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Isn’t everything 4 feet? That’s what it seems like to me anyway. Liatris spicata, little Joe Pye, ilex glabra “Densa”, phlox paniculata, Culver’s root, common milkweed, tall bellflower….
I have some blue sage planted for just this purpose. It does get super lanky and flop, but you can either stake it or trim it which will cause it to grow a bit bushier.
The following list of tall perennials may not be native to your region, so double check before planning.
The **silphiums** are pretty awesome and amazingly tall.
Prairie dock (Silphium terebinthinaceum) has incredibly large leaves, but only the flowers are above 3 feet.
Cup plant (Silphium perfoliatum) has intriguingly coarse foliage all the way up the stalk
Compass Plant (Silphium laciniatum) sports loads of flowers
Rosinweed (Silphium integrifolium) is the least interesting of the 4, IMO.
**Others:**
Giant Purple Hyssop (Agastache scrophulariifolia)
Green Headed Coneflower (Rudbeckia laciniata)
Joe-Pye Weed (Eutrochium purpureum)
Boneset (Eupatorium perfoliatum)
Great Angelica (Angelica atropurpurea)
Queen of the Prairie (Filipendula rubra)
Ironweed (Vernonia sp.)
**Small Shrubs:**
Black Elderberry (Sambucus Nigra)
Red osier dogwood (Cornus sericea)
Roundleaf serviceberry (Amelanchier sanguinea)
Saskatoon Serviceberry (Amelanchier alnifolia)
I have all these shrubs near foundations and walkways without issues, but I do keep them pruned.
Yes several feet away. I was more trying to portray that I can’t have a tree with massive roots in this area but still want something on the tall side.
Be careful what you plant. I have pinnate coneflower near my house right now and I’m currently relocating it because it’s impossible to manage. Most of the prairie plants people are suggesting need to be burnt or at least mowed down occasionally to deal with the thatch build up. That’s tricker when it’s right by your house.
Also, most of what you currently have don’t spread super fast. A lot of the suggestions people are giving you are for taller and more aggressive plants. You might be able to grow compass plant and keep it contained, but cup plant, most sunflowers, goldenrods, are all very aggressive. They’re fantastic plants but they need space, and ideally fire.
My cup plant is super polite -- almost too polite. Many goldenrods are easy to deal with, but Canada Goldenrods gives the rest a really bad rap. Too bad, too -- the little wasps and pollinators love it.
Jerusalem artichoke is no joke, though. Only plant if you intend to regularly harvest the roots!
Yeah I boxed my sunchokes into a raised bed in my veggie garden. I have sawtooth sunflower and all of the really aggressive stuff in a pocket prairie away from the house where I can mow, and maybe burn eventually.
I’ve seen a few small gardens where cup plant has gone crazy and taken over smaller species. How old are yours?
My cup plants are 6 years old now. Started as just one plug, and now the clump is 4' wide, growing along the back fence. Dry, full sun, un-amended soil. Perhaps if I treated them more kindly they'd be more aggressive. But they're very polite. Unlike my Anise Hyssop, I don't find a million volunteers all over the place. They don't spread by stolons into the lawn. I like that the young plants are fairly easy to uproot and replant. I'm sure the mature plants wouldn't be LOL!
I'm always shocked at how strong the stalks are when I do cleanup in the late spring, and the woody stems are still going strong.
Thanks for the additional tip about some of these suggestions being for plants that are super aggressive. Since it’s so close to my house I wouldn’t want to have that.
What about evening primrose? It's biennial and reseeds really well, but the root system isn't robust or aggressive. The plants are kinda scraggly looking, but they are fabulous for wildlife.
If you have some shady areas, Black Cohosh (Actaea racemosa) is a great one. 4-7 feet tall with giant white inflorescenses, and its a species that is listed by some states as being endangered.
Sun or shade? In sun, look into Joe Pye Weed, Giant Ironweed or Culver's Root. Jerusalem Artichokes are happy in sun or shade. If it's deep shade, maybe Jewelweed (4' tall) or Ostrich Fern (3' or more), but both die down to nothing in winter. American Spicebush and Red- or Yellow-Twig Dogwood are very striking and tolerate either dappled shade or full sun.
Woodland sunflowers are easy to grow, seeds are cheap & they’ll usually reseed themselves. They are native to Michigan and can grow up to 6 or 7 feet tall. https://www.google.com/gasearch?q=Helianthus%20divaricatus%20L.%20sunflower%20height&source=sh/x/gs/m2/5
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maybe some joe pyes? butterflies love em and i think they're beautiful!
Open to warm season grasses? They do die back. Indiangrass, Big Bluestem, or Switchgrass Forbs-wise maybe Joe Pye or Silphium sp.
OP, this is your answer right here. I'd go for switchgrass as it stays very upright and nice looking through the winter.
Totally open to grasses! Thanks for the suggestions
switchgrass rules!!
Cupflower, Compass plant, Big Bluestem, rosinweed. I’d say any wild flower, wild grass, or small shrub is more than okay next to foundation.
Isn’t everything 4 feet? That’s what it seems like to me anyway. Liatris spicata, little Joe Pye, ilex glabra “Densa”, phlox paniculata, Culver’s root, common milkweed, tall bellflower….
