Landscaping for wet areas

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Radio interview source: Doug Jimerson, garden editor-in-chief, Better Homes & Gardens

Our acreage sits on a hill, so nothing is too soggy until you get down in the pasture near the pond. There is a wetland that we let grow wild. I like cattails and the look of weeping willows.

It might not be possible to let wet areas of your property go totally wild, but the objective is to find hardy plants that will grow there. It should come as no surprise that many of these specimens are native to marshland and often thrive under those conditions. Even drainage ditches, which are often difficult to mow, can be turned into sites of beautiful wetland plantings.

Doug Jimerson is garden editor-in-chief at Better Homes & Gardens, and says what you do with the area depends on if you see it as a royal pain or an opportunity. He prefers to take advantage of the situation.

"What I think is exciting about having water of any kind, even if it's just a bog, is it's going to bring different types of wildlife into your backyard, different types of toads and frogs and butterflies on these plants that may not come to a traditional garden," Jimerson says.