THE BOG GARDEN 167 



development, as there is in any other phase of gardening 

 work. 



The host of plants benefiting by constant supplies of mois- 

 ture during a hot season may tempt some to introduce those 

 that intrude their presence in all directions, or that quickly 

 choke or overrun others whose finer attributes render them far 

 more desirable for such a place. Of such as the former many 

 examples might be given, though one, the Epilobiums, will 

 suffice for all purposes. Here we have a small group of rapidly- 

 increasing plants that appear to grow all the year round, 

 sending out such vigorous stolons or underground shoots 

 or stems which, springing up some distance from the original, 

 soon make their presence felt in their new homes. For such 

 as these, then, welcome as they are in the wild garden, there 

 is no room there should certainly be no place in the bog 

 garden we have in mind, and no quarter should be given to 

 the smallest seedling which might appear. Thus it will be 

 seen that, in our opinion, a bog garden should not be a sort 

 of dumping-ground for any and every moisture-loving plant ; 

 rather should it be a spot an adjunct to the garden proper if 

 you will to be enriched and beautified with the choicer 

 subjects of other climes as well as those of our own land, 

 subjects which, revelling in moisture, know no happier place 

 than the natural bog. 



But some may say, very few gardens are possessed of or 

 include a naturally boggy spot, hence, if we would grow such 

 things as delight therein, an artificial substitute must be 

 arranged. In connection with this not infrequent question 

 arises the all-important point as to whether the abode for 

 such plants must be made water-tight. The correct answer 

 depends not a little on the available supply of water and 

 equally on the nature of the subsoil. Where a retentive, 

 plastic clay soil exists, a veritable driblet or trickle of water 

 will maintain the soil in a state of semi-saturation, sufficient, 

 indeed, for all purposes. On the other hand, where the sub- 

 soil is of sand or gravel, a slight excavation of this will be 

 required to admit of the introduction of well-tempered clay, 

 than which nothing is so good or so natural. A lowering, 

 too, of the ultimate surface soil is desirable in those instances 

 where a light soil obtains, to admit of the water from the 

 rainfall finding its way into the bed. 



In all large gardens in hilly districts, the forming of an arti- 

 ficial bog garden or bed is quite an easy matter. The ideal con- 

 dition for such is, when a fountain basin exists on the terrace 

 lawn, with the overflow tumbling into a rock-garden pool a 



