Date: Thu, 23 Mar 2000 17:10:58 -0600 From: "Strata, Inc." <strata@flash.net> To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com Message-Id: <aabcdefg940$foo@default> Subject: How to build a bog
Miguel, I have built four out-door bogs, and here is how :
Select a location which is not downhill (to avoid flooding and
run-off debris), and which gets 6-8 hours of direct sun per day.
Dig a hole in the shape you want, at least one foot deep. The
deeper the hole the more water it holds, the less frequently you
will have to water it. Make it wide enough to where you can access
the center of the bog from its edges.
If your ground is rocky, cover the bottom of the hole with a layer
of sand, or other cushioning material. Then line the hole with a
thick pond-plastic sheet (the cushioning material is to prevent
holes from rocks in the plastic liner, after you fill it with
medium).
Buy a small hard-plastic children's swimming pool to use as your
medium-mixing container. Using a shovel, mix Sphagnum Peat moss and
SILICA sand in it in equal quantities, per volume (just eye-ball
it). Silica sand is slightly acidic and retains moisture. Mix them
well dry first, then add lots of rain or distilled water, and mix
them again. Let it sit overnight. Re-mix several times until you
have a uniform wet mud.
Make several holes on the periphery of the plastic liner, 3-4 inches
below the ground level, to allow the bog to drain the upper part
after heavy rain.
Fill the bog with the prepared medium. Let it sit for at leat a
week, preferably a month, to allow the medium to settle. If you
don't, after you plant your CPs and the medium settles too much, it
may bend or crush the roots. As the medium settles, add more medium
(yes, mix again!) to bring the level to surrounding ground level,
or a little higher (make a small mount).
Then PLANT your CPs!
Cut the protruding edges of the liner to ground level (or a little
lower) and mask the periphery with rocks. That will give your bog a
"seamless" look and blend it with the rest of the garden.
If it rains enough where you are, great! If not, buy a piece of 4-6
inch PVC pipe, drill holes all around it, and bury it vertically in
the medium where the bottom of the PVC pipe will be 1-2 inches from
the bottom of the bog and the other end will protrude a little. You
can pour distilled water in the pipe to water the bog without
disturbing them from above! If you don't get enougn rain you need
to buy an RO filter and make your own pure water (much cheaper than
buying loads of distilled water).
You are done! Another way is to buy a cheap hard-plastic children's
swimming pool, dig a hole in the pool's dimentions, drill draining
holes in the pool, and bury it! The rest is the same.
Two good books to read about building a bog are: "Savage Garden" by
Peter D'Amato (ISBN 0-89815-915-6), and "The natural Water Garden"
by The Brooklyn Botanic Garden (ISBN 1-889538-01-9).
E-mail me if you have questions.
Michael Pagoulatos
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