How to create the perfect garden for wet soil

Continually moist soil opens up a whole new world of possibilities for shade gardeners who are naturally drawn to mossy glens. You'll find wet, shaded sites along the banks of a tree-lined pool or stream, or in a low spot where rainwater collects after running down slopes. The soil is usually fertile in such spots because there is a natural accumulation of organic matter and all the water a plant could need. When shade is part of the bargain, there are many ways to turn a wet spot into a rich tapestry of colour and texture by adding bold, beautiful shade plants - just follow these simple tips!

Before you begin making a garden in a wet spot, plan a pathway designed to assure safe footing.

• A series of stepping stones may be sufficient to get you from one place to another, or you might set stepping stones into a wider, more stable path lined with gravel.
• Another option is to build an elevated boardwalk that, surrounded by the foliage of your garden plants, appears to float mysteriously across the wetland.
• Choose a building material that works harmoniously with other materials present in your landscape. For example, you might build a brick walkway to echo the walls of a brick home.
• Choose stone if there is a stone patio or wall nearby, or if natural stone outcroppings are part of the scene.

After the hardscaping is in place, experiment cautiously when choosing plants, using promising ones on a small scale at first.

• When you find a plant species that thrives in your wet, shady spot, add several of them.
• Many plants adapted to moist shade are very willing, on their own, to spread into lush colonies. Give them free reign to grow into drifts.
• Small drifts of slow-to-spread epimedium, lungwort or turtlehead mimic the way they grow in nature.
• It's easier to care for a mass planting of one or two species than to tend to the whims of an assortment.
• Between clumps of plants, allow open space to facilitate air circulation. Pathways that thread through a moist shade garden act as channels for health-giving light and air, and they even become drainage ditches during heavy rains.
• Pathways and spaces increase the likelihood of fungal diseases, which thrive in damp, stagnant air and standing water. You also may need to thin stems from time to time to open the centre of shrubby plants to light and fresh air.

• Asarum
• Astilbe
• Azalea
• Bee balm
• Begonia
• Bergenia
• Caladium
• Canna
• Cohosh
• Coleus
• Cowslip
• Cogwood
• Dutchman's pipe
• Dwarf cattail
• English ivy
• Epimedium
• Foamflower
• Forget-me-not
• Goats beard
• Golden hakone grass
• Hosta
• Japanese maple
• Joe Pye weed
• Lady's mantle
• Lungwort
• Meadow rue
• Pachysandra
• Red twig dogwood
• Rhododendron
• Siberian iris
• Sweet potato vine
• Vinca
• Wishbone flower