Making a garden: planting in moist soil

Do you have a low, sunny spot that never seems to be dry enough to dig? Don't despair. While wet soil can be murder on plants that demand great drainage, there are plants that prefer this unusual niche. These tips will help you determine which plants thrive in moisture.

You can also plant moisture-loving trees as a care-free way to slowly change the nature of the site by removing some of the moisture from the soil and by introducing shade. In nature, trees often shade moist sites, and there is a wealth of shade- and moisture-loving perennials, shrubs, and other plants that have adapted to these conditions. So planting trees in a wet site opens up a whole new world of planting possibilities.

Another care-free option is to simulate a low meadow, as might occur along the banks of a stream that floods often in winter and spring, introducing some of the plants that are native to these areas. The abundance of moisture in this type of site can also help some marginal plants to tolerate strong sunlight, because no matter how intensely the sun shines, the roots of plants always get the moisture they need. So, this is a good place to grow moisture-loving plants that adapt to either full sun or partial shade. Some of these include aster, bee balm, and small trees like dogwood and Japanese maple.

Arrange plants according to height, with the taller ones at the back of a bed, and capitalize on differences in plant texture. For example, a background clump of tall, dusty-pink-flowered Joe Pye weed partners well with the brighter pink flowers of shorter perennials like bee balm or astilbe. And the tall strappy leaves of moisture-loving yellow flag iris flatter any plant in its company, including groundhugging bugleweed or the vivid coloured leaves of sun-tolerant varieties of coleus.

As the seasons pass, you will undoubtedly discover that some plants like this niche so well that they prosper with little care. Where winters are mild, dainty, colourful, spring-flowering primroses often flourish. Put tall garden phlox to work filling the garden with colour through the second half of summer. And annuals may surprise you by reseeding themselves and coming back year after year.

If you plant spider flower or periwinkle, learn to identify the seedlings, which will often appear in late spring near where the parent plants grew the year before. On a cloudy day, thin the seedlings by gently digging and transplanting the volunteers to a moist place where you want them to bloom later in the summer.