On the Fringe: Gardening and Landscaping with Marginal Plants

By J. A. Young

Whether you have a water garden or simply live in a watery local, marginal plants are ideal for water-logged or boggy areas that can be difficult to landscape with other types of plants. Because marginal plants are excellent adapters, they can often become aggressive calling for extra maintenance. The subsequent text offers strategies for working with marginal plants in your landscape and garden.

Marginal plants are the specimens that grow near rivers or streams, lakes and ponds. This water-loving group includes a wide array of plants in many colors and shapes. From interesting patterns of variegated foliage to spectacular blooms, marginal plants are ideal given the right location in your garden. Frequently, these plants may be directly planted in the mud of a bank, but for easier maintenance, a plastic basket can be placed in the soil as well. As such locations generally boast rich soil, these plants typically thrive.

While many marginal plants are showy, like many types of iris, they not only add visual appeal to the landscape, but they serve to soften and "naturalize" garden features like man-made ponds and pools. They may serve to hide a pump or a pond liner for instance. They simply bridge the gap between land and water so the change from one feature to another is not merely abrupt, but rather, softened by the appearance of a plant suited to the margin or fringe between the two.

Whether you are landscaping a large pond or a small backyard pool, using marginal plants are ideal to work with in these settings. Consider various shapes - spikes, pluming reeds, intricate ferns - not only will these provide definition for an important landscape feature, they will serve to make your special feature all the more singular. And, with the vast array of colors, you may also plant to have color throughout the growing season as you would in any other flowerbed for instance.

Choosing specific plants will result in a parade of choices - in other words, great fun. However, take care to choose plants that are right for the exact positioning you need them for. For instance, many bog-loving grasses and sedges can be invasive - perhaps too aggressive for a small pond. If you don't want to spend your weekends cutting these plants back for the health and well-being of your pond, than you will need to choose less-invasive varieties.

A great low-maintenance trick to working with aggressive species of marginal plants is to use containers. Some containers, such as the plastic baskets can be placed directly into the mud shelf along the water's edge, or find attractive stone or clay planters to place near the feature. Water features require considerable maintenance and they can quickly become messes when plants threaten to take over. Choose plants suitable for your location and maintenance level.

While there is a wide array of stunning choices in marginal plants to choose from, consider some of the following choices as good all-around plants for watery locations: water forget-me-nots, iris, yellow skunk cabbage, golden club, Bowles golden sedge, American water mint, sweet flag, cotton grass and more.