Native Plants

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Tuesday - July 21, 2009
From: Grand Haven, MI
Region: Midwest
Topic: Water Gardens
Title: Plants for retention ponds in Grand Haven, MI
Answered by: Barbara Medford
QUESTION:
I am president of a condo association. We have three retention ponds on the property. From two of them we pump water for irrigation so the water level goes up and down. We are going to try to stabilize the shore to stop the erosion, but I am trying to find out about plants that can live with wet and dry feet. Non-invasive, and preferably something that will grow tall enough to break up the sightline from the water to the shore, to help keep the geese off the lawn. I know that is is a separate issue.ANSWER:
Luckily for us, there has already been an excellent answer to virtually the same question, the previous one coming from White Lake, MI in the southwest part of Michigan, Oakland County. We feel that is close enough to Grand Haven, on the southeast side of Michigan, Ottawa County, that the same information should apply, including the plant selections. Previous answer to White Lake.
In terms of keeping the geese off of the lawn, we have had questions about geese destroying gardens before, as well. We are not sure if any of the plants suggested in the previous answer were grasses tall enough to serve as something of a barrier to the geese, so we are going to find some native grasses that can tolerate wet or dry soils and list them for you.
Grasses Native to Michigan
Calamagrostis canadensis (bluejoint) - 3to 5 ft. tall, sun, part shade or shade
Carex stipata (owlfruit sedge) - 2 to 3 ft. tall, wet soil to standing water, sun
Carex vulpinoidea (fox sedge) - wet or moist soil,sun
Juncus torreyi (Torrey's rush) - wet or moist soil, sun
Phragmites australis (common reed) - 3 to 6 ft., wet or moist soil, sun
Scirpus atrovirens (green bulrush) - 3 to 6 ft. tall, wet soil, sun
Schoenoplectus tabernaemontani (softstem bulrush) - wet soil, sun
Spartina pectinata (prairie cordgrass) - 3 to 6 ft., wet soil, sun
More Water Gardens Questions
Native plants for a bioswale in Irving, TX
March 30, 2009 - Mr. Smarty Plants, what plants would you recommend for a bioswale in the north Texas (Dallas) area?
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Native water plants for bio-retention pond in North Carolina
July 22, 2009 - I am looking for North Carolina native plants that can take part shade and very wet conditions (bioretention pond environment). Any suggestions?
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Planting times for aquatic plants from Winston Salem NC
July 12, 2012 - I need to know the correct time of year to plant the following pond plants
Swamp Rose Mallow, Southern Blue Iris, Soft Rush, American Bur-reed, American lotus, Woolgrass and Duck Potato
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Plants for wet soils in North Carolina
October 03, 2009 - I'm looking for evergreen plants (shrubs or ground cover)that will tolerate wet conditions for the zone 8 area of North Carolina. The local garden centers here do not stock these types of plants, eve...
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Native plants for a littoral zone in Fort Myers, Florida
June 05, 2009 - Dear Mr. Smarty Plants,
What native plants would you recommend for the littoral zone on a pond in Fort Myers Florida?
Damon's Mom
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