Poor Soil Plants - What can you get to grow?

Do you have areas of soil (dirt) that are dusty, crusty, and full of stone?

Do you have any patches of land that are practically inhospitable?

What are your favorite go-to plants to start growing in these areas? Who are your fearless pioneers?

Thank you in advance for sharing.

For my climate, black eyed susans make great pioneer plants. The seeds will establish anywhere! I have a couple plants growing through the cracks of the sidewalk currently.

(source)

Black Eyed Susan

How about dandelions? There is a reason there are memes about dandelions growing wherever :)

Dandelions and plantain (not the banana look alike) seem to come up in those sorts of areas near me.

This is a great idea of planting to improve soil.

Dynamic accumulators pull mineral out of the soil letting plants do all the work.  These are plants that are good candidates for chop and drop.

https://permies.com/t/19436/List-Dynamic-Accumulators

Some plants that actually build soil are legumes like clover and alfalfa.

Comfrey and dandelions are know for their deep roots that improve soil structure.

Sunflowers and marigolds (tagetes) are pretty and improve soil.

Here is a thread that explains how this works:

https://permies.com/t/123928/Growing-Plants-builds-soil-health

Ground covers can tell us lots of things about the soil underneath. For example, I have very acidic, low fertility utisol due to the upland snd high rainfall conditions. I don't have dandelion except by the gravel driveway and in rich garden area. In town, dandelions are abundant on lawns that are presumably limed or fertilized. Same with chicory, I only see them by the roadside received salt treatment during the winter. I even see them on the right side of the interstate ramp but not the left due to one way traffic. I have my share of locally adapted weeds too: plantains, Korean lespedeza, knotweeds, white clover etc. All are indicators of poor soil and have shallow roots. I figured out calcium, as well as a couple other elements are the most limiting factors of my soil fertility and amended accordingly with natural minerals.  I am seeing significant improvements and maybe next year I will finally have dandelion, comfrey and nettle thriving.

Nettles seem to grow everywhere - especially when not required . . .
Compacted soil seems to attract the growth of moss, but I don't know of any uses for that - perhaps others do?  Other than that, guessing I'm lucky with my soil.

I live on an old sawmill site.  All the topsoil had been removed leaving rocky clay soil.  Even grass does not get more than 2 inches tall and we get no summer rain to grow most soil building plants.  What is growing here to restore the soil is Queen Ann's Lace and chicory...  

Frank Cordeiro wrote:I live on an old sawmill site.  All the topsoil had been removed leaving rocky clay soil.  Even grass does not get more than 2 inches tall and we get no summer rain to grow most soil building plants.  What is growing here to restore the soil is Queen Ann's Lace and chicory...  

Does clover grow in your region?

Any chop and drop plants will help build soil.

Fall leaves and wood chips help build soil and so does mushrooms.

I have the following on my tile bed which was wavy 20 years ago but is now plush enough that the doe comes with her newborn to sleep for a day or two

Stinging nettles
Bulk mustard seeds from the spice aisle
Sow thistle (Sonchus oleraceus)
Dandelions of course
Monarda didyma (red bee balm -- 3-4' high, hummingbird)
Echinacea and black eyed susan relative
Lemon balm
Agastache
Oats
White and red clover, heal-all
Plantain
Wild carrots
Buckwheat
Wild oregano
Smudging sage

And around the base of my red pine I have added kitchen  compost and the following:
Currants
Wild gooseberry
High bush cranberry
Rubris family:
Thimbleberry
Red and black raspberries
Hardy roses
Wild strawberry

Other:
Compacted gravel: common mallow and Jerusalem artichoke
Thimbleberry if started from seeds / berries takes a few years to establish
Hydrangea (needs shading and plenty of water for the first year)

Also monarch favorites:
Wild cherry
Butterfly weed

Many things struggle to grow in my thin, rocky Cape Breton soil. I seeded daikon/tillage radishes everywhere but the roots don't get very big here. It has reseeded and occasionally I find a big root, in with the gazillion seed pods... (progress?) Lupines seem to grow everywhere here. They're invasive but at least they're pretty and I've read they help to concentrate calcium in the soil. (I guess I should put them in my garden because my tomatoes have blossom end rot.) Sunflowers seem to do okay and they are supposed to improve soil, so I let them go wherever they come up. I've been putting down wood chips and hoping they will gradually enrich the dust. No good answers but I thought I'd commiserate.

