Need advice on choosing a shrub pls

Our back garden/lawn (rented house) is higher at the sides than in the middle. It makes the middle rather wet at times. Especially at this time of year. It gets sun in the morning, shady all afternoon and we're looking for a suitable shrub/small tree that we can put in the middle of the lawn to soak up the extra rain. Obviously in the summer it'll get drier, but it'll never get parched.
Something that grows no more than 6 foot with a 6 foot spread would be the maximum size really. Does anyone have any suggestions pls? TIA

 

Hi,

If you have the space a Eucalyptus will grow happily in wetter areas and readily soak up excess.

Its attractive when small but needs regular pruning as they grow fat and big if not careful.

Wet Soil Tolerant Eucalyptus Trees at eucalyptus-trees.co.uk

 

To add to Armando's list, also consider Philadelphus and Forsythia.

Another aspect of those dimensions is the growth habit. You need to think whether you want a Cousin It kind of thicket, a vase shaped cluster of stems, or a small standard tree. In the middle of a lawn, I'd suggest the latter two would be better, but YMMV.

 

thanks for the replies. We don't mind a bit of trimming. I just remembered it will be near the underground drain pipe, so would a shallower rooted plant be better? If so, what? TIA

 

Depending on the size of shrub, of course! If you pick something that's more like 4ft or so, the roots are less likely to make a nuisance of themselves. That said, a previous ex-council house had a 10ft forsythia growing out of a tiny bed on top of the main drain manhole, and that didn't seem to be a problem. Just not a tree, basically.