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Bog 55 Gardening With Native Plants 



BY NORMAN TAYLOR B^^tanfc Garden 



A PRACTICAL SOLUTION OF UTILIZING A WET HOLE THAT IS OFTEN A TROUBLESOME SPOT- 

 PLANTS THAT DELIGHT IN SOUR, UNDRAINED SOILS 



-CHARMING NATIVE 



THE reason for having a bog garden 

 is that in it may be grown many 

 very interesting plants that cannot 

 be grown in any other situation; 

 and, besides, many ordinary swamp plants can 

 also be grown along its edges. 



There must be a clear distinction made be- 

 tween bogs and other wet or swampy places 

 before bog gardening can be a success. In the 

 marsh or swamp the drainage is usually fairly 

 regular and free; in the true bog the drainage 

 is practically nil, or only free during the spring 

 thaw. Because of this lack of drainage there 

 is in all bogs an accumulation of acidity in 

 the bog-water, which is strongly acid and dark 

 colored in some glacial potholes, more moder- 

 ately so in some of the partly drained bogs of 

 the coastal plain regions of the country. There 

 is usually, but not always, a deficiency of lime 

 in bog soils, and in nature there is a very large 

 percentage of mycorrhizal plants found in 

 them. The relation of the mycorrhizal habit 

 of getting food and the acidity of the bog is 

 a very delicate and complex one and little is 

 actually known of it. But experience has 

 shown such a relation to exist. 



Making an Artificial Bog 



TF YOU have an undrained or a poorly 

 •*■ drained area about your garden the prob- 

 lem of having a bog garden almost solves itself. 

 But the demands of others who wish to grow 

 the many beautiful species that will only be- 

 come naturalized in such places, has led to the 

 construction of artificial bogs. These may be 

 of any size from a few square feet to com- 

 paratively large areas, and methods of con- 

 struction must vary according to the nature 

 of the subsoil. In places where there is a 

 layer of hard-pan and the downward drainage 

 is poor, it will only be necessary to dig out the 



Fringed Orchid (Habenaria) one of the most showy native 

 plants that can be cultivated only in a bog 



desired amount, fill in enough blue clay to 

 make the basin water tight and then put in the 

 mixture to be described presently. 



A more permanent and satisfactory type 



of construction is to make the basin of con- 

 crete, the walls and floor of which should not 

 be less than six to eight inches thick, to pre- 

 vent the concrete from cracking during frost. 

 Waterproof the concrete, and because in all 

 concrete mixture there is lime, it is best to 

 smear clay over the walls and bottom. The 

 completed bog, whether of concrete or merely 

 scooped out of the ground, should be two feet 

 deep, its edges practically flush with the sur- 

 rounding ground. If of concrete, sods will 

 easily grow over it and the hard line of the rim 

 may thus be completely hidden. Be sure 

 before filling with the mixture that the tank is 

 watertight, just as though it were for a Lily 

 pond. The shape of the structure, whichever 

 type of construction is used, must be a matter 

 of individual taste. While informality is 

 the essence of bog gardening a "regular ir- 

 regularity" is most to be fought against. Ten 

 minutes' observation of natural bogs, their 

 shapes and shore lines will put the imaginative 

 bog gardener in possession of all the sugges- 

 tions needed, to prevent putting impossible 

 bog gardens in impossible places. As a 

 cardinal feature remember that the drainage 

 from the surrounding region should be all 

 in, not out. 



The management of the bog garden requires 

 some skill and observation. As the amount of 

 evaporation from the surface is enormous, 

 water must be added, either artificially or 

 naturally. Strive to keep the bog just full 

 enough not to overflow, thus keeping the whole 

 sponge wet, but preventing the leaking out 

 of the valuable acids that are the life of 

 the bog. Both for the effect and for the 

 good of the bog it is desirable to cover all the 

 open spaces in it with live sphagnum moss, 

 which when once established, will make a 

 delightful carpet. 



The "bog" at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, was shipped from the New Jersey pine barrens and placed in a prepared basin of concrete lined with clay. Anything that came up was 



allowed to grow, and any undesired plants were not retained. Others are added from time to time 



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