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[GrowerAndaShower]

Hey all, so as mentioned in my post about Emerald Ash Borers, my family recently purchased a wooded lot of land. There are a few spots with standing water in the late winter/spring, that dries up into muddy land through the summer. Nothing grows in these spots. They're in a fairly heavily wooded area, so not a ton of sun especially in the winter. Now, I know there are laws about messing with wetland, but I assume if something planted NEAR the wetland just HAPPENS to spread into the wetland, and isn't actually planted in the "declared wetland", we're not in trouble for messing with it. If I'm wrong, well, whatever, that's not the point of this post.

I'm wondering what food/medicinal plants, or plants that would just keep the skeeters away, might be able to grow in this environment. We're in zone 6, the ground is muddy and bare, and we'd like to make use of every available square foot(the eventual plan is a food forest).

Any advice on other plants to put in the rest of the forest would be great as well. We were thinking apple, pear, cherry, walnut, and maybe hazelnut trees; Some Raspberries, hardy kiwi, and blackberries underneath; and a few herbs scattered about along the margins.

Thanks all!

[Psylocke]

Sounds like it may be a good place for calamus. It is quite hardy and loves to have wet feet. I suspect that the strong citronella like smell may be good for chasing away the mosquitoes. Also medicinal according to some, but I can't handle the taste.

http://www.herbcraft.org/calamus.html