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Post by Rick Hillier on Jun 28, 2012 10:32:24 GMT -5
Greetings,
I've been away from the board for a while... I've been in this hobby for over 30+ years now (getting old!). <Edit note: this originally said 309 years - that's REALLY getting old.
Back around 2000, I built an outdoor bog in my back yard, which was a 6x7 triangle (around 21 sq ft), and filled it with varous Sarracenia species and crosses.
Over the years, all of the trees in my back yard grew huge to a point where the bog only got 2-3 hours of direct sun per day... needless to say, the plants are not happy there.
Couple that with the fact that my weight became a problem, so I was not able to maintain it properly and it became overgrown.
I wanted to move the bog to the front of my house, but due to rodent problems, I had to errect an ugly fence around it, which worked, but detracted from the appearance of the bog and I didn't want that in the front yard where everyone would see it.
This year brings good news... I've managed to lose nearly 90 pounds (took a few years to do it) and I can move around again. I'm building a new bog in part of my front garden. It's 10' long, 3' wide and 22-24" deep. It's all dug out (including going through around 18" of hard clay)... ready for the pool liner and peat moss - I'll post a pic soon... right now it looks like a grave.
I think I have found a solution to the rodent problem with a product from Lee Valley, which is basically a group of small sheets of a 1" x 1" plastic grate that has 1" high blunt spikes that will give anything trying to walk on it a poke in the belly or foot (but not pierce them).... the plants should be able to grow through the mesh, which can also be somewhat elevated from the growing medium and can also be cut to allow for growth where need be. That will look better than a fence.
Wish me luck as I act like a kid this weekend playing in the dirt!
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Post by Devon on Jun 28, 2012 11:57:43 GMT -5
Welcome back!
Congratulations on the weight loss - That's a huge amount to loose, and I know from friends how incredibly had it can be to lose it. . .
I had squirrels problems with my Sarracenia and Drosera mini bogs. I solved it by putting a net over the big bins they're growing in for now. It looks really bad, but it will work until I build up the courage to make/build a net cage or something Lloyd suggested. I read online somewhere that they're scared of snakes, so I put a couple of fake snakes around the Sarracenia and it actually seems to detour them.
Good luck with the bog. I'm looking forward to seeing pictures of a successful bog since mine was such a disaster.
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Post by dToad on Jun 28, 2012 17:20:05 GMT -5
Congrats on the weight loss, it takes a lot of dedication. I lost 75 lbs, and changed a lot of fat into muscle in 2005. Keeping it off is the trick, but it looks like you've mastered that.
Good luck with your bog. I'm looking forward to seeing the results.
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Post by samuel on Jun 28, 2012 18:14:51 GMT -5
Congrats on the weight loss that must have been tricky getting rid of it. good luck on keepin it off, good luck with the new bog and last but not least good luck growing I'm sure we would all like to hear how that bog works out for ya so please let us know Sam
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Post by lloyd on Jun 28, 2012 20:18:06 GMT -5
Have a good time and post some pictures.
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Post by shoggoths on Jun 29, 2012 7:32:39 GMT -5
Welcome back Rick.
There's no municipal regulation regarding building a bog in the front yard ?
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Post by hal on Jun 29, 2012 23:01:31 GMT -5
Welcome back!
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Post by Rick Hillier on Jul 2, 2012 10:15:24 GMT -5
Greetings,
Thank you for all your kind words... it's just nice to be able to work on things for more than 60 seconds without that much pain. It used to be excruciating.
Devon: I had built a cage over the back bog made from wood and that plastic netting that is used to keep birds off of fruit trees... still an eyesore that would not be acceptable in my front yard. I think that this stuff from Lee Valley will do the trick..hopefully.
DToad: Congrats on your transformation as well. At my age, I don't know how much muscle I can build... I was just glad to get rid of much of the excess weight. I still have a ways to go (I'm 240 right now)... but at l can move around somewhat.
Shaggoths: I don't know if there is or not, but the presence of the bog will not be obvious except for the types of plants, none of which are illegal. It will look much like the old part of the front garden did... here's hoping...
I'll get tome pics posted once the soil is in... it's a bit of an eyesore right now. I have 7 big bales of peat moss in the garden now (worked my but off - pre-wetting that stuff is tough), but now it's a matter of my RO unit keeping up. I can do about a 3.8 cu ft bale bale per day based on the amount of water produced. Should be filled by next weekend. I plan to let it sit and settle for a week, adjust things the way I want them and then get planting.
I am sure that I will have lots of sarracenia divisions available and will also be looking for some new stuff once I figure out what and where everything is.
>>> Rick <<<
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Post by lloyd on Jul 2, 2012 13:15:43 GMT -5
Rick: muscle mass can be built up at any age. My 91 yr. old mother is getting physio @ rehab to bulk up after a hip fracture. Keep at it.
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Post by Rick Hillier on Jul 3, 2012 19:10:35 GMT -5
Hi Lloyd,
I'm hoping that this is the case... I'm just glad to be getting rid of the "fat mass."
