IS IT POSSIBLE TO "OVER BOG?"

[addy1]

I like my mint, it has not taken over, blooms nicely. We are putting in bee hives, mint is known to be a nectar producer, good for the bees. It blooms all summer here, which is great for the hives. I have it in the bog, the stream pond and a few places in land gardens.

 

[Tula]

I bought a preformed pond on sale today at Lowes, with the thought of creating a small bog beside my pond. I've just gone to some effort and expense to remove gravel from my pond, so don't want bog in my pond. Now I'm stuck on how to make water flow through it???

I also spent many hours today cutting lily rhizomes that came out of my gravel bottom....a fairly stinky task! I planted four baskets full, covered them in bird netting and zip tied the netting down, to keep the koi out of them. It remains to be seen if this will work. I dragged the rest of the lilies in a tub into my garage, because my dog was eating them I have a feeling our garage is going to be pretty stinky in the morning!

 

[addy1]

Run some piping up and over the edge of the preform (if you don't want to cut into it) If you like my method, run the piping under the gravel with slits/holes in the piping for water flow through the gravel. With a hole saw you can cut a few 1.25 inch holes in the side of the preform, near the top. Stick in two 1 inch pieces of pvc pipe, use pl roofing goop to make a water tight seal. Have those lines water fall into your pond, cover with rocks to make it look like a little waterfall.

Before hiding the pipes, this is coming out of the lotus tub



I have very slow flow in these, if your flow is faster you might want larger pipes.

If your preform has that one low edge for flow, angle it so that flows into your big pond. I have this low edge of the preform going into the big pond via a small stream.

 

[Tula]

Thank you for the pictures Addy. I returned the preform today, as it won't fit the space. I'm shooting the pond guy ( who is returning tomorrow to install our new skimmer) an e-mail and asking him to bring some liner material with him. I have tons of rock and gravel.....a digging out an area may be our best option.

Do you filter water through your bog in the winter, or let it rest? Kim

 

[addy1]

I turn it off, sort of depending on weather, so far it has been nov. If we have a cold winter it will be turned off quicker. The bog stays full of water for the winter, just sits there until spring. No stink when I turn it back on, just a sweet water earth smell if that makes sense. I usually get it running mid march.

My pump is external, I don't want to leave it running in case of power outages that could freeze up the pump. So when our temperatures drop low enough that could be a concern the pump is pulled.

 

[Tula]

Both of my pumps are submersible. When the pond was originally built, both pumps were to be placed inside the skimmer, but the man who did the work, obviously bought too small a skimmer For the last 6 years, the waterfall pump has hung inside the pond. Tomorrow, a new skimmer is being installed, rated for 5000 GPH and both pumps will finally be inside the skimmer

I wonder if I should wait till spring to build a bog? What kind of plants to you have in yours? Kim

 

[addy1]

a bunch, here is what I put in

Obediant plant
black gamecock iris
dwarf golden sweetflag
dwarf cattails
Water Willow
green creeping Jenny
Marsh betony
mini spearwort
white star grass
penny wort
water mint
blue water forget me not
water iris soft pink\kirk strawn
lizard tail
day lilies
rush
lirope

 

[Tula]

I have several of these lovely plants - this is exciting to think about Kim

 

[addy1]

Great! They all grow fine. Some more aggressive than the others but they do well

 

[taherrmann4]

I had obedient plant in my bog and it became very disobedient, took over the bog. I ripped it out in the fall so will have to see here in the next few weeks what comes back after this very cold winter we had. I also put some black eyed susans in it and they seemed to do ok but they may have been getting smothered by the obedient plant. You can also plant some sedum as this did very well in my creeks and would think it would grow equally well in a bog. I like to experiment with perennials and see what grows and what doesn't.

 

[addy1]

I had obedient plant in my bog and it became very disobedient, took over the bog. I ripped it out in the fall so will have to see here in the next few weeks what comes back after this very cold winter we had. I also put some black eyed susans in it and they seemed to do ok but they may have been getting smothered by the obedient plant. You can also plant some sedum as this did very well in my creeks and would think it would grow equally well in a bog. I like to experiment with perennials and see what grows and what doesn't.

the obedient plant sure does not follow its name, but easy to remove, grab and yank and pretty. I also have read they have a lot of bee friendly nectar which I need now with our hives we are starting.

I have found out I am highly allergic to black eyed susans the maryland state flower, the small spines on the stems, flower petals, leaves. So that is a no go for me.

 

[taherrmann4]

I am going to try some Echinacea and maybe some salvia or a daisy that I have planted on my hill. Who knows they may do well.