Plants for Wet and Boggy Areas
Some gardens are in situations where they have bedrock not far underneath the topsoil, or have heavy clay, or some other reason for poor drainage, this means that, especially after rain, the soil is very wet. Many plants will simply not tolerate these conditions, their roots rot, and they die. If you're wondering what to do, adding something like gypsum to the soil will help break down the clay and improve drainage.
However, if you don't want to be adding vast quantities of gypsum to your soil, as it does cost money, then here is a list of plants that will tolerate those conditions. Obviously many of them will only be able to be found in certain parts of the world or only grow in certain zones, which can be found by clicking on the plant name.
Feel free to add to this list. This is not a definitive guide, as much as we'd like it to be, there may very well be plants in here that can't cope with these conditions, if so, feel free to remove them, but please provide a reason in the summary for doing so!
- Australian native violet (Viola banksii)
- Australian violet (Viola hederacea)
- Acantus (Acanthus mollis)
- Azalea sp.
- Barren strawberry (Waldsteinia fragariodes)
- Bayberry (Morella pensylvanica)
- Bee balm (Monardra didyma)
- Blueberry ash (Elaeocarpus reticulatus)
- Blue flag (Iris versicolor)
- Bog-rosemary (Andromeda polifolia)
- Bottlebrushes (Callistermon sp.)
- Broadleaf arrowhead (Sagittaria latifolia)
- Bunchberry dogwood (Cornus canadensis)
- Buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis)
- Calla lily (Zantedeschia sp.)
- Canadian wild ginger (Asarum canadense)
- Canna lily (Canna x generalis)
- Cardinal flower (Lobelia cardinalis)
- Christmas fern (Polystichum arcostichoides)
- Cinnamon fern (Osmunda cinnamomea)
- Creeping phlox (Phlox stolonifera)
- Evergreen alder (Alnus acuminata)
- Fringed bleeding heart (Dicentra eximia)
- Gray dogwood (Cornus racemosa)
- Highbush blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum)
- Hydrangea sp.
- Impatiens sp.
- Inkberry (Ilex glabra)
- Interrupted fern (Osmunda claytoniana)
- Joe pye weed (Eupatorium purpureum)
- Lilly Pilly (Syzgium australe)
- Marginal woodfern (Dryopteris marginalis)
- Marsh marigold (Caltha palustris)
- Meadowsweet (Spiraea alba)
- Michigan holly (Ilex verticillata)
- Mint (Mentha sp.)
- Mountain laurel (Kalmia latifolia)
- New Zealand flax (Phorium tenax)
- Norfolk Island tree fern (Cyathea brownii)
- Ostrich fern (Matteuccia struthiopteris)
- Paperbarks (Melaleuca sp.)
- Papyrus (Cyperus papyrus)
- Patridgeberry (Mitchella repens)
- Pickerelweed (Pontederia cordata)
- Pohutukawa (Metrosideros Excelsa)
- Purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea)
- Red chokeberry (Aronia arbutifolia)
- Rosebay (Rhododendron maximum)
- Royal fern (Osmunda regalis)
- Rushes (Junucus sp.)
- Sedges (Carex sp.)
- Sensitive fern (Onoclea sensibilis)
- Shadblow serviceberry (Amelanchier canadensis)
- Sheep laurel (Kalmia angustifolia)
- Shrubby cinquefoil (Potentilla fruticosa)
- Silver fern (Cyathea dealbata)
- (Sophora sp.)
- Spicebush (Lindera benzoin)
- Summersweet (Clethrea alnifolia)
- Swamp banksia (Banksi robur)
- Swamp lily (Crinum pedunculatum)
- Swamp rose-mallow (Hibiscus moscheutos)
- Trailing arbutus (Epigaea repens)
- Tree ferns (Cyathea australis, Cyathea cooperi, Dicksonia antarctica)
- Turtlehead (Chelone glbra)
- Twig dogwood (Cornus sericea)
- Venus fly-trap (Dionaea muscipula)
- Virburnum sp.
- Virginia creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia)
- Virginia sweetspire (Itea virginica)
- Wild garanium (Gaernium maculatum)
- Witch hazel (Hamamelis virginiana)