Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

For damp areas, wet zone plants are the solution

- By Carol Papas

This is the second part of a series on handling stormwater in the home landscape.

“Right plant, right place” is a time-honored garden edict.

If your landscape suffers from occasional flooding or has areas that remain damp most of the time, it is wise to heed this. These areas may turn into ponds every time it rains or just squish under your feet when the rest of the garden is relatively dry. There are plants that will thrive under such conditions.

Well-drained soil is optimal for plant growth. It allows both water and oxygen to penetrate to the root zone. In our region, clay soils are common and they do not drain well. To a degree, the addition of organic matter — usually in the form of compost — will improve drainage. It is a viable option in areas with decent, but not optimal drainage.

However, it won’t help much in an area of poor drainage or frequent flooding. Instead, it will allow the amended area to become a sump, filling quickly with water and creating an even more challengin­g environmen­t for plants.

If you are planting trees or shrubs in marginally well-drained sites, up to one-third of the root ball can remain above grade. Mulch the root ball to the original grade, maintainin­g the root flare of the tree or shrub. This allows oxygen to permeate the upper part of the root structure of woody plants.

Wet-zone plants are those that can tolerate flooded conditions and will survive in standing water for short periods. Ideally, water will drain from these areas within 24 hours. Here are some suggested plants for wet zones:

Trees

Bald cypress (Taxodium distichum)

Birch (Betula lenta, B. nigra)

Black gum (Nyssa sylvatica) Black willow (Salix nigra) Hemlock (Tsuga canadensis)

Pin oak (Quercus palustris) Red maple (Acer rubrum) Swamp oak (Quercus bicolor)

Sweet gum (Liquidamba­r styraciflu­a)

Sycamore (Plantanus occidental­is)

Shrubs

Blackchoke­berry (Aronia melanocarp­a)

Buttonbush (Cephalanth­us occidental­is)

Elderberry (Sambucus canadensis)

Ninebark (Physocarpu­s opulifoliu­s)

Possumhaw (Viburnum nudum)

St. Johnswort (Hypericum densifloru­m)

Silky dogwood (Cornus amomum)

Smooth alder (Alnus serrulata)

Spicebush (Lindera benzoin)

Swampazale­a (Rhododendr­on viscosum)

Swamp rose (Rosa palustris)

Wild raisin (Viburnum cassinoide­s)

Winterberr­y (Ilex verticilla­ta)

Herbaceous plants

Blue flag iris (Iris versicolor)

Blue vervain (Verbena hastata)

Boneset (Eupatorium perfoliatu­m)

Cardinal flower (Lobelia cardinalis)

Cinnamon fern (Osmunda cinnamomea)

Golden ragwort (Senecio aureus)

Goldenrod (Solidago patula, S. rugosa)

Great blue lobelia (Lobelia siphilitic­a)

Marsh marigold (Caltha palustris)

New England aster (Aster novae-angliae)

New York aster (Aster novi-belgii)

Royal fern (Osmunda regalis)

Sensitive fern (Onoclea sensibilis)

Sneezeweed (Helenium autumnale) Soft rush (Juncus effusus) Swamp milkweed (Asclepias incarnata)

Swamp rose mallow (Hibiscus moscheutos)

Swamp sunflower (Helianthus angustifol­ius)

Switchgras­s (Panicum virgatum)

Tussock sedge (Carex stricta)

White turtlehead (Chelone glabra)

If you plan to install a rain garden or bio-retention area to keep stormwater on site, there are also plants adapted to these areas. Guidelines for creating rain gardens will be detailed in another part of this series.

For more informatio­n and plants, go to a Penn State Extension publicatio­n created by Lauri Danko of GardenScap­e Design and Consulting:

extension.psu.edu/ plants/gardening/ecofriendl­y/ plants-rain-gardens.

 ?? Darrell Sapp/Post-Gazette ?? Bobbie Smith, with her husband, Keith, in their Fox Chapel garden, was a Great Gardens Contest winner in 2013. Due to drainage problems, she had to plant wet-zone plants.
Darrell Sapp/Post-Gazette Bobbie Smith, with her husband, Keith, in their Fox Chapel garden, was a Great Gardens Contest winner in 2013. Due to drainage problems, she had to plant wet-zone plants.

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