By nature, clay soil can be difficult to work with if you don’t know the right plants to grow in your garden. However, planting in clay soil is not as limiting or challenging as you might think. With an understanding of some of the plants that grow best in clay soil, you’ll be able to create a garden that will have your neighbors asking what’s your secret.
16 plants that grow well in clay soil
1. Aster
Asters are fairly self-sufficient plants and pretty easy to grow. They practically take care of themselves through the summer and bloom vigorously later in the season. It bears beautiful daisy-shaped flowers that sit atop long stems and are perfect for adding color to a garden.
These nectar-rich flowers make a dependable and favored food source for bees, monarch butterflies, and other such beneficial pollinators and insects.
Botanical name: Aster
Plant type: Flowering perennial
Flower color: Purple, pink, blue, white, red
Mature plant height: 3-6 feet
Maintenance needs: Low
Blooming time: Late summer to fall
Ideal growing conditions: Full sun with well-draining soil
USDA hardiness zones: 3-9
2. Bee balm
Bee balm is treasured for its medicinal qualities, beautiful blooms, and the ability to attract tons of pollinators. It gets stellar, crown-shaped flowers that are a favorite among butterflies and hummingbirds. The showy flower heads spread out like sparklers that you can pinch back early season to get bushier plants.
Wild bee balms grow in many kinds of soils and are highly fragrant, especially when grouped in mass plantings. It spreads rapidly through underground rhizomes and tends to overcrowd.
Botanical name: Monarda
Plant type: Perennial
Flower color: Purple, pink, red, lavender
Mature plant height: 2-4 feet
Maintenance needs: Very low
Blooming time: Summer
Ideal growing conditions: Full sun to partial shade with well-draining soil
USDA hardiness zones: 4-9
3. Big bluestem
Big bluestem is a tough, drought-tolerant warm-season grass type. It’s mostly known for erosion control and is also used as an ornamental plant. This plant loves arid conditions and thrives in most soil types. It can grow up to 8 feet tall and works well as a central accent or focal point to any flower bed.
Botanical name: Andropogon gerardii
Plant type: Perennial
Flower color: Purple, red, yellow
Mature plant height: 6-8 feet
Maintenance needs: Low
Blooming time: Summer
Ideal growing conditions: Full sun with well-drained soil
USDA hardiness zones: 4-9
4. Black-eyed Susan
Black-eyed Susans do great in clay soil gardens. They make daisy-like, yellow flowers with black centers and sit atop tall stems. This clay-busting perennial plant is a garden staple because it’s low maintenance and very adaptable.
They bloom for months and keep on living for years to come, making them a wonderful addition to cottage gardens, perennial borders, prairies, or naturalized areas. Black-eyed Susans spread quickly, but aren’t invasive, and give your garden a long-lasting color. This versatile plant doesn’t mind heat or cold and grows easily in many different planting zones.
Botanical name: Rudbeckia
Plant type: Perennial
Flower color: Yellow, orange
Mature plant height: 2-3 feet
Maintenance needs: Very low
Blooming time: Early summer
Ideal growing conditions: Full sun with well-drained, moist soil
USDA hardiness zones: 3-9
5. Blazing star
Blazing star, also known as gayfeather, features spiky bottle-brush flowers that bloom for a long period and grass-like foliage. These flowers are rich in nectar and quite popular among some butterfly species, including monarch butterflies.
This prairie plant also has gained popularity as a cut flower with its flower spikes that are made of multiple florets blooming from top to bottom.
Botanical name: Liatris spicata
Plant type: Perennial
Flower color: White, purple, deep blue-purple
Mature plant height: 2-4 feet
Maintenance needs: Low
Blooming time: Summer
Ideal growing conditions: Full sun and moist, well-drained soil
USDA hardiness zones: 3-8
6. Butterfly weed
Butterfly weed is a North American native perennial that produces clusters of eye-catching flowers. These flowers are a major attraction for butterflies, hummingbirds, and bees.
Butterfly weed has long taproots that allow it to survive droughts and thrive in poor soil types. Butterfly weed is one of the shortest kinds of milkweed, and its height allows it to fit into manicured flower beds and wild areas alike. It grows well in clay soil but will need heavy amendments with compost to enhance drainage.
