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Bog Garden

Hello everyone! Using bucky78's advice, I have created my own bog garden! Here are some pictures of the building process.

We started out by building the frame, and then evening out the bottom by placing tree stumps on the ground to get the desired depth of the bog, then we placed old spare pieces of wood on top of the stumps and an old tarp just for extra cushion.

http://img172.imageshack.us/img172/2227/boggarden001qa3.jpg

http://img262.imageshack.us/img262/1590/boggarden002hf5.jpg

Next, we put two layers of 4 mil thick plastic down and added a few inches of sand on the bottom.

http://img245.imageshack.us/img245/9101/boggarden003em3.jpg

After this, we put a layer of peat moss on top of the sand.

http://img175.imageshack.us/img175/3691/boggarden005lg2.jpg

After adding the peat, we added a large load of sphagnum moss and sand.

http://img20.imageshack.us/img20/7485/boggarden006vt4.jpg

We then mixed everything together and here is the final product!

http://img242.imageshack.us/img242/4936/boggarden007ed4.jpg

http://img338.imageshack.us/img338/7360/boggarden008uv2.jpg

Now all we have to do is clean the sides up a little bit and staple the tarp on and just wait for the rain so we can see how much more peat moss needs to be added!

I will be planting the plants in the springtime whenever the bog is established and I have hopefully collected more sarracenia, venus fly traps, and sundews to plant in it!

Let me know if you have any questions or comments!
 
Just curious, what kind of sand did you use (brand, horticultural, etc.)

Very nice though!
-J.P.
 
Cool! Did you add any sort of draining holes towards the top of the bog to let excess water out? Can't wait to see it filled with plants in the spring!

xvart.
 
Very cool... Here's an interesting idea that I picked up from a Terra Forums member (hi Lois!):

When mixing large quantities of soil for a project like that, use a small hand crank cement mixer. It works wonders. :)
 
What was the white stuff layer?
 
EdaxFlamma, it is just cheap concrete sand from a nearby rock quarry.

xvart, no, I didn't do that. I am not really worried about it collecting too much water, but if it looks as if it is starting to gather too much water in the future, then I will add some.

MrFlyTrap2, it's kind of strange how we made it. The white is just a plastic that we added on top of the tree stumps for extra padding so that the liner does not rip on the places where the old pieces of wood isn't covering the stumps. It's kind of confusing because I don't show how we did the tree stumps. If you are still confused, then I will be glad to explain further.
 
I think I got it, did you just add them in there as filler so you wouldn't have to use so much soil mix? Or was there a deeper meaning to it all?

Nate
 
Where in Tenessee are you? Tenessee has extremely variable elevation, temperature, rainfall, and humidity. I am in Atlanta, GA, and I have had bog gardens in my yard since I was 5 and have tried just about everything. I find that "temperate" isn't a good classification to follow when choosing bog garden plants becuase "temperate" can theoretically refer to both southern california and north dakota. If you are in the mountains, you can grow a different selection of plants that you would grow if you are at a lower elevation. Here is a list.

Anywhere in Tenessee:
All sarracenia (S.purpuera v. purpurea and S. purpurea v. venosa ssp. montana can be tricky during summer heat and mild winters, better off in the mountains)
Drosera intermedia
Utriculara subulata (a weed, really)
Utricularia gibba (aquatic)
Drosera capillaris (an annual in colder climates, re-seeds yearly)
Dionea muscipula (may need winter shelter/mulching in coldest areas of TN)
Drosera burmanii (tropical summer annual)
Byblis liniflora (tropical summer annual)


Cool weather mountainous parts of Tenessee:
Sarracenia purpurea v. venosa ssp. montana
Sarracenia purpurea v. purpurea
Drosera filliformis v. filliformis
Drosera rotundifolia (a tenessee native, but plants descended from US west coast/Europe have no heat tolerance at all and are impossible in the South)
Drosera anglica (see below)
Pinguicula grandiflora (only in cool, humid, high elevation areas, these HATE heat)

Warmer, lower elevation areas of Tenessee:
Drosera brevifolia (tiny annual/biennial)
Drosera filiformis v. tracyi
Drosera binata (iffy below 20f or so, mulch/protect it in winter)
Pinguicula primuliflora (iffy, dislikes prolonged temps below freezing, better off as houseplant)
Pinguicula caerulea (iffy, dislikes prologed temps below freezing, better off as houseplant)
all other southeastern USA pinguicula: same as above, but MUCH harder to grow

Don't plant short plants like sundews and flytraps with sarracenia. Sarracenia are MUCH faster growing and will crowd them out very fast. Short sarracenia species such as S. purpurea and S. psitticina can be grown with small CPs because they won't block out the sunlight. Pinguicula seem to need some shade and grow best shaded by tall sarracenia. However, they need to be checked frequently to make sure they aren't being crowded out.

Good Growing!
 
MrFlyTrap2, yes, that's exactly what we did!

Slurm, thanks for the information because this will help me decide what to plant in it.
 
