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Shoreland Plantings
The importance of shoreland vegetation in keeping the
lakes of New Hampshire clean and clear
NATURAL SHORES PROTECT OUR LAKES
New Hampshire’s lakes have been pure and clear for thousands of years. They are among the most pristine and beautiful freshwater environments in the nation — they are also among the most fragile. Increased pressure from development and other land-use have had profound effects on our lakes — greater than have the forces of nature over the past ten thousand years!
Phosphorus pollution from fertilizers and other sources (see NH LAKES brochure, Phosphorus Pollution) has had one of the greatest effects. Just as phosphorus makes plants grow green, it can make your lake green by feeding algae and aquatic weeds. One of the best ways to keep your lake clear and blue is to stop phosphorus from reaching the water. A critical component of protection is the narrow band of land through which water passes just before it enters a lake. When properly vegetated, this area can filter much of the runoff from rain and snow melt before it reaches surface waters (see NH LAKES brochures, Shoreland Protection and What is a Watershed?).
You can help keep phosphorus out of New Hampshire’s lakes by planting and maintaining areas of natural vegetation such as trees and shrubs in shore areas. This will help retain delicate soils and act as a filter for pollutants.
Beautiful Plantings — Beautiful Lakes
Listed below are examples of plants which are well-adapted to New Hampshire’s climate and ideal for shoreland plantings.
Shade and Partial Shade
- Swamp Azalea: a deciduous shrub about 3’ to 5’ tall which grows well in sun or shade and wet or normal conditions
- Winterberry or Black Alder: a deciduous shrub about 10’ tall, resistant to insects and diseases — has been known to survive with its entire root system in the water
- Sweet Pepperbush: a deciduous shrub rarely attacked by insects or disease — can withstand heavy shade or grow in full sun
- American Cranberry Bush: a deciduous shrub which grows up to 10’ tall — good as a screen and grows in sun or shade
- Arrow-wood: a durable deciduous shrub which is good for a quick-growing screen or hedge
- Inkberry: an evergreen shrub, 6’-8’ tall which is resistant to insects and diseases
- Rosebay Rhododendron: an evergreen which can tolerate dense shade but needs well-drained, moist soil — grows quickly to between 4’ and 15’ tall
- Mountain Laurel: a broadleaf evergreen that grows in sun or deep shade; it needs moist but well-drained soil, is a slow grower, and is resistant to insects and diseases
Full Sun
- Highbush Blueberry: an excellent deciduous shrub which needs well-drained, moist soil
Dry Soils
- Blackhaw: a deciduous shrub which can tolerate dense shade or sun — a big plant, approximately 12’ tall
- Creeping Juniper: an evergreen groundcover for full sun, dry locations and difficult sites
- Native Groundcovers
- Bunchberry: good for cool, moist woods — grows to 9” tall
- Barren Strawberry: good for open woods — threatened in Maine and Massachusetts
- Virginia Creeper Woodbine: a vine which tolerates virtually any conditions — good cover for walls or rock piles
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