Great Lakes Habitat Kit

Great Lakes dunes and lakeshores are unique environments often characterized by extreme sand or rocks, wind, sun, waves, and ice. Erosion is a constant concern, especially with fluctuating lake levels, weather patterns, and human disturbance. Our new dunes and lakeshore kit contains hardy plants found in many of our U.P. shoreline habitats. The plants selected will thrive in the sun and exposed habitats of the Great Lakes. The plants in this kit are for the sandy or rocky beach above the high water line, or fore-dune or mid-dune areas where the water table is within several feet of their roots, or for stabilized back-dune areas which are a bit more able to hold moisture. These plants do not require soil amendment and will provide erosion resistance, as well as flowers, food, and habitat for a variety of beneficial UP insects, pollinators, and birds.

Please note: not all dune areas are created equal. The top of exposed dunes may be dozens of feet above the water table and it takes a rare plant to survive in the dry shifting sands. For those areas, you may be limited to Beach Grass at first. This kit does not typically contain Beach Grass, although we may include a few plugs if we have them on hand. Beach grass is essential for most dune systems, which probably need to be predominantly beach grass, and we can't squeeze the right proportion of beach grass into a 38-plant kit. Please order beach grass separately in bare-root bundles or by the plug flat.

Be sure to make note of valuable and rare plants you may already have on your site, such as Pitchers Thistle, Dune Tansy, or Houghton's Goldenrod. Protect any populations you might find and help them disperse their seed. Contact us or your local conservation district if you need help identifying these species.

Your kit will contain a selection of the lakeshore plants listed below, and may include other plants appropriate for Great Lakes lakeshores when we have them in stock. We keep the per-plant costs low on garden kits by reserving the right to substitute plants based on current inventory. Your kit will contain approximately 8 species appropriate for U.P. Great Lakes lakeshores, with 1 to 5 plants of each species. If you need specific plants for your habitat goals, consider supplementing your kit with quarts. For inland lakeshores, please see our Inland Lakeshore Kit.

Our Great Lakes edge species:

Beach Pea
Common Milkweed
Evening Primrose
Harebell
Starry Solomon Seal
American Sea Rocket
Dune Goldenrod (Solidago simplex)
Blue Flag Iris
Common Yarrow
Shrubby Cinquefoil
Lanceleaf Coreopsis
Grassleaf Goldenrod
Spotted Bee Balm
Boneset
Wild Strawberry
Porcupine Sedge
Canada Wild Rye
Little Bluestem
American Beach Grass

This economical kit includes 38 plugs that fill 40 square feet at about 1-foot spacing - a 4'x10' bed; or up to 86 square feet at 1.5 sq. ft. spacing - a 6'x14' bed.