Botanical name: Asclepias tuberosa
Plant type: Perennial
Flower color: Yellow, red, orange
Mature plant height: 1-2 feet
Maintenance needs: Moderate
Blooming time: Summer
Ideal growing conditions: Full sun and well-draining soil
USDA hardiness zones: 3-9
7. Coneflower
Another popular perennial that thrives in clay soil is coneflower. The pink-purple flowers attract a large number of pollinators and birds, making them a great choice for butterfly gardens. It bears showy, daisy-like flowers that rest on top of strong, stiff stems and dark green foliage.
You can plant hybrid varieties for a wide color range, from pink, and orange to white, red, and burgundy. These tough, dependable prairie plants can tolerate rocky and clay soil as well as heat, drought, and humidity.
Botanical name: Echinacea
Plant type: Perennial
Flower color: Pink, purple, gold, red, orange
Mature plant height: 3-5 feet
Maintenance needs: Low
Blooming time: Summer
Ideal growing conditions: Full sun and well-draining soil
USDA hardiness zones: 3-9
8. Coral bells
Coral bells or alum roots are an excellent choice for adding color to your clay soil garden. They offer an impressive flower color range, from pink and purple to white, deep red, and light coral. This perennial plant gets its name from the tall spikes of bell-shaped blooms.
It thrives in clay soil and offers the greatest diversity of foliage shades, ranging from peach and deep purple to bronze and silver.
Botanical name: Heuchera
Plant type: Perennial
Flower color: White, pink, deep red, light coral
Mature plant height: 1-3 feet
Maintenance needs: Low
Blooming time: Late spring to early summer
Ideal growing conditions: Full sun and part shade with well-drained soil
USDA hardiness zones: 4-9
9. Daylily
Coming in nearly every color, daylilies are a perfect way to add color and texture to a clay soil garden. Daylilies are highly dependable, low-maintenance plants that are tolerant of a variety of growing conditions.
The flowers produce a sweet fragrance and fluffy, clustery foliage that keeps it attractive through all seasons. Daylilies grow well in water-logged and moist soil and make a suitable perennial plant for clay soils.
Botanical name: Hemerocallis
Plant type: Perennial
Flower color: Yellow, orange, shades of red and pink
Mature plant height: 3-5 feet
Maintenance needs: Low
Blooming time: Early summer to late fall
Ideal growing conditions: Full sun with moist, well-drained soil
USDA hardiness zones: 4-9
10. Eulalia grass
Eulalia grass is one of the most popular ornamental grasses. It is self-seeding and clump-forming and can become a nuisance if not managed properly. Like many ornamental grasses, it does very well in clay.
You can choose from small fountain grass, mid-sized silvergrass, or large pampas grass to create a beautiful shrub border or add texture, color, and movement to your perennial clay garden.
Botanical name: Miscanthus
Plant type: Perennial
Flower color: Silver, copper
Mature plant height: 3-7 feet
Maintenance needs: Moderate
Blooming time: Late summer to fall
Ideal growing conditions: Full sun to part shade and well-drained soil
USDA hardiness zones: 5-9
11. Goat’s beard
This is a shade-loving perennial that features creamy-white, feathery flowers. Its eye-catching flowers are rabbit- and deer-resistant, making it a great choice for your clay garden.
Goat’s beard can grow in any kind of soil, from sand to clay, but slight amendments to the clay will enhance drainage and promote better growth.
Botanical name: Aruncus dioicus
Plant type: Perennial forb
Flower color: Creamy white
Mature plant height: 4-6 feet
Maintenance needs: Moderate
Blooming time: Spring and summer
Ideal growing conditions: Partial shade with moist, rich soil
USDA hardiness zones: 3-8
12. Goldenrod
Popular for its bewitching yellow flower spikes, goldenrod will cheer up any garden when it blooms. It’s favored by butterflies, bees, and other pollinators and makes a great cut flower. Goldenrod is decently tolerant of clay and is easy to grow.
