Wet Soil- Recommended Plants and Ground Cover
Q:	We have a water detention facility running through our backyard. A lot of our yard is unusable due to soggy soil. Can you suggest a ground cover that we could use to soak up water enough to walk and run there?
A:	There are several plants that tolerate soggy spots. They don't exactly "soak up" water from wet soil. To do that you'd need more leaf surface than plants can provide. One solution would be to add enough soil to the area to make a "living/playing space" having a bog beside it. Use plants from the list to beautify the wet area. PLANTS FOR WET SOIL SHRUBS Bottlebrush buckeye Aesculus parviflora Florida anise Illicium floridanum Florida leucothoe Agarista populiflolia Inkberry Ilex glabra Sweet pepperbush Clethra alnifolia Sweetshrub Calycanthus floridus Virginia sweetspire Itea virginica Wax myrtle Myrica cerifera Winterberry Ilex verticillata PERENNIALS, BULBS Bee balm Monarda didyma Blue flag iris Iris brevicaulis Canna Canna spp. Ironweed Vernonia noveboracensis Japanese iris Iris ensata Joe-Pye weed Eupatorium purpureum Lady fern Athyrium filix-femina River oats Chasmanthium latifolium Royal fern Osmunda regalis Siberian iris Iris siberica Spiderwort Tradescantia virginiana Swamp sunflower Helianthus angustifolium Sweet flag Acorus gramineus Yellow flag Iris pseudacorus see also Flowers for Damp Places Trees for Damp Soil Shrubs for Damp Soil