Here are some plants I recommend for clay soil. Those marked with ♦ are native or have native species available. The staff at your local fine nursery will have additional suggestions.
Trees that tolerate clay soil |
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| NAME | BOTNICAL NAME | DESCRIPTION |
| ♦ River birch | Betula nigra ‘Heritage’ and others | Beautiful bark and yellow fall color |
| ♦ Green Ash | Fraxinus pennsylvanica | Good form, great shade tree |
| ♦ Larch | Larix spp. | A deciduous conifer with yellow fall color |
| ♦ Witch Hazel | Hamamelis virginiana | Late autumn fragrant flowers, yellow fall color |
| Weeping willow | Salix spp. | Iconic tree but the messiest imaginable |
| ♦ Bald cypress | Taxodium disichum | Deciduous conifer, bronze fall color, can form “knees” |
| ♦ Arborvitae | Thuja occidentalis many cvs. | Readily available evergreen, fast grower, versatile, but deer browse on it |
| ♦ Black Haw Viburnum | Viburnum prunifolium | Tough small tree, white flowers, red fall color, fruit for birds, tolerates shade |
Shrubs that tolerate clay soil |
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| ♦ Serviceberry | Amelanchier | Red fruit and fall color |
| ♦ Bluestar | Amsonia hubrichtii | Blue flowers, fine-textured leaves turn yellow to peach in fall. Great massed. |
| Flowering quince | Chaenomeles cvs. | Colorful spring flowers, fruit for jelly |
| ♦ Summersweet | Clethra alnifolia cvs. | Fragrant flowers in late summer and yellow fall foliage |
| ♦ Red twig dogwood | Cornus sericea ssp. | Prune old stems annually for best showy winter stems |
| Grapeholly | Mahonia cvs. | Bold-textured broad-leaved evergreen with late winter blue fruit that birds relish, deer do not browse |
| ♦ Ninebark | Physocarpus opuifolius ‘Diabolo’ | Purple-leaved, tough, versatile, can be cut back for best new growth, ornamental bark |
| ♦ Elderberry | Sambucus canadensis | Graceful foliage, flat-topped white flowers produce fruit relished by birds (and good for pies) |
| ♦ Viburnum | Viburnum trilobum and V. dentatum | Red fruit and fall color |
Perennials that tolerate clay soil |
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| ♦ Anise hyssop | Agastache foeniculum cvs. | Long lasting blue flowers, bees love this plant |
| ♦ Swamp milkweed | Asclepias ssp. | Essential food source for butterfly caterpillars |
| ♦ Blue false indigo | Baptisia australis | Blue-purple lupine-like flowers early in spring, adds nitrogen to soil |
| ♦ Purple coneflower | Echinacea purpurea cvs. | Every garden must have, attracts butterflies |
| ♦ Joe-Pye weed | Eupatorium fistulosum | Tall, attracts butterflies |
| Daylily | Hemerocallis spp. and cvs. | Every garden must have daylilies |
| Hosta | Hosta spp. and cvs. | Indispensible shade plant, deer love |
| ♦ Blue Lobelia | Lobelia siphilitica | Deep blue flowers in late summer, forms colonies, butterflies attracted |
| ♦ Ostrich Fern | Matteuccia struthiopteris | Beautiful tall fern but very aggressive and hard to confine. Better to use Osmunda fern species with their dramatic cinnamon-brown fruiting stalks |
| ♦ Virginia bluebells | Mertensia virginica | Early spring bloomer, wonderful massed in woodland, goes dormant after flowering |
| Rodgersia | Rodgersia spp. and cvs. | Bold textured |
| ♦ Cupplant | Silphium perfoliatum | Tall, single best species for attracting birds, especially goldfinches. Seeds aggressively |
| ♦ Ironweed | Vernonia novaboracensis | Fluffy brilliant purple flowers, tall, for the background of borders. Will seed around, good for wildflower gardens. |
Groundcover that tolerates clay soil |
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| Bugleweed | Ajuga reptans many cvs. | The definitive groundcover for clay soil, spreads |
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