The plants listed below will grow in clay soils as long as any special site requirements are met. Trees marked with an asterisk are particularly well-suited to clay soils.
|
TREES | |||
| Scientific name
* particularly well-suited to clay soil |
Common name | USDA zone | Comments |
| Abies balsamea | Balsam fir | 3 | Prefers acidic soils |
| Abies concolor | White fir | 4 | |
| Acer freemanii | Freeman maple | 4 | |
| Acer ginnala | Amur or ginnala maple | 3 | Prefers acidic soils |
| Acer negundo | Boxelder | 3 | |
| *Acer platanoides | Norway maple | 4 | |
| Acer rubrum | Red maple | 3 | Needs acidic soils |
| * Acer saccharinum | Silver maple | 3 | |
| *Alnus glutinosa | European alder | 4 | |
| *Betula nigra | River birch | 4 | Needs acidic soils |
| Carpinus caroliniana | Blue beech | 4 | |
| *Carya cordiformis | Bitternut hickory | 4 | Lighter clays |
| *Carya ovata | Shagbark hickory | 4 | |
| *Celtis occidentalis | Common hackberry | 2 | |
| *Crataegus species | Hawthorn | 3-4 § | Needs well-drained soils |
| Fraxinus americana | White ash | 3 | |
| *Fraxinus nigra | Black ash | 3 | |
| *Fraxinus pennsylvanica | Green ash | 3 | |
| Ginkgo biloba | Ginkgo | 4 | |
| *Gleditsia triacanthos | Common honeylocust | 4 | |
| *Gymnocladus dioicus | Kentucky coffeetree | 4 | |
| *Juglans cinerea | Butternut | 4 | Tolerates limestone soils, lighter clay |
| Juglans nigra | Black walnut | 4 | Lighter clay |
| *Larix decidua | European larch | 4 | |
| *Larix laricina | Tamarack | 2 | |
| *Malus species | Apple, crabapple | 3 | Prefers acidic soils |
| *Phellodendron amurense | Amur corktree | 4 | |
| Picea abies | Norway spruce | 4 | |
| Picea glauca var. densata | Black Hills spruce | 4 | |
| Pinus nigra | Austrian pine | 4 | |
| Pinus strobus | White pine | 3 | Prefers acidic soils |
| Pinus sylvestris | Scots pine | 3 | Prefers acidic soils |
| Pinus ponderosa | Ponderosa pine | 4 | |
| *Populus species | Aspen, cottonwood | 2 | |
| *Pyrus species | Pear | 4-5 § | |
| *Quercus bicolor | Swamp white oak | 4 | Needs acidic soils |
| *Quercus macrocarpa | Bur oak | 3 | Prefers limestone soils |
| *Quercus palustris | Eastern pin oak | 4 | Needs acidic soils |
| *Salix species | Willow | 2 | Prefers moist to wet soils |
| Syringa reticulata | Japanese tree lilac | 4 | Needs well-drained soils |
| *Tilia species | Linden, basswood | 3 | |
| *Ulmus species | Elm | 4 | |
§When more than one zone is listed (eg: 3-4 or 4-5), some species are not hardy in the cooler zone