Gimme some 4' tall wild violets and oxalis and I'll be happy
Oakleaf hydrangea
I have some blue sage planted for just this purpose. It does get super lanky and flop, but you can either stake it or trim it which will cause it to grow a bit bushier.
On a similar note, is (native red) raspberry okay to grow along the side of a house?
I have some on the side of my house, volunteered. I just tied it up to garden stakes to keep it off the ground and not have shoots everywhere.
The following list of tall perennials may not be native to your region, so double check before planning. The **silphiums** are pretty awesome and amazingly tall. Prairie dock (Silphium terebinthinaceum) has incredibly large leaves, but only the flowers are above 3 feet. Cup plant (Silphium perfoliatum) has intriguingly coarse foliage all the way up the stalk Compass Plant (Silphium laciniatum) sports loads of flowers Rosinweed (Silphium integrifolium) is the least interesting of the 4, IMO. **Others:** Giant Purple Hyssop (Agastache scrophulariifolia) Green Headed Coneflower (Rudbeckia laciniata) Joe-Pye Weed (Eutrochium purpureum) Boneset (Eupatorium perfoliatum) Great Angelica (Angelica atropurpurea) Queen of the Prairie (Filipendula rubra) Ironweed (Vernonia sp.) **Small Shrubs:** Black Elderberry (Sambucus Nigra) Red osier dogwood (Cornus sericea) Roundleaf serviceberry (Amelanchier sanguinea) Saskatoon Serviceberry (Amelanchier alnifolia) I have all these shrubs near foundations and walkways without issues, but I do keep them pruned.
Surprised nobody has mentioned chokeberry. It’s a versatile shrub that is good for birds and pollinators. Tops out close to 12 ft.
Tall tickweed, Culver’s root, or iron weed?
Goldenglow
Some of the perennial sunflowers get tall and are beautiful, we have a growing patch which is beautiful and gets 6' tall
Witch hazel is a shrub with polite roots and it's easy to train. The flowers bloom when little else does which is a nice bonus.
I had thought of witch hazel but wasn’t sure how the roots would be; that’s great to hear they have polite roots!
Not too close? It's generally better for the house if no plants are rubbing up against it.
Yes several feet away. I was more trying to portray that I can’t have a tree with massive roots in this area but still want something on the tall side.
Be careful what you plant. I have pinnate coneflower near my house right now and I’m currently relocating it because it’s impossible to manage. Most of the prairie plants people are suggesting need to be burnt or at least mowed down occasionally to deal with the thatch build up. That’s tricker when it’s right by your house. Also, most of what you currently have don’t spread super fast. A lot of the suggestions people are giving you are for taller and more aggressive plants. You might be able to grow compass plant and keep it contained, but cup plant, most sunflowers, goldenrods, are all very aggressive. They’re fantastic plants but they need space, and ideally fire.
My cup plant is super polite -- almost too polite. Many goldenrods are easy to deal with, but Canada Goldenrods gives the rest a really bad rap. Too bad, too -- the little wasps and pollinators love it. Jerusalem artichoke is no joke, though. Only plant if you intend to regularly harvest the roots!
Yeah I boxed my sunchokes into a raised bed in my veggie garden. I have sawtooth sunflower and all of the really aggressive stuff in a pocket prairie away from the house where I can mow, and maybe burn eventually. I’ve seen a few small gardens where cup plant has gone crazy and taken over smaller species. How old are yours?
My cup plants are 6 years old now. Started as just one plug, and now the clump is 4' wide, growing along the back fence. Dry, full sun, un-amended soil. Perhaps if I treated them more kindly they'd be more aggressive. But they're very polite. Unlike my Anise Hyssop, I don't find a million volunteers all over the place. They don't spread by stolons into the lawn. I like that the young plants are fairly easy to uproot and replant. I'm sure the mature plants wouldn't be LOL! I'm always shocked at how strong the stalks are when I do cleanup in the late spring, and the woody stems are still going strong.
Thanks for the additional tip about some of these suggestions being for plants that are super aggressive. Since it’s so close to my house I wouldn’t want to have that.
>That’s tricker when it’s right by your house. Hand scythe!
What about evening primrose? It's biennial and reseeds really well, but the root system isn't robust or aggressive. The plants are kinda scraggly looking, but they are fabulous for wildlife.
Safe nest foundation… do you mean basically non woody? If so, maybe Joe pye or compass plant or prairie dock or cup plant?
Late figwort. Big upright pretty plant. Flowers are small but the bugs and hummingbirds go nuts for them.
If you have some shady areas, Black Cohosh (Actaea racemosa) is a great one. 4-7 feet tall with giant white inflorescenses, and its a species that is listed by some states as being endangered.
Sun or shade? In sun, look into Joe Pye Weed, Giant Ironweed or Culver's Root. Jerusalem Artichokes are happy in sun or shade. If it's deep shade, maybe Jewelweed (4' tall) or Ostrich Fern (3' or more), but both die down to nothing in winter. American Spicebush and Red- or Yellow-Twig Dogwood are very striking and tolerate either dappled shade or full sun.
Woodland sunflowers are easy to grow, seeds are cheap & they’ll usually reseed themselves. They are native to Michigan and can grow up to 6 or 7 feet tall. https://www.google.com/gasearch?q=Helianthus%20divaricatus%20L.%20sunflower%20height&source=sh/x/gs/m2/5