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Everett’s California Fuchhia is an example of a plant that doesn't like to have wet feet, meaning roots sitting in water. Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Plants With Wet Feet and Dry Feet

Plants and people have similar likes and dislikes when it comes to their feet.  

Of course, plants don’t literally have the kind of feet that take them on a stroll, but a plant’s roots are often referred to as “feet.” Just like most people enjoy a walk along the beach or wading in a pool on a hot day, plants like – and need – water on their roots to thrive.  

And just like people don’t like soggy feet in wet socks, plants don’t generally thrive with their roots in standing water. Horticulturists refer to plant roots in soggy soil as “wet feet.” Conversely, plants that can thrive without much water on their roots are said to have “dry feet.”

Excessive moisture at the roots can cause rot and other diseases; very few plants grow in wet areas. While that isn’t a common problem in the arid Southwest, plants can end up in standing water in poorly drained (or over-irrigated) areas of landscaping.  

That means it’s important to match landscaping plants to the environment of their feet.  

Five recommended plants compatible with wet feet 

The California Native Iris (Iris douglasiaria) is a plant that doesn't mind having "wet feet," or damp roots. Photo: Wikimedia Commons wet feet

The California Native Iris (Iris douglasiaria) is a plant that doesn’t mind having “wet feet,” or damp roots. Photo: Wikimedia Commons

  • Coyote Mint (Mondarella villosa) 
  • California Gray Rush (Junous patens) 
  • Joaquin Sunflower (Bidena laevis) 
  • Deer Grass (Muhlenbergia rigens) 
  • California Native Iris (Iris douglasiaria) 

Five recommended plants incompatible with wet feet  

Everett’s California Fuchhia is an example of a plant that doesn't like to have wet feet, meaning roots sitting in water. Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Everett’s California Fuchhia is an example of a plant that doesn’t like to have wet feet, meaning roots sitting in water. Photo: Wikimedia Commons

  • Bluff California Lilac (Ceanothus maritmus) 
  • Everett’s California Fuschia (Epilobium canum) 
  • Sunset Manzanita (Arctostaphylos Sunset) 
  • Hairy Awn Muhly (Muhlerbergia capillans) 
  • Blonde Ambition Blue Grama (Boutelous gracilis)

Get advice from the local garden center or horticulturalists familiar with your area for other good choices.   

 

This article was inspired by the 71-page Sustainable Landscapes Program guidebook available at SustainableLandscapesSD.org. The Water Authority and its partners also offer other great resources for landscaping upgrades, including free WaterSmart classes at WaterSmartSD.org.    

 

 

  

Plants With Wet Feet And Dry Feet

Plants and people have similar likes and dislikes when it comes to their feet. Of course, plants don’t literally have the kind of feet that take them on a stroll, but a plant’s roots are often referred to as “feet.” Just like most people enjoy a walk along the beach or wading in a pool on a hot day, plants like – and need – water on their roots to thrive. And just like people don’t like soggy feet in wet socks, plants don’t generally thrive with their roots in standing water. Horticulturists refer to plant roots in soggy soil as “wet feet.” Conversely, plants that can thrive without much water on their roots are said to have “dry feet.”

Farmers Keep Majority On Coachella Valley Water District Board As John Powell Jr. Defeats Ed Muzik

The Coachella Valley’s largest water agency will still have three farmers on its five-member board next year, as Peter Rabbit Farms CEO John Powell Jr. won re-election over Ed Muzik, general manager of the Hi-Desert Water District in Yucca Valley. Powell is one of several incumbents who won re-election to local water boards Tuesday. At Coachella Valley Water District, where Powell has served as board president since 2012, G. Patrick O’Dowd was also re-elected. So were three members of the Desert Water Agency’s board of directors, Jim Cioffi, Patricia Oygar and Joe Stuart.

Prop 3 Failed, So What’s Next For The Ailing Friant-Kern Canal?

Local water officials went back to the drawing board Wednesday, looking for a way to fund needed repairs to the Friant-Kern canal. The canal is damaged and requires an expensive project to repair. Farmers and water districts hoped voters would authorize the state to foot the bill by approving Proposition 3. They didn’t. The Friant-Kern is like a big water highway. It delivers water from Millerton Lake to farms all over the south valley. An Eyewitness News analysis found that the canal is directly involved in the production of approximately $2 billion of crops every year.

Prop. 3: California Water Projects Bond Measure Goes Down To Defeat

Backers mourned the loss of Proposition 3 on Wednesday, the nearly $9 billion bond measure that would have modernized old dams, restored tainted watersheds and created desalination plants, among dozens of other water projects throughout the state. Prop. 3 — backed by state water agencies, farming organizations, social justice advocates and environmentalists, but not the Sierra Club — lost by 52 to 48 percent, a difference of 320,000 votes out of nearly 7 million ballots cast.

Brown, Newsom Wade In To Delay Plan To Withhold Water From Cities, Farms

A river restoration plan that would restrict the water supplies of California cities and farms, including San Francisco, was put on hold Wednesday after Gov.-elect Gavin Newsom joined Gov. Jerry Brown in requesting more time for negotiations over the controversial initiative. The State Water Resources Control Board was scheduled to vote Wednesday on a years-long proposal to boost flows in the San Joaquin River and its tributaries, part of an effort to restore California’s declining salmon population and revive the languishing Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta.

Three Things To Know About Colorado River Plans In The Works

Water managers along the Colorado River are trying to figure out how to live with less. Climate change is growing the gap between the river’s supply, and the demands in the communities that rely on it, including seven western U.S. states and Mexico. The federal government recently released proposals called Drought Contingency Plans designed to keep the Colorado River’s biggest reservoirs from falling to levels where water is unable to be sent through the dams that hold up Lakes Powell and Mead.

Did Gas, Homeless People And Sick Kids Kill California’s Water Bond?

California voters on Tuesday rejected a water bond for the first time in almost 30 years, disregarding pleas from its backers that the money would fix crumbling infrastructure, bring clean drinking water to disadvantaged communities and kick-start badly needed environmental restoration projects. As of Thursday’s tally, 54 percent of voters had rejected the $8.9 billion Proposition 3 that promised funds to help repair Oroville Dam and aid Central Valley farmers facing groundwater problems, among a list of other expenditures.

Red Flag Fire Weather Warning Issued For San Diego County

A red flag fire weather warning will be in place across San Diego County, with the exception of the coast, from 10 a.m. Thursday afternoon to 10 p.m. Friday due to a combination of moderate Santa Ana winds, low humidity and warm temperatures. The National Weather Service says the winds will arrive out of the northeast and will blow 20 to 30 mph, with gusts to 30 to 40 mph, mostly across the region’s valleys and mountains. A few gusts could reach the 50 to 65 mph range, especially in the Alpine area.

State Board Again Delays Vote On Contentious River Plan

Under pressure from Gov. Jerry Brown’s administration, state regulators once again postponed a vote on a contentious plan to force San Francisco and several big San Joaquin Valley irrigation districts to give up some of their water supplies for environmental protection. On the eve of Wednesday’s scheduled vote, Brown and the man who will succeed him next year, Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, asked for a month’s delay and promised to get involved in ongoing settlement negotiations.