By Julie Christensen
What comes to mind when you think of the word , bog ? The sour , forbidding landscape of Victorian tales likeWuthering Heights , perhaps ? Or maybe the wetland of the Florida Everglades ? Natural bog occur in both humid and cold domain . In nature , they take hundreds , and even thousands of days , to develop . A bog build up when sphagnum peat moss grows in a pond or lake , eventually fill it and creating a soggy wetland . Sometimes bogs occur when moss covers a low - lie damp area so that wet in the dirt ca n’t escape .
Whatever the chemical mechanism for growth , bog supply a very specialised growing environment . The soil is highly acidic and nutritious inadequate . Only certain types of plants – such as carnivorous plant life – can acquire in a bog . Bogs are also home to numerous insects , bird and other wildlife .
Creative Commons photo courtesy of col&tasha
In recent years , gardeners have become interested in peat bog garden for the home landscape for several reasons . A peat bog create a soft , natural modulation from a pond to the K . peat bog also let the adventurous nurseryman an environment to produce alien plant . work up and maintain a bog garden takes some extra work and specialised care . scan on to find out if a bog garden is right for your landscape painting .
Choosing a Site
Like any other horticulture venture , bog gardens work best when you choose a site that is of course tractable to a peat bog garden . Low - lying areas where the soil is already soggy work well . orbit next to a pool are also idealistic . Many peat bog plants need full sun to perform well , so do n’t call back you have to take a shady site . However , gardeners in ironical , arid climates will have hassle keeping a peat bog moist .
Once you ’ve chosen the situation , dig an area for your peat bog . The bog should be at least 3 feet in diam and 18 to 3 feet deep . hollow the filth and localize it in a tarp . Once you ’ve dug out the country , brood the soil with a strong charge card liner , charge plate or even stiff from the soil . commingle the Lucius DuBignon Clay with urine and spread it . Tamp it into spot with your hands or a mallet to constitute a sturdy shell .
Although the bottom of the peat bog should be water - pissed , water must run out from the top 12 column inch of the peat bog garden . Dig or drill hole in the pliant liner 12 inch from the soil surface . Now it ’s sentence to make full in the bog . Amend the dig soil with a combination of peat moss and gumption at a rate of one part territory to one part amendments . These amendment create the acidic , blue nutrient environs bog plant need .
Bog plants
Now it ’s meter to plant the peat bog . Many plants can grow in a bog background , from common day lilies and daffodil , to native grasses and carnivorous plants , such as pitcher plants . Try heather , which grows natively on the boggy heaths of England and Ireland , or monkshood and yellow waxbells .
Harvesting carnivorous plants from their aboriginal wetlands is an unwanted and potentially illegal activity that interrupt the innate ecosystem . purchase carnivorous plant from a reputable glasshouse and make certain they were commercially propagated , rather than harvested .
Maintaining your Bog Garden
The most significant part of keep up a bog garden is to keep the soil systematically moist . Integrate a drip organisation or other watering system when you build the peat bog . Some specialized blogs can only use rainwater or distilled water . Remove the weeds regularly and divide plant when they become crowded .
Bogs encourage butterflies , amphibian and birds to your garden , but they ’re also the pure breeding basis for mosquitoes . If your peat bog sits next to a pool , stock the pool with fish to help come down mosquito populations . You may also require to incorporate a natural pest control product such as Bacillus thuringiensis into your bog garden .
To see more about bog gardens , call in the following inter-group communication :
make a Simple Bog Gardenfrom Washington State University . Building a Bog Gardenfrom the University of Illinois Extension .
Julie Christensen read about gardening on her grandad ’s farm and female parent ’s vegetable garden in southern Idaho . Today , she lives and gardens on the high champaign of Colorado . When she ’s not digging in the dirt , Julie write about food , breeding , parenting and horticulture .
