Best Plants for Clay Soil

How To Idenitfy and Understand Your Soil Type

Knowing what type of soil you have in your garden is very useful for determining what plants will naturally thrive there, or which amendments you might want to add. Soil is made up of clay, sand, and silt particles. Most soils have a percentage of all three components, but the ratio of each is what determines your soil type. Clay is the smallest soil particle and sand is the largest, with silt being in between the two. 

The Benefits of Gardening in Clay Soil

1. First, your clay soil has great water-holding capacity. Because clay is the smallest particle, the pore spaces in the soil are tiny; therefore, water filters through very slowly and has a lot of surface area to “grab” onto.
2. Second, clay soil has a high nutrient holding capacity. Like the water, nutrients have a lot of surface area to bond and hold onto, making themselves available for plant uptake.

The Challenges of Gardening in Clay Soil

1. Some difficulties of clay soil include its very little air-holding capacity. This can make it difficult for roots to grow through and maneuver within it.
2. Clay soil also has a tendency of getting very hard and cracking when it does dry out. 

While dealing with clay soil can be difficult at times, it can provide a basis for a nutrient rich garden. Turning in organic matter helps aerate the soil, and this is something you can continue to do over time. Another recommendation is to avoid working in your clay soil right when it is very wet, as it will compact very easily and destroy the soil structure. As you add plants that naturalize and spread, their root systems can also help to improve your soil structure

Learn More: How To Identify Your Soil Type and Improve Garden Soil

The Best Plants To Grow In Clay Soil

Aster – Zone 3-9
Asters are easy to grow perennial plants that take care of themselves all summer long. Their vigorous blooms appear later in the season, right when other flowers begin to fade. A surefire way of adding great fall color for years to come, Asters' gorgeous flowers will stay true and strong until hard frosts set in. This also makes them a popular and dependable food source for Monarch butterflies, bees, and other beneficial insects and pollinators.

Astilbe – Zone 3-9
Astilbes are extremely easy to grow and dependable for your shade or part-shade garden. Their textural plumes are available in a range of colors, including pinks, whites, purples, and reds. ‘Deutschland’ provides striking white plumes to brighten up a shady area mid to late summer. 

Bearded Iris (Iris germanica) – Zone 3-9
Coming in nearly every color you can imagine, bearded irises are a garden favorite! They require very little attention and have no problem competing for their place in the garden. The rhizomes multiply fairly quickly, so it is helpful to divide the plants every few years to avoid overcrowding and spread your iris collection. Many bearded irises are reblooming, so you can enjoy their color both in late spring and in early to mid fall.

Best Plants for Clay Soil in Full Sun

While browsing perennials, use our helpful filters to find the right plants for your garden:
Light Requirments: Full Sun
Soil Type: Clay

• Aster (Symphyotrichum) – Zone 4-8
• Bearded Iris (Iris germanica) – Zone 3-9
• Bee Balm (Monarda) – Zone 4-8
• Black Eyed Susan (Rudbeckia) – Zone 4-9
• Butterfly Bush (Buddleia davidii) – Zone 5-9
• Daylily (Hemerocallis) – Zone 3-9
• Echinacea (Echinacea purpurea) – Zone 3-9
• Helenium (Helenium) – Zone 4-8
• Joe Pye Weed (Eupatorium) – Zone 4-8
• Liatris (Liatris) – Zone 4-8
• Phlox (Phlox) – Zone 4-8
• Sedum (Sedum) – Zone 3-9
• Viburnum (Viburnum plicatum) – Zone 5-8

Best Plants for Clay Soil: Shade

Your shade garden will burst with different textures and colors with these shade-loving perennials! While browsing perennials, use our helpful filters to find the right plants for your garden:
Light Requirments: Full Shade, Half Sun / Half Shade
Soil Type: Clay

