Make It Green Garden Center

Welcome to our plant search tool. This database contains many of the thousands of plants that we carry. There are some notable exceptions. Hundreds of new perennials come out every year and Make It Green has been a leader in making them available to you. Eventually the recent introductions will make it to our plant search tool but every year there will be a lag between our in-store plant selection and this search tool. Unfortunately this search tool can't cover everything that we will carry this year. We also carry over 100 varieties of rare and unusual evergreens and over 100 varieties of hard-to-find shrubs many of which are not in the plant search. Click on the Plant List button for a list of nearly all the woody plants (trees, shrubs and evergreens) that we have ordered or already have in stock for this coming year.



shrub

Sweetfern

Comptonia peregrina

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Sweetfern (Comptonia peregrina) at Make It Green Garden Centre

Sweetfern foliage

Sweetfern foliage

(Photo courtesy of NetPS Plant Finder)

Sweetfern (Comptonia peregrina) at Make It Green Garden Centre

Sweetfern

Sweetfern

(Photo courtesy of NetPS Plant Finder)

Height:  3 feet

Spread:  5 feet

Sunlight:  full sun  partial shade 

Hardiness Zone:  2b

Description:

An interesting native shrub, ideal for naturalizing or for use in poor, sandy soils; a low, spreading plant with foliage strongly resembling that of a fern; not common, but worthy of greater use

Ornamental Features

Sweetfern has dark green deciduous foliage on a plant with a spreading habit of growth. The fragrant ferny leaves turn brown in fall.

Landscape Attributes

Sweetfern is a multi-stemmed deciduous shrub with a ground-hugging habit of growth. It lends an extremely fine and delicate texture to the landscape composition which should be used to full effect.

This shrub will require occasional maintenance and upkeep, and is best pruned in late winter once the threat of extreme cold has passed. Gardeners should be aware of the following characteristic(s) that may warrant special consideration;

  • Suckering

Sweetfern is recommended for the following landscape applications;

  • General Garden Use
  • Groundcover
  • Naturalizing And Woodland Gardens

Planting & Growing

Sweetfern will grow to be about 3 feet tall at maturity, with a spread of 5 feet. It has a low canopy with a typical clearance of 1 foot from the ground. It grows at a slow rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for approximately 20 years.

This shrub does best in full sun to partial shade. It prefers dry to average moisture levels with very well-drained soil, and will often die in standing water. It is very fussy about its soil conditions and must have sandy, acidic soils to ensure success, and is subject to chlorosis (yellowing) of the foliage in alkaline soils, and is able to handle environmental salt. It is somewhat tolerant of urban pollution. This species is native to parts of North America.

 
 
Hardiness Zone Plant Height Minimum Sunlight Soil pH Preference
Characteristics
Garden  Groundcover  Naturalizing 
Applications
Texture 
Ornamental Features