Botanical name: Solidago canadensis
Plant type: Herbaceous perennial
Flower color: Yellow
Mature plant height: 2-4 feet
Maintenance needs: Moderate
Blooming time: Mid-summer to fall
Ideal growing conditions: Full sun and well-drained soil
USDA hardiness zones: 3-9
13. Hosta
Hosta plants come in a wide variety of colors and sizes to suit your garden. Hosta produces pretty spikes of lavender or white blooms and is either grown as a groundcover or mixed with other perennials.
These plants offer golden, green, blue-green, chartreuse, and variegated patterns on their leaves that might be as small as dandelions or as large as an elephant’s ears. The texture, color, and durability of the foliage remain steady in any type of soil, including clay soil. It’s an ideal low-maintenance perennial for a garden heavy in clay.
Botanical name: Hosta
Plant type: Perennial
Flower color: Purple, white, lavender-blue
Mature plant height: 1-4 feet
Maintenance needs: Low
Blooming time: Summer
Ideal growing conditions: Full shade or part shade with well-drained soil
USDA hardiness zones: 3-8
14. Hydrangea
Hydrangeas are well known for performing in clay soil. They feature bright pink, blue, purple, and creamy white flowers to light up any garden. These flowering shrubs grow well with partial shade and poor soil conditions as long as the soil is kept moist.
Botanical name: Hydrangea macrophylla
Plant type: Perennial
Flower color: Blue, purple, pink, white
Mature plant height: 3-6 feet
Maintenance needs: Low
Blooming time: Summer to fall
Ideal growing conditions: Partial shade and well-drained soil
USDA hardiness zones: 3-9
15. Stonecrop or sedum
This carefree perennial requires little to no attention to grow. It features clusters of small, star-like flowers that gradually turn from pink to a deep, rose-red color before transitioning into coppery-red flowers in the fall. It has succulent-like, grayish-green leaves and long stems where the flattened flower heads sit to attract pollinators.
It’s also called Autumn joy and has the ability to thrive in poor, gravelly, or sandy soil. It will also tolerate clay and loam just fine if you ensure the soil doesn’t stay constantly damp. Sedum is an excellent choice for border fronts and rock gardens.
Botanical name: Sedum
Plant type: Perennial
Flower color: Pink, lavender, rust-red
Mature plant height: 1-2 feet
Maintenance needs: Low
Blooming time: Fall
Ideal growing conditions: Full sun and well-drained soil
USDA hardiness zones: 3-9
16. Tickseed
Tickseed is a hardy North American native that blooms throughout the season. It is very low maintenance, drought-resistant, and can grow in practically any soil, as long as it has good drainage.
These long-blooming perennials make great cut flowers or border plants with their cheery, bright little blossoms. It produces dense, bushy clumps of daisy-like flowers and has fine feathery foliage.
Botanical name: Coreopsis
Plant type: Perennial
Flower color: Yellow, pink, red, orange
Mature plant height: 2-4 feet
Maintenance needs: Low
Blooming time: Summer
Ideal growing conditions: Full sun or part shade with well-draining soil
USDA hardiness zones: 4-9
What is clay soil?
Determining your garden’s soil type is the most crucial step in knowing what kind of plants will thrive. Soil is composed of different ratios of sand, clay, and silt particles. Most soil types contain all three of these components in different percentages.
Sand is the largest soil particle, clay is the smallest, while silt stays in the middle. Clay soil consists of very fine, small particles that adhere closely, allowing a limited amount of water and air to pass through. This quality makes clay soil heavy and leads to poor drainage.
How to identify clay soil
Identifying clay soil is easy. First, it’s generally reddish-brown or dark brown in color. If you’ve observed water puddling up on the ground instead of seeping in, chances are you’ve got clay soil. Clay soil also tends to be sticky in texture, so it clings to your shoes or crusts and cracks when the weather is dry.
If you are unsure whether your soil is clay or not purchase a soil testing kit. You can find them at most garden centers or contact your local cooperative extension. A soil test from a garden center will give you immediate results. However, sending your soil to your local cooperative extension lab will provide the most accurate and comprehensive results.