Of course it is going to depend on the conditions right there. Sodden or dry alkaline or acid sand or clay. As always, it depends!

Mustard family do pretty well in poor soil. Any one of 100s of brassicas. Arugula and radishes in particular have been good for me the daikon radishes. I also like comfrey., And the legumes people have mentioned. I am pretty fond of plantain as well. I don’t know that I have had success from it, but I plant Dutch white clover. I ordered a huge bag of seeds years ago from great basin seeds. They have seeds adapted to alkaline soil.

I guess a clue which direction to head would be to look at what weeds are growing there. That might tell you something about the existing soil conditions, and hint at what would be the next stage in soil succession.

When I am trying to start a new patch of “proto” soil, I usually scratch the surface throw out some seeds cover with a soil conditioner. My choice is the happy frog brand. I believe it carries soil microorganisms in its organic matter. Then I put some straw over the top of that to protect things then if I have water available, I water it.

Another place to look for good candidates would be the native plants of the region. Not the ones growing on rich developed prairie or forest soil, the stuff growing in abandoned places and disturbed soil.

Jamaican callaloo Amaranth, desert wormwood artemisia (silvery grey), white dutch clover, black medic (leguminaceae family), mullein, oregano

Here's the next one I want to try:


https://www.terahgardens.com/2025/02/08/elementor-5626/

Perennial Peanut (Arachis glabrata)
Drought-tolerant – Once established, it rarely needs watering.
Weed-suppressing – Forms a thick mat, shading out weeds.
Bright yellow blooms – Adds a pop of color year-round.
No mowing required!
Perennial peanut is a stunning, low-growing ground cover that thrives in Florida’s heat. It’s a legume, which means it fixes nitrogen into the soil, making it an excellent choice for improving soil fertility. It’s often used as a no-mow lawn alternative or as a living mulch under fruit trees.

https://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/2765/
if edible qualities are to be considered. The yellow flowers add a nutty flavor and crunchy texture to salads and stir fries
If a green cover is desired during the winter months in the northern portions of its range, overseeding with annual ryegrass will achieve the desired effect.
Weed control is important during the establishment period. Afterwards, the thick mat of foliage out-competes all but the toughest and most persistent weeds.
No invasive tendencies have been noted, probably because no seeds are produced that can be transported by birds or other wildlife.

Jill Dyer wrote:Nettles seem to grow everywhere - especially when not required . . .
Compacted soil seems to attract the growth of moss, but I don't know of any uses for that - perhaps others do?  Other than that, guessing I'm lucky with my soil.

Nettles are noted for indicating a rich soil.
I recall an ecology field trip - a sloping field on limestone. Grasses and various flowers. In the middle, a patch of nettles: they were around a flush (like a weak spring), so added nutrition.

Ian Tolhurst's farm (Tolhurst Organics) has reportedly increased its soil fertility. Lots of ramial woodchip and no-dig, while harvesting organic fruit and veg.

Plant trees and they'll dig down and raise the good minerals. Mix with some nitrogen fixers.

As for first crop, learn about local forageable wild plants. Wild chamomile (Matricaria recutita) makes a good tea, came up well on our sandy allotment.

Anthony Powell wrote:

Nettles are noted for indicating a rich soil.
.

Ah, probably why it took a few years of soil amendment before I finally started getting nettles! I figured my final success was luck or stubborn persistence.

