Making the Best of It—srernen r. HAMBLIN, “==. 
Il]. What Can Be Done ina Stagnant Marsh 
ground, fed perhaps by springs, 
with tufts of rushes and small 
pools of water, reaches into the 
- area included in the lawn and garden. 
As it appears weedy all the year there 
comes a strong inclination to the garden 
builder to “improve” it. 
When possible, the logical thing to do 
is to drain it, add a layer of good soil, 
and sow it to grass, and plant moisture- 
loving shrubs and tall herbs. Perhaps 
the area can be filled and raised two 
feet or more; but if the soil is springy 
it will settle too unevenly to make good 
lawn. Possibly you will try to dig it 
deeper and make a lily vond; but if 
there is not sufficient fall for the water 
it will remain a stagnant mud-hole, and 
no plants will hide its bad odor and its 
mosquitos. 
It may be that the wisest thing is to 
let the soil and water surface remain as 
nature made them, and by replacing the 
weedy growths and some of the rushes 
by flowering plants give it something 
of the refined effect of the lawn area. 
First of all, the less the soil is over- 
turned in the operation of planting the 
better the effect will be; if you turn it 
all over you will have plain mud for a 
year or more, until the grasses have cov- 
ered the soil surface again. 
Some marshes are warm in summer 
and the soil is a 
soft black peaty 
ooze; the other ex- 
treme is cold spring 
water on a clay bed 
that’ offers little 
roothold for plants. 
Each has a distinct 
flora, but I shall try 
to suggest plants 
that will grow in 
either site; but 
every planting is an 
experiment, for 
plants will behave 
queerly when set in 
new soils. You may 
not even be able to 
get Cattail to thrive, 
though more than 
likely it is there 
already. 
We must suppose 
that the marsh is 
open to the sun all day long, and that 
the pools of water remain all summer, 
or at least do not dry away wholly. If 
trees are lacking, a group of Red Maples 
(Acer rubrum) may be set wherever 
you wish to break the skyline; they may 
grow slowly, but they will live. Pussy 
Willow (Salix discolor) will grow nearly 
as well as on the firmer ground. 
For shrubs, try Common Elder (Sam- 
bucus canadensis) wherever the swamp 
grasses grow;‘in the pools of open water 
anchor large plants of Sweet Gale 
(Myrica gale) and Buttonbush (Cepha- 
lanthus occidentalis). They may take 
kindly to their new home, and may re- 
fuse altogether. With the Elder you 
may have luck with the Swamp Rose 
(Rosa carolina), Red Osier (Cornus 
See a stretch of swampy 
stolonifera), Blueberry, Honeysuckle 
(Lonicera caerulea), and several of the 
Heaths, as Rhodora (Rhododendron 
canadense), lLeatherleaf (Chamae- 
daphne calyculata), and Bog Rosemary 
(Andromeda glaucophylla) on the hum- 
mocks in the marsh. Of course near the 
edge of the marsh many of the Willows, 
Dogwoods, Viburnums, Alders, and 
other common shrubs will grow readily; 
it will be easy to grow so many that the 
herbs will be crowded out. 
For bloom in early spring nothing can 
surpass a goodly colony of our Marsh 
Marigold (Caltha palustris). It grows 
equally well whether the soil be peat or 
clay, provided the supply of water is 
constant the year through. Don’t plant 
a half-dozen, but hundreds of them in 
big colonies, and then you will under- 
stand its Indian name, “It-opens-the- 
swamps.” Though difficult to find in 
midsummer, as the leaves have entirely 
died away, it should be planted in sum- 
mer or early autumn to give it a fair 
start for the spring. This may be fol- 
lowed by the yellow of Buttercups, par- 
ticularly the tall Ranunculus septen- 
trionalis and the creeping R. repens. 
If the soil is peaty the summer bloom 
may begin with masses of the Buckbean 
(Menyanthes trifoliata) in white spikes 
in May; later the Arrowhead (Sagitta- 
ria latifolia), in its slender or its very 
The border shrubbery consists of Liquidambar, varieties of Sambucus and Cornus, with Cattails and 
Pontederia on the water edge 
robust forms, will be somewhat similar, 
while spikes of Cardinal flower (Lobelia 
cardinalis) flame above it. 
If the soil has more gravel or clay 
than black ooze it will suit several spe- 
cies of Iris. Our two native species, the 
Larger Blue Flag (Iris versicolor) and 
the Slender Blue Flag (I. prismatica) 
can be brought in from other marshy 
meadows, but for masses of blue in June 
you can rely on the Siberian Flag (1. 
Sibirica). Of course it grows in the 
border, and among the shrubs along the 
drive, but it thrives even better out in 
the marsh where the soil is so wet that 
you must wear rubber boots when plant- 
ing it. There is a white form, and the 
dwarfer later species (I. sanguinea), 
commonly known as variety orientalis, 
242 
gives deep blue about a week later. 
There is a white form of this called 
Snow Queen. For yellow the Yellow 
Flag of Europe (I. Pseudacorus) is the 
best species in the marsh. The foliage 
of these stands all summer, and in 
August the White Turtle-head (Chelone 
glabra) will lift its curious inflated 
flowers above it. 
In midsummer the marsh can be gay 
with big pink Swamp Rose Mallow (Hi- 
biscus Moscheutos) that you know as a 
border plant, but it dearly loves to stand 
with its feet in the water, and so does 
the Crimson-eye Mallow (H. oculiro- 
seus) which for color effect is white. I 
wonder if the new Marvel Mallows 
wouldn’t like to go back to the swamps 
from which their parents came? 
For autumn bloom we depend upon 
the Composites, the flat purple heads 
of Joe-pye-weed (Eupatorium purpu- 
reum) and the white tops of the sister 
Boneset (KE. perfoliatum). The marsh 
is too. wet for Goldenrods, but several 
Asters grow practically in the water. 
The flat white heads of Aster umbella- 
tus sway with Joe-pye, and the lavender 
stars of Aster puniceus, every bit as ~ 
fine as the Michaelmas Daisies of the 
garden, complete the quartet in open 
glades in many Northern swamps. 
For green foliage all summer, besides 
the rushes and grasses that are sure to 
be there, it is always 
good policy to have 
Cattails, either the 
common sort (Typha 
latifolia) or the 
Slender Cattail (T. 
angustifolia) and 
if they take kindly 
to the place you will 
soon have enough of 
them. Tread the 
roots into the water 
with your rubber 
boots. Foliage in 
early spring will be 
afforded by Skunk 
Cabbage (Symplo- 
carpus foetidus) and 
False Hellebore 
(Veratrum viride). 
They have enor- 
mous root systems; 
set them with the 
spade at the water’s 
edge in midsummer. Among the ferns 
the Royal Fern (Osmunda regalis) 
is the most truly aquatic; it often 
floats around in swamps on little islands 
of its own making. And with it several 
of the Pitcher-plants will be happy; the 
showiest of them all is the great Geor- 
gia Trumpets (Sarracenia flava), whose 
tall yellow trumpet leaves are more ef- 
fective than any flowers. Rushes and 
sedges are of course already there; the 
most ornamental is the Giant Bulrush 
(Scirpus validus) whose seed heads in 
autumn are raised some five feet above 
the hummocks in the marsh. 
By judicious planting, therefore, a 
hitherto unattractive bit of marsh may 
be made to clothe itself in pleasing 
colors from early spring to late fall. 
