BOG AND MARSH GARDENS 75 



difficult to provide the requisite drainage. Plants will 

 not thrive in stagnant water. 



The usual method of constructing artificial bog 

 gardens is by digging out the soil to a depth of eighteen 

 inches, thereby making a shallow basin. The basin is 

 then rendered watertight by a lining either of brick- 

 work or concrete. To quite small gardens it is 

 possible to supply water by hand, in those of larger 

 size pipes connected with a supply tank or reservoir 

 will be needed. Nothing is more satisfactory than a 

 constant steady trickle of water through the bog garden, 

 and for this reason an automatic arrangement is 

 preferable to any other. A small outlet pipe or valve 

 should be fixed at the lowest point in the basin, so that 

 the bog may be completely drained if necessary. At 

 eight inches from the top of the basin an outlet in the 

 side will permit of the surplus water trickling away. 

 Of course the "basin" may be of any shape, the more 

 irregular the better, there being no need whatever to 

 make it circular. 



Having made watertight the site of the proposed 

 garden, and provided for the inlet and outlet of water, 

 we may prepare for planting. First cover the bottom 

 with six inches of broken bricks and rough material to 

 act as drainage, and upon this lay a good depth of peat 

 soil. The surface should be rendered uneven by 

 suitable knolls, small plateaus and depressions, rough 

 blocks of stone being used to keep the soil in place. 

 The wettest parts will naturally be found where there 

 is least depth of soil ; the driest on the mounds and 

 small rocky eminences. In a short time the stones will 

 be covered with mosses and small ferns ; the constant 

 dampness too, will cause myriad tiny growths to spread 

 a filmy veil of green over bare rock and black soil. 



Larger bog gardens cannot be concreted, but must 

 depend upon a steady flow of water, with branch drains, 



