How to Stop Worrying and Start Loving Clay Soil (5 photos)

Match the plants to the soil. We should always strive for this, even if it means sacrificing a dream for some special plant. It’s paramount that we accept our landscapes, just as we hope to accept ourselves and one another. New, meaningful possibilities open up when you embrace what you’re given and work within its supposed confines.

Countless native grasses and forbs (herbaceous, broad-leaved plants) with various ranges thrive in clay soil. Clay-tolerant plants such as wild blue indigo (Baptisia australis), aromatic aster (Symphyotrichum oblongifolium), swamp milkweed (Asclepias incarnata), little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium), mountain mint (Pycnanthemum virginianum), wild senna (Senna hebecarpa), blazing star (Liatris spp.) and prairie clover (Dalea spp.) are all highly beneficial to pollinators too.

Good tree choices include bur oak (Quercus macrocarpa), hackberry (Celtis spp.), willow (Salix spp.) and crabapples (Malus spp.). Downy arrowwood (Viburnum rafinesquianum), ninebark (Physocarpusopulifolius), chokeberry (Aronia spp.), buttonbush (Cephalanthus spp.) and arborvitae (Thuja spp.) are good shrubs for growing in clay.

from Houzz http://ift.tt/1OCl4FK

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