry soil.
With increased awareness of the value that native shrubs add to the natural landscape, these suggestions will help you make good choices about which plants are best suited for your home garden when salt issues can be a problem: for container growing also, Adam's Needle or Yucca is heat, drought and salt tolerant; Bear's Grape, Kinnikinick or Bearberry (Arcostaphylos uva-ursi) can grow in sand directly on a beach; Beach Plum's (Prunus maritima) fruit ranges from red to yellow or purple; Bayberry or Candleberry (Myrica pennsylvanica) can tolerate a variety of poor soils; creeping Junipers (Juniperus horizontalis) are native to coastal New England where they thrive despite salt spray throughout the year.
Europe and Asia have given American gardeners numerous ornamental plants that tolerate or thrive in the challenging coastal or urban environmental conditions in the United States. Suggestions include: adapting to the warmer coasts nicely, Adelfa, Oleander or Nerium oleander, have excellent tolerance to salt spray; Beach Vitex (V. rotundifolia) is very versatile, yet nicely ornamental. Also known as Chastetree, Beach Vitex flowers blue or purple in the fall, attracts butterflies and is also drought and heat tolerant; despite its graceful appearance which the gardener might mistake for frailty, the Bigleaf Hydrangea (H. macrophylla) is tough and durable, thriving the rugged winters of Nantucket. With many recent Hydrangea introductions that flower on old and new wood; flowering display is captivating. A number of different types of non-native Junipers are salt tolerant; Cherrylaurel or English Laurel (Prunus laurocerasus) maintain their lush look inspite of salt issues; Indian Hawthorn (Rhaphiolepis) look delicate but can handle extremes of heat, drought and salt; Rugosa or Saltspray Roses have adapted to coastal areas, even living along beach dunes; both Euonymus fortunei, the Wintercreeper Euonymus from China, and Japanese Euonymus with pretty variegated leaves can be used along salty walkways
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