Get Bogged Down - Defining Your Bog Garden

A bog garden can be an exciting and beautiful way to landscape the outside of your home. Many different kinds of bog gardens exist. This guide will help you do a simple method used by Botanique Nursery. You will want to find a few good marsh plants for your garden. Almost any plant that loves moisture can be used in your garden. These plants can be found at the out skirts of streams and ponds. Some of these plants may even be found with six or more inches of water covering them. In fact, all plants that grow in shallow water can also be used in your bog garden. Make sure you don't overcrowd the plants.

Next, try and group together three to five plants of the same kind, leave a space and then plant another clump of different color type, and height of plants. The different colors and heights of different plants will be very beautiful. These different plants tend to become surfeited by a clump of the same size, form and color plants. The marsh plants that are selected will depend on the layout and size of your garden. The natural surroundings of your garden must also be considered in the construction of a bog garden. If the area is closed, more variety and beauty can be obtained by using small growing species. However, if you have a vast area, try using free-growing plants. These free-growing plants are invaluable to its surroundings. However, it is always necessary to keep in mind that the size in which these plants will grow to in two to five and then arrange them by those measurements.

Site Selection

Make sure to choose a sunny spot that gets at least five hours of full, direct sunlight. The path, also called the main viewing area, should begin from the south side of your garden. Try and use garden hose or rope to make an outline of your bog garden. However, leave a six to eight foot spaces on the north side if you plan on using large background plants such as Iris pseudacorus, Hibiscus coccineus, etc. The larger plants must not shade out your bog garden. These gardens can also be put along the edge of a water garden. This design is especially good for hardy Sundews (Drosera), Pitcher Plants (Sarracenia), and the Venus's Flytrap (Dionaea), is made for outdoor use in USDA zones six and warmer. Some other examples of plants that enjoy this system are Bog Buttons (Marshallia), Lobelia, Orange Milkwort (Polygala lutea), hardy bog orchids (Calopogon, Pogonia, and others), Bog Gentians, and many more bog plants. Cranberries are not recommended because they grow too aggressively.

Preparing the Bog

Make sure to dog the outlined bog to a depth of twelve to fourteen inches. Also, remove the soil to form a basin. The bottom of it should be as flat as possible or slightly pitched. The sides should go mostly straight down.

If you have moles or tunneling rodents in your soil, make sure you line the basin with galvanized hardware cloth, screening, or heavy, woven weed cloth/barrier. Make sure to use rot and rust resistant materials.

Now, line the bottom and sides of the basin with four to six mil plastic sheeting, but put this on top of the rodent barrier. Try and leave plenty of excess plastic along the edges. This can be trimmed away after the bog garden is filled and it has settled. Cut many ten-inch slits in the liner base, every foot or so. By doing this you is allowing the bog to drain, while the liner still holds most of the moisture in the bog.

Add two to three inches of moist sand to the bottom of the bog. Coarse sands are the best to use in bog gardens. However, do not use beach sand.

Now, fill the rest of the basin with one part sand plus three parts peat moss, dampened and mixed well. Tap the mixture in place to reduce the settling of the mixture. The bog should be filled until it is about one inch below surrounding soil.

The materials that are lining the bog can be trimmed as needed. However, it is best to leave about twelve inches of liner/animal guard exposed just incase the bog settles further. The extra liner/animal guard can be hidden with mulch, rocks, pine needles, etc.

Planting

Make sure to place taller plants to the north said and the smaller plants closer to your path. As long as the smaller plants don't get too much shading, these can even be put between the taller plants. Avoid salt-water accents. These accents contain harmful minerals. Do not use basic rocks or limestone. If you are prepared to manage it, Sphagnum moss, can be used as ground cover.

Care

Continuous moisture is not needed, but make sure the soil mix doesn't dry out either. We would recommend soaker hoses.  These hoses should be buried three inches deep and about two feet apart. You can also hand water them. Depending on your weather, watering them every five days is what is best. A mulch of six inches deep of oak leaves or pine needles is wise in zone six and the colder part of zone seven. If the plants are pushed out by ice, replant immediately. The dead leaves can be trimmed down to about two inches above the soil. Do not fertilize these plants. Enjoy your bog garden.