Benefits of clay soil
- Clay retains water really well, which makes it drought-resistant and also allows plants to extend deeper, thicker, and stronger roots.
- Clay soil is rich in nutrients. Just like water, nutrients get plenty of closely packed soil particles to bond onto and stay available for plants for a longer period. This quality comes in handy during dry spells.
- Sticky clay soil can attract minerals such as ammonium, potassium, calcium, and magnesium.
- Clay is heavy and immovable, which means it’s great at resisting wind and water erosion which saves the soil from low nutrient density and mass depletion.
Disadvantages of clay soil
- Clay tends to get extremely hard and crack when it gets dry.
- One of the tricky things about clay soil is that it has a limited air-holding capacity. This makes it difficult for some plants to grow as the roots cannot absorb sufficient water and nutrients due to restricted airflow.
- Clay is dense and makes it harder for plant roots to thread through the soil for proper growth.
- Clay soil tends to be alkaline and susceptible to frost heave in winter.
Why is it hard to work with clay soil?
Clay is great at holding in moisture due to its closely packed, tiny particles, but it’s difficult to grow plants because it gets dense and sticky. Some other reasons why it’s tough to grow plants in clay soil include:
- Clay soil gets waterlogged easily and stays wet in rainy weather. The moisture-retaining quality of clay soil also leads to poor drainage and impermeability.
- The moisture trapped by clay drowns roots and leads to poor plant growth during the rainy season.
- Clay tends to get compacted and hard when it isn’t waterlogged or heavy. You’ll see a crust atop clay in the spring, which can make it hard for new seeds to sprout. Dry and tightly packed clay can even bend or break tools.
- It is hard to till or break apart clay because of its high density. Maneuvering and setting up a garden with pots of clay soil plants can be challenging.
How to improve clay soil
The most critical issue with clay soil is poor drainage. This can lead to a variety of problems, but it’s still solvable. When you “improve” clay soil, you’re simply making it easier to work with. This includes gradually introducing substances that enhance the fertility, texture, and drainage of the soil.
Here are a few ways to improve your clay soil:
- Add organic matter to your clay. Leaf mold, compost, rotted bark chips, and coarse grit are some great options for it. Dig the soil and incorporate lots of bulky organic matter but be careful not to put too much tree bark or wood chippings. This is because the kind of bacteria needed to break down wood can deplete the soil of nitrogen. Lawn Love has an excellent guide on amendments for clay soil that can help.
- Add thick layers of mulch if your garden is already established and it’s not possible to dig over it. A layer of mulch like leaf mold and compost in the summer helps to retain moisture and prevents the usual cracking and drying of clay. It will reduce compaction, increase aeration, and also improve overall soil structure and quality.
- Add gypsum to clump the soil together and increase drainage. It also will make clay soil easier to work with.
- Plant cover crops that will naturally add organic matter to the soil when they drop their leaves. This automatically loosens the soil with the gradual release of microorganisms and plant nutrients.
FAQ about clay soil
Is clay soil more prone to disease than other soil types?
Yes, clay soil has the highest risk of disease. The higher the clay content in the soil, the greater the risk. This is because clay soil has closely sitting particles with less space for air and water to flush toxins and disease-causing bacteria through naturally. It also stays moist for long periods and creates a favorable environment for such problematic organisms.
How do you break up clay soil for gardening?
If you want to naturally break clay soil without digging, the simplest way is to spread 4-6 inches of rotted hay or straw. Allow it to sit on top of the clay soil for a year or so and see it slowly breaking.
Can’t I just add sand to improve clay soil?
Since the opposite of clay is sand it may seem like it would make sense to just add some sand to improve your clay soil, but this is not what you should do. Adding sand directly to clay creates more of a concrete-type soil mixture. Amend your soil with compost and other organic materials only.
Ready to work with your clay soil rather than against it?
Despite its reputation of being back-breaking and impossible to work with, clay soil can create a beautiful and full garden if you choose the right plants for it.
If you need any help setting up a clay soil garden, you can always reach out to our lawn love pros.
Main photo credit: fotomem | Canva Pro | License
