THE BOG GARDEN 169 



only to be found in those localities where the soil 

 is, spontaneously, of moist, peaty character. A 

 spot of this sort may, here and there, be found 

 in England, and more readily, perhaps, in Scot- 

 land; but in this respect Ireland is the most 

 favoured country, where an acre or two of rough 

 bog land in near neighbourhood to the garden itself 

 may be easily fenced about and turned without 

 much labour into a garden of marsh-haunting 

 plants. Such localities are not rare in the sister 

 island; and an Irish marsh garden described, I 

 think, in the Field some few years ago, is typical 

 of the good ue to which a stretch of natural bog 

 may be put. In this case the principal labour 

 consisted in the cutting of numerous canals to drain 

 off superfluous water, thus forming islands of peat ; 

 in throwing rough log bridges across them to give 

 easy access to all parts of the ground, and in the 

 making of raised causeways in all directions. Be- 

 yond this the soft brown peat required little work- 

 ing, and the choice of suitable plants was the main 

 undertaking. In an enclosed space of some three 

 acres there was scope for bold and noble grouping, 

 and the natural growth of silver birch and a belt 

 of sheltering pines and spruce firs gave just the 

 protection and slight shade here and there that is 

 always desirable, while they added greatly to the 

 beauty of the scene. Here there was ample room 

 for large plantations of hardy azaleas and kalmias, 

 for the huge tufts of reeds and grasses which lend 

 grandeur to appropriate breadth of space, but are 

 so out of character in cramped surroundings. If 

 I remember rightly, the account of this particular 



