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Native wetland plants for brook side silt bank.
springer636
Posts: 10
in Plants
I recently uncovered a brook at the bottom of my garden which was hidden beneath dense overhanging holy as well as the canopy of several alders which have been removed. There's a long and fairly wide bed of silt running along part of it and I was wondering what sort of native wetland/bog etc plants I could put there to stop erosion and make it look better with emphasis being on it looking like its grown naturally rather than having been planted up. I'll probably get the plants as plugs since I've seen a few websites selling cheap native plug plants. Its been boggy all winter and I'm assuming nothing has grown in it before since it was in complete darkness. It will probably get more shaded as the cut down alders throw up new growth but the shade shouldn't be as dense as before. Pictures below.Thanks. 
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I'm with you anyway on this one as we're looking for plants for a very wet streamside bed. Some we've tried have died very quickly, some have thrived. The latter include Lesser Spearwort, Marsh Marigold and Bog Arum. And we discovered that Bugle seems quite happy in the wet and that should help stabilise banks.
I think I'd widen the brook a little and keep the alders cut back - nothing like running water to add interest to a garden.
Iris pseudacorus.
Instead you need things like water forget-me-not and Golden saxifrage (Chrysosplenium) and yes, watercress, that naturally grow by stream sides. They are low growing, help stabilise the silt and can cope with fluctuations in the water level. It may not be safe to eat the watercress however. It needs very clean water and there is a form of watersnail that can act as a host to liverfluke.
Other suitable wild plants include Ragged Robin (Lychnis flos-cuculi), lady's Smock (Cardamine pratense) and if you want to risk them, celandines, as well as the marsh marigolds. Almost all of these have various cultivated varieties, so I have a white ragged robin and marsh marigold, or you can have double flowers on the marigold, the cardamine or the celandine.
Some useful information on this site:
https://www.lilieswatergardens.co.uk/growing-pond-plants-shallow-muddy-margins-c-127_175.html
The other option, for me, is a sterile Gunnera manicata (if such a beast exists).
We have Purple Loosestrife too, and, like you, don't find it thuggish.
It's a plant that has presence and adds some much needed drama to a spot that's rather dull at that time of year.