Bog and Marsh Gardens

In the dark peaty hollows among the trees, and in the clearings amid the copse, here will flourish our native bog plants, Drosera, Pinguicula, Caltha,   Parnassia, Osmunda and Purple Orchis. In the less wild portions, crimson patches of Primula Japonica will stain the moss carpet, and by the pathways rosy branches of Dielytra Specta­bilis are finely contrasted with a glossy background of Rhododendron leafage.

Somewhere among the tree shadows, a special corner will be found, where in splendid isolation, clumps of the Mocassin flower (Cypripedium Spectabile) may throw up their gorgeous slippered blooms. And so gradually, the flower pro­cession passes from water to bog, from bog to wood­land, from woodland to meadow and garden border, changing as the various stages are traversed, a complete and beautiful revelation of Nature's adaptability and resource.

Near the margins of fair sized pools and along the sides of valley streams, natural bog gardens may be made with little trouble. In fact, nothing much is needful in the way of preparation beyond the con­struction of safe and convenient pathways, and the clearing away of the weeds and coarse herbage which usually over run such spots.

If the area of ground to be dealt with is large, it will be advisable to retain some of the boldest groups of sedge and rush, allowing these to act as natural screens to the various divisions. The making of rough pathways will present no difficulty. At the edge of the marsh ground and in the drier portions it will be sufficient to excavate the soil to a depth of a few inches, filling in with rough ballast and making the surface moderately level.

Towards the centre and in the wettest places, the paths should be dug out at least a foot deep, coarse drainage and porous material being afterwards rammed in until a sufficiently high and firm passageway is secured. Such paths should be left quite in the rough, with edges only barely defined. Any attempt at trimness or formality would be quite out of place. Though it should be so arranged that all the best and most interesting parts of the bog garden can be included in the survey, an excessive number of paths will produce a map like and unsatisfactory effect.

In order to anticipate this, good use may be made of stepping stones, which will not only provide short cuts from one pathway to another, but will permit close inspection of plants growing in the wet mossy ground, fringing the bog pools.

With the soil removed when path making and clean­ing, mounds and sloping banks may be made in the drier situations. A flat, even surface is fatal to the appear­ance of the bog garden, where the various families of water loving plants should be grown in little groups and colonies, each a small picture in itself. It is essential also, that a varying degree of moisture be obtainable throughout, for although many bog plants, such as Osmunda, Iris Kaempferi and Calthas, revel in wet mud, others require a peaty loam or leaf soil.

It is an easy matter to prepare special beds for favored groups of Liliums, or to make clearings among the sphagnum for such small subjects as Pinguicula and Drosera.

Grouping for general effect, which is an important consideration in the flower garden proper, is something totally unknown in the bog garden. 

In short, bog gardens are Nature, as it were, under the microscope. Each separate plant disassociates itself from its neighbors, and seems to invite close inspection and its due need of praise.

On the rising ground at the outskirts of the bog garden, the planting should be of a bolder and more definite character. The soil will here be drier and better drained, so that plants which prefer to send their roots for some distance in search of moisture should be selected. If a strip of woodland or hazel copse skirts one side of the marshy land, the garden may merge imperceptibly into the undergrowth, good use being made of Daffodils, Lily-of-the Valley and Anemones, planted in long drifts among the trees.

In the higher bog garden, bold clumps of Goat's Beard (Astilbe Rivularis), Blue Poppy and Eulalias, would serve to mark the confines of the garden. Another plant of somewhat the same character is Turkey's Beard (Xerophyllum Asphodeloides), its racemes of white blossoms thrown well above the grassy foliage, on tall stalks. The Globe-flowers (Trollius) will also give very fine effects, and are especially happy when the roots can travel in search of moisture near at hand. In large grounds, Rhodo­dendrons in irregular groups are invaluable, and also provide shelter for peat loving Lilies.

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