Herbaceous perennials, grasses, ferns and bulbs for seasonally wet and dry soils

Please see our page on how to choose plants for seasonally wet and dry soils for detailed practical tips and guidance on choosing and planting, and answers to your questions on managing these challenging conditions. 

Planting in these conditions is, to a greater or lesser extent, experimentation. However, getting plants off to a good start will help improve their resilience.

• Incorporating organic matter – homemade garden compost, well-rotted manure or failing that, a dedicated soil improver – to a spade’s depth before planting will help with improving soil structure and moisture retention for summer
• Some plants may gain their drought tolerance by being in some shade in summer
• Use mulches after planting too to conserve moisture – again, homemade garden compost is preferable
• Plant hardy perennials in October so they start to establish before winter. They will need to be watered regularly during the growing seasons of their first two years
• Some plants will die back in the driest spells and rebound once rain comes
• The cultivars are not necessarily specific – other cultivars of the same species may also be suitable, but for some plants, the wild-type species can be more tolerant than cultivars – Primula vulgaris for example
• Hosta – the vigorous H. fortunei and H. sieboldiana types appear to be the most resilient. They are also more likely to be slug- and snail-resistant
• Hemerocallis – white cultivars appear to be less robust
• Agapanthus – deciduous species/hybrids only – evergreen species are much less hardy. Resilience depends on length of minimum winter temperature too