A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2005 soggy bottom

i have a problem. i recently bought my first home, when i purchased this home the weather was very dry. as the weather is now wet i have noticed that my yard is lower than my neighbors. resulting in flooded areas in my yard. here's my problem, these areas are along the edges of my yard and in full sunlight all day long. what can i plant that will live in these conditions? please help, any suggestions will be helpful. thank you.

Hi soggy bottom

Here is a list of plants for moist sunny locations. It would help if you could tell we what zone you are in but I will add the zones here to help. I have tried to get everything from trees to ground cover. And of course if you use a tree you then have moist shady conditions and there are a lot of plants that like that.

Cannas
Maples
Pyrus
Chelone (zone 4)
Cimicifuga (zone 3)
Eupatarium (zone 4)
Helenium (zone 3)
Hibiscus (zone 4)
Ligularia (zone 4)
Labelia (zone 4)
Lysimachia (zone 4)
Phlox (zone 4)
Rheum (zone 5)
Rodgersia (zone 5)
Thalictrum (zone 5)
Tradescantia (zone 5)
Tricyrtis (zone 5)
Trollius (zone 3)
Veronicastrum (zone 3)
Cornus

I found these on the estabrook nurseries website with very nice pictures. You also might think of building a burm to keep your neighbors water off of your land. It's a thought if you like plants that require dryer conditions.

Alternatively you could install ag drainage and get rid of the excess water. It's underground plastic drain full of tiny holes set in a gravel bed which takes the surface and subsoil moisture away. Cheap to buy but a little more expensive to install.

why not just make it a turf area? you can plant a tall turf type fescue and is should be fine unless the water stands for long periods of time. I see your in NC what part?

thank you all for the great advice. i think i am in zone 7a. that is i'm not sure. i am currently living in the high point area. do you think a weeping willow tree will work? digging a drainage would be the best solution but it's about 3/4 of an acre to the road.so that's a lot-o-mula$$$$

How far in yards is it to the road? It might be an option to drain the area rather than having an area you're never happy with. You can DIY and hire equipment or have a contractor do it. Not that difficult but it is hard work.

It's about 50 yards from the road. There is also a wooden fence and my neighbors property in the way. Of course I could always move the fence until the job is done and move around the property. To tell the truth i just dont have that kind of money or time right now. I am one day of the week gardener. I belive this job requires more than 12 hours. thank you for all your help.

I lived in Troy, NC, for eighteen years before moving here to SC after my mother died. I have been to High Point many times.

When my fiance' and I bought our new land and home in 2002, we had a similar problem. I planted river birch in a lot of problem areas (8 acres of land) and we are still installing some drain lines. I, also, planted some bald cypress to define the front of the property and they are really enjoying their new home.

Gotta add, too, that when I saw the topic header, I got a good giggle going! Soggy bottoms aren't any fun at all. On land or a baby!

Dianna

Weeping willows and other types of willows.

Willows

I hope that URL worked. This is the listing at estabrooks. From what it says there I think it would work. I particularly like the weeping sally, but that one with the white leaves is a real stunner. Will you have enough shade for some of these?

Once again i have to thank you! The URL was the best! You are brilliant! The shade is not what I'm looking for because we have 2 bradford pear trees that are stunning. So I was simply looking for a wallet friendly solution .
It looks like i have found just that! I have fallen head-over-heels for the 'Hakuro Nishiki' . Which is a shrub so I can run it along the entire length of the fence. Eventually giving us a beautiful screen. So many thanks! At the moment I am trying to convince my hubby that I NEED a digital camera .
Soggy Bottoms are dreadful! But someone has to clean up! And that is what I tend to do! yea!

yep yep yep

I have to agree absolutely gorgeous!!!!!

And there are some places on the web were they aren't to terribly expensive either.

When you get them in i hope you will do pictures. I love pictures.