anton muttered:


"Janet Baraclough.." wrote in message
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from bramble towers
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I have recently taken over a large neglected garden - about an acre with
mainly grass, brambles & nettles. I have only ever had a patio garden
before, so it's all very new to me. The soil here is acidic clay &
when it rains, some lower lying areas of the garden end up about 4
inches under water. I had wanted to put in a border along my boundary
fence, but this is in one of the waterlogged bits of the garden.
Do I need to look out for special kinds of plants that will cope with
these conditions? Could anyone suggest any?? I should point out that
this same bit of ground was baked hard all summer, so the waterlogging
is only a winter problem.

It's probably still soggy deeper down. I have a place like that which
I'm developing as a bog garden, using big bold plants that revel in wet
conditions. Here's a selection (but there are LOADS more; try Beth
Chatto's book called The Damp Garden).

Gunnera, rodgersia, iris sibirica, variegated bullrush, drumstick
primula, Himalayan cowslip, iris ensata, phormium, pampas grass,
hemerocallis, hostas, ferns.


For hedges you could add hornbeam & alder.

We've got the same and find that vibernums of all kinds do very well our
hostas were also pretty impressive and the roses have been brilliant this
year also apparently pears like it so we are going to have cordoned pears
around the veg garden, but you could do the same on the fence.

To make the soil a bit easier to work I'd recommend digging in a couple of
tons of leafmold/manure and grit *before* you plant a thing and leave it for
the winter to break the soil up. I didn't do this and I promise weeding
around establishing plants in clay is *hell*.