Plants for Clay Soil

Everything I plant in my clay soil withers away. What plants will grow well in these conditions?

Start by improving your soil. Adding organic matter such as compost, peat moss or aged manure will help improve the soil structure. Further improve the soil conditions by mulching with shredded leaves, evergreen needles and other organic materials. These suppress weeds, conserve moisture and improve the soil as they break down over time. Try some of our native plants that are good at tolerating and breaking through the clay soil. Purple coneflower, bee balm, switchgrass (Panicum), black-eyed Susans (Rudbeckia), gayfeather (Liatris), New England aster, Heliopsis and goldenrod are a few sun loving perennials that will get your garden off to a good start.