CHAPTER XII 

 The Little Bog Garden 



A DELIGHTFUL adjunct to the rock garden or small 

 rockery is the little bog garden. It is easily con- 

 structed, and the expense need not be great, for the cost 

 of material is trifling. By its means many moisture-loving 

 plants which cannot be suited on the rockery or in the 

 ordinary flower border may be grown to perfection, and 

 when well placed and planted it seems to complete the 

 garden picture one has endeavoured to paint. 



Its Position. A natural position is either in a hollow 

 or at the base of the rock garden, and in planning the 

 rockwork this should be borne in mind. The surplus 

 water from the rockery should be drained into it, while 

 it should also receive as much as possible of the surplus 

 rainfall which may flow down the rockwork. If possible, 

 a little pipe should connect it either with the water- 

 supply or a cistern receiving the rain water from the roof 

 of the house. But these are not essential, and an occasional 

 good soaking by means of the watering-can will generally 

 supply all that is required. The bog may be of any 

 desired size ; we have seen pretty little bog gardens 

 not more than a yard square, in which choice moisture- 

 loving Primulas and other plants were thriving happily. 



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