Wet yard & flood-prone garden guide

Official lookups, rainfall by state, and native plants rated tolerant of saturated soil by USDA. Checked 2026-10-14.

Your soil, water and flood risk

• Soil type: look up your yard in the official USDA NRCS Web Soil Survey (texture, drainage class, flooding/ponding frequency).
• Flood zone: check the official FEMA Flood Map Service Center.
• Soil test: before amending, get a lab soil test through your state Extension (e.g. Virginia Cooperative Extension Gardener Handbook, ch. 2: sample 10+ spots to 6 inches; test every 3–4 years).
• Raised beds / amendments: University of Maryland Extension recommends filling raised beds with compost and topsoil at 1:2 or 1:1 (or compost and soilless mix 1:1) and a pH of 6.2–6.8 for most garden plants (UMD: Soil to Fill Raised Beds). Extension guidance warns against adding sand alone to clay; work in organic matter instead.

Rain garden plant lists from Extension

• Virginia Cooperative Extension: Rain Garden Plants (426-043)
• Penn State Extension: Rain Garden Resources (plants by moisture zone)
• UConn CT NEMO: Rain Garden Plant Database
• UNH Extension: Native Plants for New England Rain Gardens (base/slope/berm zones)

Wet-soil tolerant natives in our swap lists

“Wet-soil tolerance” = USDA PLANTS anaerobic tolerance (ability to survive saturated soil). Native range varies; see each state swap page.