Sign up for our newsletter. While browsing perennials, use our helpful filters to find the right plants for your garden: Light Requirments: Full Shade, Half Sun / Half Shade © 2020 Proven Winners North America LLC. it. The perennial is also said to provide specific health benefits that strengthen memory functions and lower chances of diabetes. remains wet after a rain with puddling and poor drainage, causing rot on plant Improving Clay Soil Beforehand This tough species can grow in most any soil and even tolerates shade well. Clay soil is one of the more difficult soils to have in a garden bed. Variegated Instant Karma® elderberry puts an interesting green-and-white twist on the species, and Lemony Lace® a bright yellow lacy version. Viburnum, Hydrangea, Mahonia, Chaenomeles Best veg for clay soil materials such as rotted manure, but sand and compost are most effective. Most people know the tree-like white flowering dogwoods that burst into bloom each spring. By: Becca Badgett, Co-author of How to Grow an EMERGENCY Garden. Red Rover® combines brilliant fall color, blue berries, and deep mahogany-red stems. With large, saucer-like blooms for months every summer in beautiful shades perfectly suited to sunny days, its prettiness belies an extremely tough plant. Use as a hedge, backdrop for flowers or in mixed borders. They are nestled into a neat, mounded shrub of emerald green foliage that emerges with a snowy white coating of fine, soft hairs. Some hardy plants will thrive in clay soils in part and even full shade: Ivy, Hosta, Vinca, Ajuga, Aucuba, Dryopteris (fern), Japanese anemones These shrubs all like clay soil in partial shade, and may tolerate full shade too. Just pick your favorite colors, plant, and enjoy – you won’t have to worry about deer or rabbits spoiling the show. It can grow in nearly any soil and needs no pruning to grow into a landscape-worthy accent or hedge. Happy Face® potentillas are about as close as you can get to a shrub that blooms non-stop. As summer wears on, purple-black fruits develop. When it dries out, it often becomes so hard the roots cannot penetrate In some cases, even the short-term specimens will need some sun. Here are ten beautiful shrubs that will thrive in clay. for a planting alternative. Everyone loves lilacs, and it must be because their fragrance is so delicate that people tend to think they are hard to grow. Ninebark is native to most areas. In fact, clay soils offer plants two major advantages over other soil types: they hold water well, minimizing drought stress, and are abundant in nutrients essential for plant growth. Consider adding viburnums to your foundation plantings or plant a row of them as a hedge or living screen. 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This webpage may contain links to products or other sites. They are incredibly adaptable shrubs that tolerate any soil type and grow in both sun and part shade. All summer long, all three varieties are dotted with yellow flowers that attract pollinators. While the plants listed prefer or tolerate clay conditions, it’s always good to amend the soil with compost on a routine basis to provide nutrients for the plants. They bloom for several weeks and often rebloom in fall. If it is too difficult to amend the You can also amend clay soil with other finished off If you’re looking for something smaller, the dwarf Lil’ Kim® series is just the ticket. While Kodiak® diervillas may not be the most flashy shrubs you’ll ever plant, you will definitely appreciate how hard-working they are – and how much work they save you. Aesculus pavia ... ‘Ruby Spice’ is noted for its fragrant rose-pink flowers and its ability to bloom in the shade. Sign up to get all the latest gardening tips! So, if you’ve been struggling to achieve your dream garden or landscape in clay soil, cheer up! Ribes sanguineum. The plant itself if tough, vigorous and quick-growing. East (582) North (362) South (658) West (774) How much sun. location. Previously, aronia was only available as a large shrub or small tree, but Low Scape® aronias make this versatile, durable species available to all with new, smaller habits. In addition to the unusual foliage, pink flowers in early summer contrast with the black leaves for a traffic-stopping display. This shrub will quickly establish in clay soil and can reach over 2m in height. These Be sure to research before planting and check the sun The best shrubs for clay soil are those that are tolerant of its texture and its ability to hold water and then dry out. Best Plants for Clay Soil: Shade. The show begins in late spring and goes, and goes, and goes, right up until the first hard frost. Clay soil is much maligned by gardeners and homeowners everywhere, and no wonder: it’s heavy, sticky, and difficult to work in. There are so many evergreens that grow in clay soil and other conditions. Light shade (668) Shade (47) Sun (661) + Show more filters Special conditions. Please assume all such links are affiliate links which may result revenue for justtreesonline.com . You can specimens will need some sun. Note: These will grow in clay soil, but some do best in a Whether you live in the frigid North or the steamy South, you can grow these easy-care, practically fool-proof hydrangeas. Ornamental elderberries like Black Lace® and Laced Up® are so beautiful and exotic looking that it comes as a surprise to many people that they are also extremely tough. pile in your yard, this is a good time to think of adding one. You can Their best feature in the landscape is their colorful winter stems – red for Arctic Fire® and yellow and coral for Arctic Sun®, or, in the case of Pucker Up®, its unique “quilted” foliage. 10 plants for clay soil: Ribes sanguineum 10. Your shade garden will burst with different textures and colors with these shade-loving perennials! Here are our top plants for clay soil. improve large areas and not just planting holes. Finally, come autumn, the whole plant blazes with brilliant orange, red, and yellow color. They love a good, sunny spot, which ensures best color on dark-leaf varieties like the Wine series as well as abundant blooms. It fell out of favor, however, due to its prominent thorns. Flowering currant flowers are dainty and delicate, adding finesse to the garden in late spring. Experts agree that some ornamental Many times plants will need a more organically rich soil than clay delivers. If your flowerbeds haven’t yet been These elderberries aren’t finicky about their soil, but they prefer cooler climates. The growing zones and conditions listed are general. Low Scape® Mound aronia naturally grows as a tidy little tuffet, making it the perfect groundcover or edging. performance. Lily of the Valley (Convallaria majalis) (artrich/123rf.com) We selected the Happy Face series for extra-large, very bright blooms. If you have not yet started a compost Be inspired with our Gardener's Idea Book and Winner's Circle® newsletter. Find locations near you that offer Proven Winners products. 4. Better still, they all have strong, sturdy stems that won’t flop, even after summer rains, like ‘Annabelle’ notoriously does. In some cases, even the short-term Plants (825) Deciduous (2) Product (2) Facing. expect good results for the long term. The Kodiak® series of diervilla offers three vivid foliage colors to spice up even your most troublesome spots. Pulmonaria. Growing wild over much of the eastern United States and Canada, diervilla is a quiet, refined shrub that does a lot in the landscape but asks very little from you. Spring brings a blanket of white flowers, each dotted with bright pink pollen in the center. To get the very most out of a lilac planting, look for Bloomerang® reblooming lilacs – they bloom alongside other lilacs in spring, but after a brief rest, bloom mid-summer through fall for more color and fragrance. Flowering quince is an old-fashioned favorite for its very vivid spring blooms.