This bog is more of a challenge than it would normally be, as I am fighting an arm problem (my dominant arm to boot) brought about by a "smooshed" nerve in my neck (everything C3 to C7 is screwed - degenerative). I went through 10 weeks of the worst pain I've ever experienced (nothing painkiller touches this type of pain), and in the middle of it all, I lost most of the use of that arm. Physio and light tension on my neck has gotten rid of the pain for the most part, but regaining the movement in several affected muscles is a slow go at best. My right shoulder has deteriorated severely, but I'm working hard at getting everything back.
I am trying to use the arm as much as possible on this project (eg. raking the water into the peat before I shovel it into the bog) will help build the muscle back and stimulate the nerves to regrow or reroute. I don't know much about this and what I've heard confuses me (doesn't take much to do that on a good day anyway).
Anyway, the hole is dug and lined, and I'm about 8-1/2 bales of peat moss into it so far (speed limited by the amount of RO water I can make in a day, so it paces me nicely). I'm going to mix perlite into the top 6" or so. A week of settling, tweaking, etc. and I should be ready to plant.
I know that I have lost plants in my old bog due to neglect and I will be looking to buy or trade for sarrs (especially alata, minor and psittacina), dionaea, and other suitable CP for the bog. I don't even know what half of the plants that I have are anymore, as they are growing with virtually no direct sun and are almost all green. I am sure that ID'ing them will be easier once they start to grow in their new digs. I look forward to getting this puppy going. It might be fun to have everyone over in August for a BBQ or something once this place starts looking like a house again. I really miss the good people that I have met through this hobby and look forward to renewing aquaintances again.
Catch you all later.
>>> Rick <<<
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Post by Rick Hillier on Jul 16, 2012 8:11:09 GMT -5
The bog is all filled in... it took 14 3.8 cuft bags of peat moss (all of which had to be pre-soaked before putting it into the bog - THAT was fun). I mixed perlite into the top six inches of the peat. The whole thing was done with RO water (I ran my unit for nearly three hours straight and also washed my car with it while the hose was connected to it. I'll never wash my car with tap water again... I had no water spots and almost didn't have to dry it off. Anyway, I digress. The transplant could not have come at a better time, as the original bog garden was nearly bone dry. I don't know how the plants were still alive... Guess all of that shade was a good thing in hindsight. I have about 80% of the garden planted so far. It was a lot of tedious work trimming everything and separating the grass roots from the pitcher plant rhizomes and roots (had to be done or the grass would come back). In regard to what is planted, I have absolutely no idea right now what plant is what for the most part. They were all etoliated and green, and some had "reverted" back to producing juvenile pitchers (stress from low light and being choked out by clover and grass, among other things). They will definitely come back, as the base of the plants were all very healthy and I'm sure that once they get going in the better conditions, they should colour up and make identification possible. I do have a list of what I had, which will help. Maybe at some point, we can have a get-together/bbq and we can play a game of identify that plant I do have quite a few divisions from around 6 of my plants right now. I'll be posting a list of what I have available in the next few days (once the planting is done) as well as a list of what I am looking for in purchases and/or trades (hopefully, I'll get a few hits from the members here). Now all I need is to get a sign made that says "Death To Bugs" to put in the middle and I'm all set! Here's hoping! >>> Rick <<<
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Post by 31drew31 on Jul 16, 2012 13:06:49 GMT -5
Come on you don't enjoy soaking seemingly endless amounts of peat moss??
Sounds like quite the project Rick, would love to seem some photos!
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Post by mike on Jul 16, 2012 16:23:58 GMT -5
I bet your glad to see the grunt work all done. I wouldnt mind a couple of them sarrs when your ready, and have a look at your new bog.
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Post by Rick Hillier on Jul 28, 2012 17:01:55 GMT -5
Last week, I finally finished the bog as far as I can take it for now. The garden is 10.5 feet long, 3 feet wide and 22-24 inches deep. It took a lot of backbreaking work, 14 x 3.9 cuft bales of peat moss, all pre-soaked by hand, a large bag of perlite mixed into the top 6" and lots of massages from my wonderful wife to get it done! Not bad for a guy with a right arm that is still not near decent functionality (I can only raise it to 35 degrees from my side - should be 180, but we're getting there). I have all of the plants from the back yard transferred to their new digs. As the plants were all growing in shade for the most part due to overgrown trees, etc, they were all greenish and etoliated for the most part, so I cut back most of the leaves in order to force new growth, which is now just starting to happen. Here is a photo of the results so far. Not much to look at yet, as the tall Sarracenia that I did keep kind of blew over and I had to tie them up as best as I could. The new growth should be more robust and colourful (which will help immensely in matching up the plants with my growlist. Any comments or questions are welcome.
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Post by shoggoths on Jul 28, 2012 21:50:40 GMT -5
Really nice work. It look promising and is a great idea for front yard afterward.
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