What plants tolerate saltwater flooding?
Q. The neighborhood creek flooded into my back yard in Isabel and again in Ernesto, and, according to the former owners, in Floyd, too. I figure whatever I put there is going to have to deal with brackish flooding about every three years! Some of the small trees I planted to try to make an understory layer after Isabel are showing signs of salt damage, such as a river birch and a blue beech. Besides wax myrtle, salt bush and wild black cherry, what other shrubs and small trees handle medium shade and brackish water inundation? Sharon, Hampton A. Sharon, I’m so sorry to hear about your flooding, but I can sympathize with you because I’ve experienced the same in York County. I’m replacing lost plants with saltwater-tolerant ones because otherwise it’s a waste of time and money, and you are smart to realize the same. At a previous yard where I also had flooding from Isabel, I found that many things did just fine afterward. Some of my favorite “survivors” for shade were gardenia radicans (
