Bog garden question

[Billabong Karen]

Hi, I tried this question under Wildlife Gardening, but have had no replies, so am hoping someone here can help...

I am hoping to set up a bog garden this autumn (hopefully that is a good time of year). The patch I want to use (slightly below the garden pond) is in a mostly shady patch. Is this likely to be a problem?

[posie]

Hi Karen, Kayleigh would help you with this...For one..Posie

[Tursiops2]

Hi, my apologies, I saw your original post but I was hoping someone with more experience than me would answer first, before I made a contribution.

Based on my limited experience, I'd say that lack of sunlight will restrict your choice of plants, so probably better to go for a selection of ferns and sedges. If you can get hold of "The Damp Garden" by Beth Chatto, this should give you more ideas.

Are you going to dig out the bed and line with polythene, or just utilise the natural dampness? Either way, digging-in plenty of organic material and mulching with bark chippings or leaf mould will improve nutrient levels and help water retention.

Can you post a photo of the area?


HTH
T2

[N0z]

If you get the book "Rock and Water Garden Expert" by "Dr. D. G. Hessayon" it teaches you alot about bog gardens and the plants you can get for them , someone recommended it on here to me and i wasnt actually going to get it but i was in homebase 1 day and saw it so i decided to get it (it was only 4£ roughly) and im so glad i got it now because its so helpful

[Billabong Karen]

Great, thanks to both of you for the book recommendations; I will get on to Amazon and have a look!

Yes, I was thinking of using the leftover pvc liner from building the pond as a base. This is the only photo I have at present, the situation will be to the right of the existing pond, where the little apple tree is at present. It is shady, but perhaps I can cut some of the overhanging tree branches back a bit.

[Tursiops2]

The photo helps a lot, ta .

If it's as shady there as the photo suggests, then it doesn't strike me as a good spot for the "traditional" bog garden, which usually involve sun-loving plants. If I were in your shoes, rather than give myself all the extra work of digging out and cutting back, I'd be more inclined to "go with the flow", i.e. work with the conditions that already exist, and develop it as a "damp woodland" area - ferns, sedges, Hellebores, Aconite, Lesser Celandine, Lungwort, Red Campion, maybe spring bulbs like Cyclamen and native Bluebell etc., etc. It would also be a good spot for a log pile.


This would create a natural backdrop to the pond, amphibians will love the damp cover, and allowing leaf litter to build up will create habitat for invertebrates and foraging areas for birds.

T2

[Billabong Karen]

That is great advice, thank you so much. The whole bottom portion of the garden is shady and pretty much left to its own devices, with large trees, a log pile and compost heap right down at the bottom. At present I just mow this area once or twice a year, and otherwise leave it alone.

I really like the idea of building up the background area to the pond, with plenty of cover for amphibians. Trouble is, while that area is damp at present, in dry spells it naturally is dryer, since there is then no run off from the pond... Do you think I would end up watering it in the summer? The little apple tree is not doing well where it is (I think not enough sunlight), and I will be moving it in the autumn.

[Tursiops2]

Originally Posted by Billabong Karen

Trouble is, while that area is damp at present, in dry spells it naturally is dryer, since there is then no run off from the pond... Do you think I would end up watering it in the summer?

Um. Hard to say, really, without spending a year in your garden , but I wouldn't have thought you'd need to go to those lengths. That sort of situation is quite common in nature, and plenty of plants have adapted to it, it's just a question of making the right selection.

Unfortunately, I don't have the relevant books to hand, or I'd make a more specific list, but if you put in a good range of woodland plants, the ones that like the conditions will do well, and the ones that don't, won't. Eventually they'll find their own natural balance.

Another good book is "Right Plant, Right Place" (I can't remember the author's name). It deals exclusively with "ornamental" species, but it's a good introduction to the principles of choosing plants according to the natural conditions they like.

T2

[Billabong Karen]

Wonderful. Thanks so much for your help, I do appreciate it. Will check out the books suggested and do a bit more research into appropriate woodland/shade/damp condition loving plants... and will probably save myself a ton of work by not going for the bog garden right now!

[Billabong Karen]

Incidentally, this is the view looking DOWN the garden, to give you more of an idea. I have to admit, I was completely sold on the bog garden, since the pond has been such a huge success - but you really have made me think again.