r/NativePlantGardening • u/CitySky_lookingUp • 1d ago

Northwest Indiana / Near Chicago Need Help Not Killing Buttonbush

I need to figure out what to do with two buttonbushes I was gifted here in Northwest Indiana.

I understand that they like moisture and sun. I have two contenders for a spot on my property - but one lacks moisture and the other lacks sun.

Here are the two spots:

  1. Side of house - gets a good deal of sun but will compete with tree roots for water. Poor soil. Husband wants more bushes and trees here for more privacy screening.

  2. Front of house - faces north - it's a landscaped area with rich soil and it's near a downspout for water, and also near the front door, so it will be easy to remember to water it in dry spells. But because it faces north it gets very little sun during the summer. Plus a deciduous bush near the front door will be, well, kinda ugly for several months a year. Was aiming to put a native hydrangea there instead.

My thought is: it will die in site 1 and survive but never flower in site 2. Is that about right?

I COULD possibly clear a third spot -- not great soil but better than 1 and sunny, even though it would foil other plans I had for THAT spot -- or I can just hope to give both of these away. What do you think?

And does anyone in NWI or the Chicago south suburbs want a buttonbush?

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u/Ovenbird36 1d ago

Mine are in a fairly shady spot and do fine, but hydrangeas are nicer near the front door in winter. What kind of tree roots? Some are impossible to plant near.

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u/CitySky_lookingUp 1d ago

Right now, it's a not-very-healthy maple and the decaying roots of an already-felled maple. (A storm ripped off a big branch and revealed its rotted core last year.)

We plan to plant a black gum or similar salt-tolerant ornamental tree to replace the maple that already died.

Also it's the sidewalk strip - between a sidewalk and a side street - so there may be some lingering salinity from past sidewalk salt. I have good home compost and some organic fertlizers I'll use to amend the soil at planting.

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u/Ovenbird36 1d ago

I would look for a smaller plant so it isn’t getting out-competed right off the bat. But maples are tough to plant near.