Well, I Finally Did It!

[SubRosa]

For the last couple years I've been mulling over the idea of running a controlled burn on my in-ground bog garden, and the other day it seemed like conditions were perfect. It had rained heavily 2 days before, so the bog was full of water, but it had cleared up and the humidity was super low, so all the dead crap from last year was dry. It was really a series of smaller burns, as there are areas where Sphagnum has grown high that remained damp enough to not burn. Those areas were pretty clean already, so it worked well. A watering can full of rainwater was all it took to keep things from getting out of hand. First pic is one corner immediately after the burn, second pic is the same spot a week later, shot a bit closer to show how well the Triantha growing there responded.

 

[bluemax]

'Seems like burning off the old growth would save some work. I just spent a couple of afternoons cleaning out the pots I have outside to prep them for the upcoming season. 'Would've been nice to have fire do the work, though it would've made a real mess of the pots!

 

[SubRosa]

'Seems like burning off the old growth would save some work. I just spent a couple of afternoons cleaning out the pots I have outside to prep them for the upcoming season. 'Would've been nice to have fire do the work, though it would've made a real mess of the pots!

It was much easier physically than manually raking and pulling, although I doubt it saved any time. But the biggest difference is that when I figured I was done, I kept looking for places that I missed burning. That never happened with a rake. It was really fun! Next time I'll definitely record the process