If you’re thinking of re-landscaping your property, Verona officials now have some suggestions about what to plant, for your benefit and for the environment in town.
At Monday’s Town Council meeting, the Council approved a list that had been compiled by the Verona Environmental Commission earlier this year. The list includes evergreens that would work well for for buffer area screening, trees, perennial plants and shrubs. It expressly favors native plants over non-natives and exotics (invasives like bamboo and wineberry are out), and points out plants that are less likely to be appealing to deer. The list is not mandatory for homeowners but it will be for developers.
The recommended shade trees include familiar favorites like sugar maples, yellow birch and river birch, as well some that might be less common, like hackberry and Kentucky coffeetree. The shrub list, which has suggestions for buttonbush and summersweet, has information on how tall each is likely to grow, and whether they are evergreen or drop their leaves in fall.
For your lawn, there are options like little bluestem, as well as native groundcovers that won’t need to be mowed, including spotted wintergreen.
The list, which you can see here, will be used to amend this section of the town code.
