Huron/Erie Lake Plains

The Huron and Erie Lake Plains are the flat former lakebed running around the western end of Lake Erie through Toledo, Detroit, and Sandusky. Much of this was the Great Black Swamp before it was drained for farmland, which is why the clay is so heavy, the ground so level, and water still stands after a storm. Natives such as Riddell’s goldenrod, prairie dock, and twinleaf came out of that wet prairie and fen habitat and handle the clay that defeats most foundation plantings.

Conditions: Heavy level clay over former lakebed, 30–36 inches of precipitation, slow drainage, cold winters and warm humid summers.

Cities and areas: Toledo, Detroit, Ann Arbor, Sandusky, Findlay, Monroe.