Completed Bog Garden

The bog garden and marginal plants garden beds are now finished, and mostly planted up. We have also moved the marsh marigold from the small water feature pond to the new large pond, as it was getting a bit big for the old location. We decided to put the marsh marigold directly into the main pond, and just pack some aquatic compost around the roots.

Now we have started work on the landscaping around the pond. You can see the start of the gravel path which we are putting on top of the rubble. We are putting down weed surpressing fabric to try and keep the weeds at bay.

Bog Garden Mark II

We were alarmed to see that several of our new bog plants were looked decidedly unwell in the new bog garden. Consulting our various books we discovered that what the garden centres call 'bog plants' generally mean plants which like damp conditions, but not water logged. It never occurred to us that our bog garden should not be boggy! What we have created is a marginals garden, for plants which like their roots permanently in water.

So we decided to add a bog garden which will be damp but not wet, to accomodate our 'bog' plants. This bed is lined with plastic bags, but we have stuck the garden fork through them to provide drainage for any excess water that is not held in the soil. Now that the pond is full I have been able to build up the sides at a couple of low points so that they are perfectly level. The pond should now overflow into the bog garden bed when we have prolonged wet weather, keeping all the plants happy.


Caroline filling the bog garden with soil.

Pond Life Moves In

Today we bought a few aquatic plants for the pond, including some submerged oxgenators to help keep the water clear. Before we had time to put them in their final positions a pair of mating damsel flies turned up and started laying eggs on them! We have also seen a short fat bodied dragonfly, which we think is a type of chaser. It has been a pleasant surprise just how quickly the pond life is turning up, as we have never seem these insects in the garden before.


I managed to photograph the damsel flies when then landed on some grass at the side of the pond.

Planting the Pond

We have finished filling the pond now. Most of the water came from our rain water butts in the garden. We have several of these collecting water from the gutters. I managed to syphon the water from them using the garden hose. After I emptied 4 of them, we had a very wet day, and they all completely filled again. So I emptied them all again, and only had to top up the pond with a small amount of tap water.

Now we have created a bog garden which is part of the pond water table, so it should always be wet. The soil is held in place with a roll of pond underlay felt containing gravel. So the water can seap through, but the soil does not contaminate the pond water.


Caroline getting her hands dirty

No Chicks

Sadly we have to conclude that the eggs in our bird box were not going to hatch. It is over a month since they were laid, and there is no sign of hatching. By this stage we should have a box full of chicks. We have seen almost no sign of a second parent in the video we have recorded from the bird box camera, and this may have been part of the reason that the nest has failed. The single parent has to leave the box regularly to feed, and this might have meant the eggs got too cold? We can only hope for a more successful nest next year.