Native Plants

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Ask Mr. Smarty Plants
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Tuesday - March 30, 2010
From: Katonah, NY
Region: Northeast
Topic: Rain Gardens
Title: Rain garden plants for Ketonah, NY
Answered by: Anne Bossart
QUESTION:
Rain garden plant selections for lower NY stateANSWER:
Creating a rain garden is a great way to manage stormwater runoff and create an ecofriendly garden using plants that might not otherwise thrive in a home garden setting.
If you do an Internet Search for "Rain Gardens New York" you will find a wealth of information. The Brooklyn Botanic Garden has published plant lists and a tip sheet you will find particularly helpful. the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation also has a publication that will be informative.
You can find detailed information about the plants they recommend by visiting our Native Plant Database and either entering their names individually or doing a "Combination Search" for New York State and then selecting the appropriate conditions and the plant types you require. The plants in the lowest part of the garden will have to be adapted to saturated conditions ... around the edges, the plants may have to be able to withstand quite dry conditions as well.
Here are a few examples of plants that will work for you if your site is sunny:
Eupatorium purpureum (sweetscented joepyeweed)
Liatris spicata (dense blazing star)
Spiraea alba (white meadowsweet)
Andropogon gerardii (big bluestem)
Spartina pectinata (prairie cordgrass)
Rhus aromatica (fragrant sumac)
Viburnum opulus var. americanum (American cranberrybush)
More Rain Gardens Questions
Native plants for a bioswale in Indianapolis
March 07, 2009 - Dear Mr. Smarty Plants, Can you please recommend the types of plants I should use in a bioswale or rain garden in Indiana?
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Rain garden for South Austin
March 01, 2010 - I have a TINY yard in south Austin. It is 8'x25', sandwiched between four houses and happens to be at the lowest elevation, so all of the neighbor's yards drain to ours. Originally, we had bermud...
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Raingarden Plants for Brownsville, TX
March 14, 2014 - I'm a Landscape Architect in South Texas and I'm implementing raingardens and vegetated swales in my projects. What native plants could be used in these gardens/water runways. They would need to res...
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Plants for freestanding water in Oklahoma
July 28, 2013 - I have an overflowing gutter and the ground below becomes a muddy hole. I'd like to put a basin or pot in/or above the ground with a rain chain. Are there any plants--shrubs or otherwise that flouris...
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Plants for Bioswale in Illinois
November 30, 2009 - I have a 300ft by 15 ft bioswale in Aurora, Illinois. What plants would be best used? Is there a percentage of each plant to take into consideration?
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