Five plants that thrive in waterlogged soil

After a winter of near record-breaking rainfall levels, most garden soils are saturated and border plants may be struggling on heavy, moisture-retentive ground. Choosing resilient plants for challenging situations will ensure your garden stays looking good whatever the weather. Many plants thrive in damp conditions, as long as the ground isn’t permanently waterlogged. Here are our five favourites that can cope with wet soil, and stay looking good through periods of drier weather, too.

Crimson flag lily – late-blooming perennial that makes a great cut flower

Hesperantha (previously known as Schizostylis) is found on stream banks and damp meadows in its native South Africa, so does well in moisture-retentive soil and full sun. Forming spreading clumps of grass-like foliage, stems are topped with clusters of red, pink, or white flowers. These appear from late summer and are often still blooming in winter.

Dogwoods – superb winter-colour shrubs with vivid stems

Dogwood varieties of Cornus alba and Cornus sericea are robust growers with deep-branching roots, which help them cope with wet soil. You’re likely to see drifts of their coloured stems in parks as these shrubs are favourites for landscaping, with glowing red or acid-green stems that look magnificent from autumn to spring. Grow in sun or shade, on any soil. Young stems have the brightest colour, so prune out a quarter or so of all growth every spring to encourage new growth.

Purple loosestrife – fabulous summer colour with flowers for pollinators

Lythrum salicaria is a native wildflower that grows by rivers and lakes, and will thrive in gardens next to ponds, boggy ground or damp borders. Spires of vibrant purple flower spikes, made up of many small blooms, are borne for many weeks, and attract masses of bees as well as other pollinating insects. Grow in sun or partial shade.

Amelanchier – versatile tree or shrub for multi-season interest

Originating in wetland and woodland edges in its native North America, Amelanchier lamarckii, or snowy mespilus, is at home in damp soil. This hard-working deciduous plant suits most sites in gardens because it's available as a single-stemmed tree, a multi-stemmed tree, or a bushy shrub, growing well in sun or partial shade on all except chalky soils. A glorious abundance of white spring blossom is borne alongside coppery-coloured young leaves, followed by edible fruits in summer. Come autumn, the leaves develop fiery autumn tints before falling.

Sweet flag – evergreen foliage that looks good all year

The glossy leaved evergreen perennial Acorus gramineus is widely sold as a marginal pond plant, so it's an obvious candidate for damp conditions. It also makes a great border plant that deserves wider use as it provides attractive ground cover. Gold or green-variegated forms look most decorative, planted in groups or drifts in sun or shade.

What else can we do?
With climate change forecast to bring greater extremes of weather with incidences of heavy rain increasing and becoming more severe, we gardeners will need to adapt the way we manage our spaces. As well as choosing plants that seem more resistant to extreme conditions, it may also help to do the following:

• Grow plants in raised beds or large containers
• Protect plants from waterlogged ground by planting them on a mound of soil within a border
• Improve drainage in your borders by digging in plenty of organic matter, adding grit and placing grit in the planting hole before planting