• Astilbe (Astilbe japonica) – Zone 3-8
• Blue Cardinal Flower (Lobelia siphilitica) – Zone 3-9
• Hepatica (Hepatica acutiloba) – Zone 3-7
• Hosta (Hosta) – Zone 3-9
• Indian Pink (Spigelia marilandica) – Zone 6-9

Best Plants for Clay Soil: Hot, Dry Areas

• Black Eyed Susan (Rudbeckia) – Zone 4-9
• Daylily (Hemerocallis) – Zone 3-9
• Echinacea (Echinacea purpurea) – Zone 3-9
• Phlox (Phlox) – Zone 4-8
• Sedum (Sedum) – Zone 3-9

Best Plants for Clay Soil: Hot, Humid Areas

• Aster (Symphyotrichum) – Zone 4-8
• Bearded Iris (Iris germanica) – Zone 3-9
• Bee Balm (Monarda) – Zone 4-8
• Butterfly Bush (Buddleia davidii) – Zone 5-9
• Daylily (Hemerocallis) – Zone 3-9
• Echinacea (Echinacea purpurea) – Zone 3-9
• Sedum (Sedum) – Zone 3-9

Best Plants for Clay Soil: Attract Pollinators and Hummingbirds

While browsing perennials, use our helpful filters to find the right plants for your garden:
Soil Type: Clay
Advantages: Attracts Butterflies, Attracts Hummiingbirds, or Bee Friendly

• Aster (Symphyotrichum) – Zone 4-8
• Bee Balm (Monarda) – Zone 4-8
• Black Eyed Susan (Rudbeckia) – Zone 4-9
• Butterfly Bush (Buddleia davidii) – Zone 5-9
• Cardinal Flower (Lobelia cardinalis) – Zone 3-9
• Daylily (Hemerocallis) – Zone 3-9
• Echinacea (Echinacea purpurea) – Zone 3-9
• Helenium (Helenium) – Zone 4-8
• Indian Pink (Spigelia marilandica) – Zone 6-9
• Joe Pye Weed (Eupatorium) – Zone 4-8
• Phlox (Phlox) – Zone 4-8

Best Plants for Clay Soil: Repel Deer, Rabbits, and Other Critters

While browsing perennials, use our helpful filters to find the right plants for your garden:
Soil Type: Clay
Advantages: Deer Resistant, or Rabbit Resistant

• Astilbe (Astilbe japonica) – Zone 3-8
• Bearded Iris (Iris germanica) – Zone 3-9
• Bee Balm (Monarda) – Zone 4-8
• Black Eyed Susan (Rudbeckia) – Zone 4-9
• Butterfly Bush (Buddleia davidii) – Zone 5-9
• Cardinal Flower (Lobelia cardinalis) – Zone 3-9
• Echinacea (Echinacea purpurea) – Zone 3-9
• Helenium (Helenium) – Zone 4-8
• Hepatica (Hepatica acutiloba) – Zone 3-7
• Joe Pye Weed (Eupatorium) – Zone 4-8

Getting a Full Season of Blooms in the Clay Soil Garden

To get a full season of color in your clay soil garden, plant flowers with a range of bloom times!

Plant early spring bloomers, such as Bearded Irises, Hepatica, and Creeping Phlox. This early spring display would then be joined with late spring to early summer blooming Indian Pink, Daylilies, Butterfly Bush, Helenium, and Echinacea.

For your shady garden, Hostas and Astilbes will give you a bright bloom in the early summer. The peak of summer would continue to add color from tall Panicle Plox, Black Eyed Susans, Blue and Red Cardinal Flower, and Bee Balm. With the end of summer comes the color of Sedum and Asters, which transition your garden to its autumn stage. Here, your summer garden is joined with more Bearded Iris (if you have reblooming varieties) and Liatris for your shade garden.The persistent blooms of Helenium and Echinacea will last through the cooling temperatures of late fall.

A garden filled with these clay loving plants will give you a colorful cottage-like garden that fills out more and more every year!

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