Plants to help dry out boggy area

Always_Harassed

My house is on a hill and part of my garden seems to get water from the property beside and behind me. There is a section of it that is very boggy. It is clay soil so not suitable to dig a gravel pit.

What I would like to know is if there are any plants that would soak up the water. Was thinking of planting a border of shrubs at the boundary between the houses.

Any suggestions gratefully received.

annie123

Willow http://www.yorkshirewillow.co.uk/ has made a great difference to a boggy bit in my garden which is also clay soil.

I coppice it for fire starters and my son has some in his garden training it for a living arch.
Cheap to buy on ebay.

HTH

glasgowdan

Conifers will achieve something, but you'll then have !!!!!! conifers in the garden. Best to create a soakaway if you can.

heatherw_01

ooh I might have to give willow a go too. I have clay soil too

sirbrainy

Any kind of prunus or malus would probably thrive in those conditions and soak up the moisture through transpiration (loads of leaves, big).

So fruit trees and flowering cherries etc.

Might seem like a bit of an expense but if you could get a Bobcat in for a few hours and basically put a layer of gravel 50cm underneath the clay with an exit channel, you'd improve things no end.

kazschow

I'm another that would suggest a land drain and soakaway... better getting the basic problem sorted then you can plant what ever you want.

PeedieKat

I too have a very boggy bit which is clay soil and I have willows planted in it that seem to thrive. I've just planted a load more this year which are all doing well but I'm not sure how much they actually help with drying it out as they are still quite small.