Ron Wood Posted October 7, 2006 Report Share Posted October 7, 2006 I am planning a complete overhall of my front garden. Everything is coming out and the area will be rotavated. I am then going to replant with several different areas one of which will be a bog garden. I am considering creating an island bed with small canal right round the outside to keep slugs and snails at bay. If anyone has built their own bog garden I would appreciate any tips or advice on both construction and planting. I have a reasonable selection of suitable plants but again would welcome any suggestions including ideas on possible companion plants to grow alongside the carnivores to add interest / colour. The only temperate pings I have are p grandiflora. I would be interested in any gemmae of other temperate species that might become available or spare plants ? If anyone has any to offer please e mail me.Also are there any terrestial utrics that could survive outdoors in the north east of England. Finally I should mention that the garden is south facing and reasonably sheltered. All suggestions will be gratefully received. Thanks, Ron Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loakesy Posted October 7, 2006 Report Share Posted October 7, 2006 I thought there was an FAQ for building bog-gardens, but I can't find one. I'm sure I've seen one somewhere! Anyone? I love bog gardens, mini-bigs etc, I'm just not sure I'd feel happy about having one on my fromt garden tho'! I'm in the process of building one on my allotment at the moment. I found an old bath that I'm using. It's full of peat/sand etc and I'm going to start planting it in the new year after the soil's had a chance to settle and sink as much as it's going to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cromp Posted October 7, 2006 Report Share Posted October 7, 2006 You may want to consult my website, about my own bog. I would strongly recommend you to make it as deep as possible (50 cm or more), and to put plastic containers (buckets, baskets, anything that will hold 5 litres or more) upside down in the pit. You can get plastic buckets for free at bakeries (they sell cream in them, at least over here). Drill holes in the top, so the air can escape. The containers will fill with rainwater and release it back to the peat (through capillary action) during the drier months, thus ensuring your bog stays wet in summer and eliminating the need to water it. Plus you will save a huge amount of peat: a layer of 10-15 cm on top will suffice for the roots. At the moment I’m building a 15 m² bog at a friends place; we will instal a 1 m³ plastic tank cut in two as a water storing container. I used peat mixed with silver sand for my bog, the new one will be filled with 100% peat. If you can fill it now, the peat will have all winter to get soaked with water. I successfully grow Sarracenia purpurea S. flava S. psittacina Sarracenia hybrids with purpurea as one of the parents With somewhat less success: S. leucophylla & S. rubra Good Drosera species to try are Drosera intermedia, rotundifolia and to a lesser extend D. anglica and D. filiformis. Pinguicula grandiflora seems to have a hard time competing with the Sphagnum. I wonder if a peaty soil outdoors is well suited for this species? The only terrestrial utric I have growing reliably outside is U. subulata. I introduced U. cornuta last year, but it just dissapeared over winter. The companion plants I keep are Aster nemoralis Calluna vulgaris Pogonia ophioglossoides Vaccinum oxycoccos Vaccinum macrocarpon Vaccinium vitis-idaea Sphagnum moss is covering all of the soil with a lush green carpet, no more peat splashes after heavy rains. It may be wise to initially protect your bog from birds, as they love to tear up the sphagnum in spring. In my case the moss grew faster than the birds could uproot it after a few short months. Hope this helps, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Wood Posted October 7, 2006 Author Report Share Posted October 7, 2006 What a fantastic website. This is an excellent guide. I think you have done a brilliant job with your bog garden and the website is very informative and well thought out. I will study it carefully. Do you have problems with slugs and snails ? Do you find it beneficial to allow crawling insects direct access to the bog ? Is this deliberate ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lil_flytrap_kid Posted October 8, 2006 Report Share Posted October 8, 2006 Great site Cromp ;) I just used your website to fill up my birthday wish list with hardy CPs for my bog :) Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dom1234 Posted October 8, 2006 Report Share Posted October 8, 2006 There is always the post of the construction of my peat bog. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Wood Posted October 8, 2006 Author Report Share Posted October 8, 2006 Thanks, unfortunately I don't speak French. How do I find details ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Sheila Posted October 8, 2006 Report Share Posted October 8, 2006 Ron, You could always use this language tool to translate. http://www.google.co.uk/language_tools?hl=en It will either translate blocks of text or entire web pages. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dom1234 Posted October 8, 2006 Report Share Posted October 8, 2006 Or you can read my post on the construction of my peat bog in english, on this forum in the general section: http://www.cpukforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=8798 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cromp Posted October 9, 2006 Report Share Posted October 9, 2006 Ron, Glad you like it. One of the advantages of allowing crawling bugs into the bog is that my Sarracenia catch many ants in summer. Slugs occasionally do munch on my Pogonia orchids, I use pellets (iron phosphate) to deal with them. But if you have the space and a slug-infested garden, a canal may be a good idea. I will add some info on the new bog to the site once it's finished, if you have any more questions please don't hesitate to ask. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Posted October 17, 2006 Report Share Posted October 17, 2006 I built mine like pond, somthing like this: pond liner to hold the water in and 50/50 sand and peat. I have cobras,VFTS and sarracenia in it the cobras seem to do the best the sarracenia tend to have the pitchers blown over so it might be an idea to do it in a sunny wind sheltered place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Wood Posted October 17, 2006 Author Report Share Posted October 17, 2006 Rob, I couldn't access you photo. Any chance you can post it again. Thanks, Ron Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Posted October 17, 2006 Report Share Posted October 17, 2006 Ill post my pic here --- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Posted October 17, 2006 Report Share Posted October 17, 2006 Ok The outdoor bog http://www.cpukforum.co.uk/uploader/user_uploads/Fullbog.jpg Cobra closeup http://www.cpukforum.co.uk/uploader/user_uploads/Cobras.jpg VFT akai ryu closeup http://www.cpukforum.co.uk/uploader/user_u...ds/sQ9f_VFT.jpg Only problem is the birds keep eating any growing spagnum moss. So it doesnt look too natural. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Sheila Posted October 17, 2006 Report Share Posted October 17, 2006 Sorry Rob, your pictures were huge so I have made them into links. Please keep pictures at a maximum of 750 x750 pixels. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Posted October 17, 2006 Report Share Posted October 17, 2006 dont you want to see a huge picture of the Sarracenia leucophylla X popei you gave me about 3 years ago top left 8) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Sheila Posted October 17, 2006 Report Share Posted October 17, 2006 That has done well It looks just as good in a smaller picture though I had one that got to roughly that size, but it suffered a fungal infection and died this year. I have several others that are looking nice, but nowhere near as big. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Wood Posted October 18, 2006 Author Report Share Posted October 18, 2006 Thanks Rob. Now I see them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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