They grow really well on my new compost hills before other plants other than squash really take hold. Also though, used as green compost they are fabulous for laying down like a raised bed row and growing that squash on top of essentially cardboard and pigeon poop compost hills. The compost might be rich, but unlikely to be a balanced mature microbiome but the nettles love it! I get my spring nettle first greens harvest and all those seeds in the mature lopped off 6-8' stalks seed more nettles the following year, even though the original plants are buried.

Many things struggle to grow in my thin, rocky Cape Breton soil. I seeded daikon/tillage radishes everywhere but the roots don't get very big here. It has reseeded and occasionally I find a big root, in with the gazillion seed pods... (progress?) Lupines seem to grow everywhere here. They're invasive but at least they're pretty and I've read they help to concentrate calcium in the soil.  

Elise, sundial lupin/lupinus perennis is native here in Maine and in Newfoundland so it might be native or almost native for Cape Breton. Pretty easy to grow from seed and it's a nitrogen fixer.

I had another thought:

3 sisters garden might be worth a try.  They’re the “original” companion planting.  Corn beans squash.  If nothing else, layer a few layers of what ever soil you have with cardboard, and what ever else you have that retains moisture and isn’t toxic or too “hot”.

You wouldn’t have to eat any of it the first year.  Just mound the vegetation, add some more of the problematic soil, and you’re ready for the next round!

I’ve been out on some bare compacted earth this afternoon, a prairie dog haven.  I’ve been using the auger on the tractor to drill post holes into what may be abandoned prairie dog holes.  I shudder to think what thistles and other annuals I will get if I don’t plant something.  Maybe I will do some 3 sisters even though there isn’t time to ripen anything.  It would be nice to have some thing growing in that space.  The hail and grasshoppers destroyed what I had planted earlier this year, leaving me wondering if it’s really summer, without a garden.

Buckthorn to get the nitrogen going

Anna Demb wrote:

Many things struggle to grow in my thin, rocky Cape Breton soil. I seeded daikon/tillage radishes everywhere but the roots don't get very big here. It has reseeded and occasionally I find a big root, in with the gazillion seed pods... (progress?) Lupines seem to grow everywhere here. They're invasive but at least they're pretty and I've read they help to concentrate calcium in the soil.  

Elise, sundial lupin/lupinus perennis is native here in Maine and in Newfoundland so it might be native or almost native for Cape Breton. Pretty easy to grow from seed and it's a nitrogen fixer.

Interesting -- lupins hate my acidic soil in my mixed forest on moraine in the gatineau mountains, but they like to grow near autoroutes (busy multilane intersections where there are gravel dumps)

My garden is totally built on poor soil. This is a region of sandy soil (with stones in it). And then the people living here before had everything paved with tiles and pavers, so there's that white sand on top of the original sandy soil.
I did not want to shovel all sand away and put in store-bought 'garden soil'. I decided to add organic matter from kitchen scraps, fallen leaves, etc. First thing I started was a compost heap.

That was many years ago. My soil is getting better and better now.

With what plants did I start on that poor soil? Sedums! You know the different species of Sedum for 'green roofs'? Those low growing ground covering succulents I put in my front yard. They don't mind if it's all sand and stones. Little by little I am planting other plants (perennials and shrubs) in the garden. But I keep the ground covered with the Sedums as much as possible.

My soil here is rocky and crumbly and seems to not go any deeper than 7 inches, which is weird but I've tested in different parts of the yard.  Rental house whose yard perhaps used to be parking lot.  Anyways the plants that I've found growing in the dirt here are:  different types of grass, dandylions, clover, mallow, a thistle which makes down and isn't thorny, and those tasty sour clovers, maybe their real name is sorrel?  Can't recall.  I like munching on them, and the type of "regular" clover that grew here is edible in its flowers, a tiny bit sweet.  And a weed which I don't know the name of but which reminds me of dandylions.  I tucked some mint into the soil and it is happy, so that's a start.  I'm mostly still growing in pots and containers, but hoping to graduate to raised beds soon.  But since there's more room here than previous locations I've got lots more plants now!