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Post by hal on Sept 19, 2016 20:55:13 GMT -5
I'm going to build a new outdoor bog this fall. My last one got shaded out by trees and I've been growing in containers for a few years, but I want to start a bog again. It won't be just for carnivorous plants. I want to mix them up with other plants that like it wet like Iris, Rodgersia and Ligularia and maybe a few native marginals.
My biggest question is what depth of soil do I really need?
I looked at Zone6B, Carl Mazur's excellent blog about growing outdoors in the Niagara region, and he has has about 16" deep bogs. Maybe only 12". This would suit me fine as I don't have anywhere to put a lot of soil if I dig deep. In fact, I'm thinking of raising them with some 2" x 10" lumber around the edge so I'd only need to dig down 6". Last time I dug down about 30" for a small bog, but I suspect it was too deep and the water that sat in the bottom just got stagnant. This time I'll put a drain in 3" from the top and keep it a bit drier than "always soaked" which I think caused root rot in a lot of my plants in containers.
Thanks for any tips and I'll try and post progress pictures as I go. I'll be looking to buy a bunch of sarrs in the spring, too.
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Post by lloyd on Sept 19, 2016 23:47:12 GMT -5
I think the roots of mine go ~ 12". I wonder if a raised bed might not protect against freezing.
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Post by RuBisCO on Sept 20, 2016 5:08:40 GMT -5
When you do finalize your setup plans try to ensure a robust drainage system. I had a drain set up for my mini bogs with an adjustable level to control the water and on three of my 5 mini bogs it worked great but on two the inner side of the drain system got blocked and flooded the bogs making a mess of things about halfway through the year. Next year I am going to try a couple different methods - holes about 80% from the soil level will be part of this trial but I am going to make them nice and big and make sure there is no way that they can get clogged.
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Post by stevebooth on Sept 20, 2016 7:31:23 GMT -5
Hi hal I have had both deep bogs, shallow bogs and all of them are semi raised bed type, i.e. i dig a shallow hole then add railway sleepers at ground level to raise them, thereby saving a deal of back breaking work, exactly as you suggest. I'm not sure what your companion plants will need but I find that Sarracenia can get by with anything over 9" depth, but the deeper the better up to say 18" then the additional depth doesnt really matter too much for the roots, unless you want a large water reservoir of course. The main thing that a lot of people forget is a proper drain system (i use corks in the bog liner for this, at varying heights) as, again as you suggest, you can get anaerobic conditions starving the plant roots of oxygen and killing the plants, as can prolonged inundation. The corks also allow you to drain the bog in winter for dormancy. Deeper is better for water retention and less frequent watering, I use upturned buckets with holes in and old plant pots with weed supressant mat over them and under the peat to create a reservoir, with wicking areas, in some of my bogs Cheers Steve
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Post by partisangardener on Sept 20, 2016 14:42:34 GMT -5
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Post by kdawg on Sept 20, 2016 17:35:09 GMT -5
Woohoo, New bogs are exciting! I built a pretty good sized one last year and I have been meaning to post a thread about the build and progress. One day soon hopefully. Anyways, most of mine is 18-20inch deep with one 30inch deep section in the middle about the size of a car tire. During the summer I could leave for a week and come back to a wet bog.
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Post by flytrapdrosera on Sept 11, 2017 16:22:50 GMT -5
Hey Hal, I never made a bog garden but seen one I found interesting, it was a 4 foot long an 18 inch deep tote so I asked what he did and he told me he cut a X shape in one end near the bottom and folded back the edges making a hole and put a large rock in front of the hole. then added a layer of rocks he bought at a dollar store around a inch deep and filled it with peat moss 1 inch from the top and attached a screen mesh to keep out birds but he had it attached to a few wooden post so there was some space for the plants he never said how much space but I am guessing it was enough for a year growth before he had to do anything this way he could water without disturbing the plants he never did tell me what was in there or what zone he was in though, he was from the US. Hope this helped some.
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