  • #10
You can plant Flytraps and short Sundews in with the Sarracenia you just have to put them in the front of the bog that is facing south so they can get light that way. The same goes for Psitts and Purps. One kinda funny thing happened this year. I have every species of Sarracenia except for Purp Montana which I think I will have this coming spring and lots of hybrids. I have grown S. Oreophila for years with no ill effects until this year, which was the warmest and driest on record and I lost all of my Oreophilas this year. I think that it was just too hot for them. Nothing else suffered from the heat though.
 
  • #11
Do you grow D. rotundifolia? I have tried to grow it in Atlanta with no sucess. It was over 100f for 2 solid weeks here this summer. None of my sarrs showed any ill effects, although I lost a few recently planted VFT seedlings. I want to try temperate/boreal pings, but I have heard that no grower has been sucessful with them in Georgia. I kept a P. grandiflora for a year growing it in a highland nep terrarium in the summer and putting it in the fridge for the winter. It died when I planted it outside in the bog garden in april.
 
  • #12
I do grow D. Rotundifolia. I have for about 4 years now but they came from John Hummer who lives in Richmond so I am sure they are not the west coast ones. They are one of my favorite dews. As for Pings, I grow P. Caerulea, P. Lutea, P. Planifolia and P. Primuliflora with no problems.
 
  • #13
Sorry, I meant the cold temperate hibernauculum foruming pinguicula species, like P. vulgaris, grandiflora, macroceras etc.

Still, congrats on keeping P. lutea and P. planifolia long term outside, they are fairly difficult, probably even more difficult for you since you are north of me. How did you keep the P. planifolia alive through the drought? I have seen them in the wild in florida, and they always grow as semi-aquatics. All the plants I saw were under 1-3 inches of water, dark burgundy, and 10 inches or larger in diameter! Warm temperate pings don't seem to require a cool winter at all. Most growers I have met have greater sucess with them under lights or in greenhouses.
 
  • #14
I have a reverse osmosis system that feeds a barrel that I have outside. I put a "T" connector with a shut off valve on the hose that goes into the barrel and ran a hose off of it so I can run water directly on the bogs. Hope that wasn't too confusing. For most of this season I had to run water 24/7 and just switch the hose from bog to bog. I have 5 bogs so 24 hours on one and then move it to another. By the time I got the 5th one watered it was time to put it on the first again!
 
  • #15
Slurm, which species have you found do best outside (year-round) in the Piedmont here in GA?
 
  • #16
Awesome bog garden!!! Is the 4mm plastic UV - treated? I love it!! I'm inspired to start one now too!!!
 
  • #17
Species for the piedmont region of GA

Sarracenia:
All sarracenia, northern or high elevation forms of S. purpurea are trickier, but doable according to growers in the area. All sarracenia survive winters here without protection

VFT's are completely hardy here, just make sure to clip the flower stocks in spring or they will literally "flower themselves to death". If they are allowed to flower, the plant is weakened greatly and often dies in the winter. DON'T plant these near sarracenia or they will be overgrown and crowded out very fast

Drosera:
like dionea, don't plant drosera near sarracenia plants or they will be overshaded
D. intermedia
D. filiformis v. tracyi
D. brevifolia
D. rotundifolia (only plants descended from populations in New Jersey and southward)
D. capillaris (can be annual or perenial in GA)
D. x nagamotoi
D. binata ( hardy forms only)
D. capensis (REEAAALLY marginal) I tried this in my bog and it died. 2 hrs east of me, in Athens GA, I saw these growing in an outdoor bog set-up at a nature center. Athens GA, is several hundred feet lower in elevation than Atlanta and gets a bit of warming ocean infuence because it is closer to the coast. D. capensis prefers cool temps to grow well. The triple-digit atlanta summers won't kill it, but it looks terrible in midsummer. Try D. capensis if you live in the eastern or southern piedmont area.

All tropical annuals would probably do very well here because of long, hot summers. Byblis liniflora has been grown in the atlanta area as a summer annual by some growers


Pinguicula:
Southeastern US pings are the only butterworts that can be grown outside in the GA piedmont region.
Pinguicula primuliflora is the best pinguicula to grow outside in the piedmont region.
P. caerulea and P. ionantha are also reccomended. All southeastern US pings can be theoretically grown in the piedmont region, but some species are just inherently difficult for no apparent reason. Pings are fairly delicate plants and need to be paid attention to if they are grown outside. During a heat wave, drought, or freak cold spell, they may die very quickly if they are ignored. P. planifolia is a semi-aquatic and needs to be semi-submerged. P. pumila is an annual and P. lutea is just tricky for no apparent reason.
 
  • #18
I live on the NW corner of Atlanta and grew capensis outside all summer, even in the heat. You are right, slurm, it really starts to look a bit rough by August, but after that it perked back up.
 
  • #19
Thanks a lot for the great info! That should definitely save me years upon years of trial and error as I slowly accumulate inhabitants for my bog :)
 
  • #20
rco911, thanks. I'm not sure if it is treated or not; it doesn't say anything about it being treated on the package so I would assume not.

Go for it! It doesn't cost very much and it is easy to make! The only thing I am worried about is collecting enough water for it so that I can make it through summer without buying any! I also have to make the tough decision of which plants I should buy to plant in it :).
 
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