Michigan Gardener

SIGN UP for our Free E-Newsletter!
We will send you occasional e-mails with valuable gardening tips and information!

Digital Editions

Click on the cover to read now!
Sponsored by:

  • Home
  • Departments
    • Ask MG
    • Books
    • Clippings
    • Garden Snapshots
    • MG in the News
    • Janet’s Journal
    • Plant Focus
    • Profile
    • Raising Roses
    • Thyme for Herbs
    • Tools
    • Tree Tips
  • Garden Event Calendar
    • Garden Event Calendar
    • Submit a Calendar Listing
  • Resources
    • Alternatives to Impatiens
    • Garden Help
    • Soil and Mulch Calculator
    • Public Gardens
  • Web Extras
  • About
    • Publishing Schedule – 2023
    • Editorial Content
    • Bulk Subscriptions – 2023
    • Where to pick up Michigan Gardener
    • Privacy Policy
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
  • Advertising
    • Print / Web / E-Newsletter Advertising
    • Classified Advertising
    • Material Specs & Terms
    • Make a Payment
Home Ask MG Planting ideas for ditches and swampy areas

Please note that Michigan Gardener has a new schedule in 2023. We will publish one Print Magazine in the spring. This Spring issue will be in stores in early May 2023. We will also publish 10 E-Newsletters from spring through fall. Click to sign up for our free E-Newsletter.

Planting ideas for ditches and swampy areas

April 15, 2019   •   Leave a Comment

After a moderate rain, water collects in a shallow ditch at the back of my lawn. It looks swampy every year. Any design/planting ideas to improve the look of this area?

This unfortunate nuisance that often occurs in both old and new landscapes is actually a garden opportunity. Evaluate the square footage involved and consider putting in a rain garden. Very simply, a rain garden is a planted depression that allows rainwater runoff from impervious urban areas like roofs, driveways, walkways, and compacted lawn areas the opportunity to be absorbed. It reduces rain runoff by allowing storm water to soak into the ground (as opposed to flowing into drains and surface waters, which causes erosion, water pollution and flooding).

Usually, it is a small garden that is designed to withstand the extremes of moisture and concentrations of nutrients, particularly nitrogen and phosphorus often found in storm water runoff. A rain garden retards the water flow and absorption, allowing more time to infiltrate and less opportunity to gain momentum and erosive power. Because this area is in your lawn, you have the opportunity to prepare an area with select trees and shrubs as well as perennials that will enjoy absorbing and utilizing that rainwater, processing it, and creating an entire ecosystem beneficial to the greater good of the landscape.

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources has a 32-page online manual for the how-tos of constructing a rain garden, from measuring to digging to planting. They even include several design diagrams. The basic information is excellent, but it does focus on downspout and house foundation locations for the most part.

The key for an area like yours (away from a downspout) is to use tree and shrub species that love wet conditions. There are a number of Michigan native plants that suit the criteria well. Because you are not necessarily restricted by the proximity of a building, you can consider using trees like river birch (Betula nigra ‘Heritage’), which has the grace of a willow but none of the mess. It also has excellent winter interest in its buff pink, exfoliating bark.

Consider planting a cluster of red and yellow twig dogwood shrubs (Cornus sericea ‘Alba’ and Cornus sericea ‘Flaviramea’). These shrubs are especially suited to swampy areas and, with their colorful twigs exposed in Michigan winters, become a highlight of the snow-filled landscape. Depending on how large your ditch is, you could possibly add a smaller ornamental tree such as a native witch hazel (Hamamelis virginiana), which blooms in October and November, or a native shrub such as the common elderberry (Sambucus canadensis) whose fall fruit provides a great food source for both birds and animals.

Planting a rain garden is a very eco-friendly way to deal with standing water and provide assistance to the natural filtration process for our groundwater. You not only solve the drainage problem but also turn an eyesore into a work of beauty.

Filed Under: Ask MG Tagged With: ditches, swamp, swampy, wet

Previous Post: Janet’s Journal: Springboard into the garden season
Next Post: Website Extra: Finding their garden theme

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Copyright © 1996-2023 Michigan Gardener. All rights reserved.