native evergreen shrubs zone 4

I am going to be adding low native plant ground cover to this hill (the long section going away from the camera). The hill itself is just too tempting in the winter and every now and then, someone will decide to sled down it. Before I put the ground cover in I want to put in some evergreens at the top to stop the sledding. I don't want a straight row. It needs to be short since our neighbors have a patio from which they look across our yard to a park with a beautiful view that I don't want to obstruct for them or for ourselves for that matter. We do have a patio on the back side of the house that we use mostly.

So I want evergreens that are native to Minnesota zone 4b, shorter than 30" and help in how to place them to avoid the straight row as well as discourage sledding. The area is the16' between the house and the large oak right at the top of the hill. Would two groupings of three smallish plants work? The hill faces North, there is a lot of shade from the oaks, but it does get late some late afternoon sun.

Canadian yew or creeping juniper?

equilibrium we have very nice neighbors.

MaryMD7 I have been wondering about both yew and juniper. The creeping juniper would end up covered by snow which wouldn't keep the kids from sledding. I have thought of it as a ground cover lower on the hill. Are they ok in mostly shade?

I wondered what the light exposure was in that location! No, juniper needs full sun.

I thought that was what it needed.

Hmmm. Not native to MN, but native to North America

kalmia angustifolia (sheep laurel)

pieris floribunda (mountain pieris)

Both are very nice. When looking them up I found this nice site.

http://www.hort.uconn.edu/plants/index.html

Pauline

Love the UConn site, Pauline! In fact, that's where I looked them up too!

Ilex glabra, or inkberry, does not need male and female for fruits (berries). I'm sure this one's a native! ;-)

I think that Ilex glabra is dioecious. Meaning you need a male and a female. At least everything I've read says that? And yes, it is native....

Unfortunately, I also don't think inkberry is hardy in zone 4.

Don't you just love it.

I checked two separate sites about inkberry. I found out is it hardy in zone 4, hardy down to zone 5, a skin irritant, invasive, native to the Eastern and Central US, not native anywhere in the US. So take your pick.

Ilex glabra is definately native at least in the eastern U.S., but I really don't think it's generally hardy in zone 4 unless there are some particular cultivars that are.

I was mistaken about it not needing a pollinator, but according to Michael Dirr's Manual of Woody Landscape Plants, it is hardy to zone (4)5 but leaves will discolor or burn in severe winters ( -15 to -20 degrees F). He states that the newwer cultivars offer great promise. Native range is Nova Scotia to Florida, west to Missouri, Mississippi, Texas. Introduced 1759. I don't have real experience with this plant, but was considering it for a foundation hedge for myself, in place of boxwood. Here is some more information:
http://hcs.osu.edu/pocketgardener/source/description/il_labra.html

I don't think it would like the spot I would put it in. It is a north west corner that doesn't get much snow cover because of the wind.

zenpotter, where did you see it's invasive and a skin irritant? I did a search, and everything I come up with says native and it does sucker, but not a problem.
In William Cullina's book..native trees, shrubs and vines, he says hardy to zone (4)5-9, sun to part sun. Wet to moderately dry and sandy. Nova Scotia to Florida and eastern Texas. He doesn't say anything about it being a skin irritant or invasive.
That is a problem a lot of the times. You search something and everybody says something different!

Wouldn't you know it I can't find either of the sources. I was going to put the links in my post and then decided not to. Now I can't find them again. I will try again later when I have more time.