Anyone know any good trees that like very wet ground??
Hippyness
Posts: 21
Hi all, I bought my house in the autumn with 2 acres of woodland garden with it. The people before me have cut down a lot of the trees and made raised beds. These are ok but I would like to plant some more trees again to balance out the garden. The problem that I have is that my woodland area has a very high water table anyway and we on the Cumbrian / Scotland border which is not the driest place on this planet! When it has rained substantially, the water leaves pools everywhere on the grass, low beds etc and takes a long time to drain away. Another potential issue is that the woodland was bought separately after my house had been built and I suspect that there is about 3 houses worth of 'soak-away' from septic tanks also going into the ground adding to the already saturated soil. does anyone have any ideas of any nice / pretty / sturdy trees that I could plant that would help the water situation and that do not mind wet soil!! Any help gratefully received! Thanks 
Posts
alder, Taxodium distichum, swamp cypress, I don't know how hardy that is though, never grown it. Ash, hazel and willow grow with their feet in water through the winter here..
In the sticks near Peterborough
Swamp cypruss is not common up north. Present in South Scotland but absent further north, except for an example near Perth it seems. Should be hardy though requires warm summers for proper growth. This is a forest tree so give it space although you can expect only 20 to 30cm growth per year.
Thanks very much! If you think of any others - please let me know thanks!!
definitely willow. you can normally get them free, i did.
I'd go for willow too. It will suck up a substantial amount of water up, drying the ground out quicker in the spring following the winter floods. Once the willows are well established, maybe you could plant in other things as the area may not be so wet year round.
As others have said Willow is the one to go for There is an amazing selection to ponder, all sorts of heights and barks
Can you lower parts of the gardens to make drainage ponds and raise it in parts for plants that like good drainage? Trees will only soak up water in spring to early autumn and truly soak it up in high summer so landscaping is the way to go as Willows and the like can only do so much.
Oohh.. I can envision a selection of willow that is cut back every spring for amazing bark colors come winter. Almost like an area of perennial flowers.
Metasequioia Glyptostroboides.... go on look it up!!!
Trouble with Metasequoia is that like Taxodium it needs a hot summer to flourish. The Tamarack, a larch from eastern North America tolerates wet conditions in their climate, I dont know how it responds over here as it is not commonly planted . Although, alders and willows sound dull you can get varieties of them. With alders there are golden leaved and cutleaved varieties also weeping varities.