But in a wetland, the pockets in the soil are filled with water, so wetland plants have adaptations to help them get oxygen. Some wetland plants have special air pockets inside their stems called aerenchyma that allow oxygen to flow down into their roots.

Aquatic plants found in a marsh include duckweeds, lilypads, cattails, bulrushes, reeds, pondweeds, and arrowheads. Water-loving shrubs and trees include willows, slash pine, sugarberry, sabal palm, buttonbush, and saw palmetto.

Bulrushes and cattails are often found at the edges of a marsh. There are very few trees in freshwater marshes. Animals like mink, raccoons, opossums, muskrats, beavers, frogs, turtles and lots of species of birds and insects are common in marsh lands.

Cattails (Typha) and common reeds (Phragmites) are familiar swamp species around the world. Papyrus, a sedge, is widespread in the tropics. Bald cypress is an example of a tree adapted to growth in swamps, but gums, willows, alders, and maples are also common. Tropical swamps have many tree species including palms.

Freshwater marshes are usually dominated by herbaceous (nonwoody) emergent plants such as cattails, papyrus, reeds, rushes, sedges, and grasses.

The Florida Everglades represent the largest contiguous freshwater marsh in the entire world. This immense marsh covers 4,200 square miles (11,000 km2) and is located in the southern tip of Florida.

Avoid Drowning Be aware that you can drown in a swamp, marsh, or bog as easily as in any other body of water, even if it’s shallow. This is because of the soft nature of the bio-silt beneath these water formations, which can add many more feet to the depth if you sink into it.

Animals like white-tailed deer, minks, raccoons, pileated woodpeckers, purple gallinules, egrets, herons, alligators, frogs, turtles, and snakes are often found in cypress swamps.

MARSH. Swampy area. MIRE. Swampy area, for short.

Swamps are predominantly forested, while marshes have few if any trees but are home to grasses and herbaceous plants, including annuals, perennials and biennials, according to National Geographic. There are three kinds of marshes: tidal freshwater marshes, tidal saltwater marshes and inland freshwater marshes.

It is certainly possible to build on your land and create a structurally sound, beautiful home in wet soil. Many homeowners before you have done it! Budget for soil amendment. Building on marsh lands can be more costly than you might assume, largely because you must first have the soil amended and strengthened.

Our top 6 plants for wet soils:

• Liquidambar styraciflua.
• Cornus alba.
• Hydrangea paniculata.
• Phyllostachys.
• Hosta.
• Zantedeschia aethiopica.

Organic Material (Compost or Manure) Organic material is the most common and well-known additive to improve soil drainage. Soil drains better when it contains more organic material, such as compost, manure, and mulch. Good compost is worth its weight in gold – well, at least in your garden.

Shrubs

• Red chokeberry, Aronia arbutifolia 4-9.
• Black chokeberry, Aronia melanocarpa 3-8.
• Sweetshrub, Calycanthus floridus 4-9.
• Button Bush, Cephalanthus occidentalis 6-9.
• Summersweet, Clethra alnifolia 4-9.
• Siberian dogwood, Cornus alba ‘Sibirica’ 3-7.
• Silky dogwood, Cornus amomum 4-8.
• Gray dogwood, Cornus racemosa 3-8.

14 Plants That Thrive in Clay Soil

• Iris. Iris species, including Japanese, Louisiana, bearded and more, tend to perform very well on heavy soil.
• Miscanthus. Ornamental grasses do very well in clay.
• Heuchera.
• Baptisia.
• Platycodon.
• Hosta.
• Aster.
• Rudbeckia.

Dawn redwood, American larch and bald cypress all will grow in wet soil, but although they look like what most people call “evergreens,” they’re actually needled conifers that drop their needles in fall. So for screening, they wouldn’t help you in winter.

Holly Evergreens for Wet Soil grow well in full to part sun and moist conditions. With more than 400 species, hollies are available as trees, climbers or evergreen shrubs.