How To Make A Container Bog Garden
I absolutely love carnivorous plants. I kept a small collection of Sarracenia (pitcher plants), Darlingtonia californica (cobra lily), Drosera (sundew) and Dionaea muscipula (Venus fly trap) for several years in their nursery pots with mixed results. I kept them in trays of distilled or rain water. The trays were always gross from leaves and seeds blowing into them and green gunk growing in the water so they had to be cleaned out regularly.
The plants were ok with this set up but not thriving. The pitchers were growing pretty well but were in desperate need of dividing. The sundews and VFT would do well for the summer but never could overwinter no matter what I tried. I made a bog garden and have been thrilled with the results.
This project cost around $60 to $70 not including the plants and takes only a few hours of active work. There is some silicone drying and soil settling time so overall it will take a week to two weeks to finish.
I built mine in early spring of 2017. If you are planning this project, I recommend a time of year with a lot of rain. Put out containers before storms so you have extra water to fill up your bog. Only use rain water or distilled water for your carnivorous plants.
I found a 35 gallon pond liner at a home improvement store for about $35. I cut a hole big enough for a 1/2 inch PVC pipe in the side as close to the bottom as possible, inserted the pipe and put a thick layer of silicone around the pipe on both sides. This part would be easier and less messy with a straight sided container as you could use fittings as well as silicone to make a tighter fit. I let the silicone dry according to the directions on the package. On the end of the pipe inside the container, I put a 90 degree elbow with the opening pointed down.
The pipe goes out the side to an elbow to create an adjustable water table. It is all dry fit so I can swap out the vertical pipe to raise or lower the water or to drain the bog completely.
I drilled very small holes all over the sides of a 2 gallon bucket. This will serve as a reservoir for the bog.
I filled the bottom few inches of the pond liner with washed pebbles and put the bucket on top of the pebbles in the center of the container.
In the lid of the bucket, I cut a hole big enough for a 1 inch PVC pipe. I used a sleeve fitting to make the pipe overlap the hole a bit. The lid is snapped down tight on the bucket. This pipe sticks up above the soil surface to make adding water to the reservoir easy during dry months.
I use a stainless steel sink drain strainer to cap the reservoir pipe and keep debris out of the reservoir.
The plants have grown even more since this photo in July. They are somewhat dormant right now but never completely died back due to our mild winters. I think it will be almost completely filled in by June. One of my projects for this summer is to make a surround for the bog to make it more attractive and maybe some sort of wheeled platform. I'm also considering some species specific container bogs because a lush carpet of VFT would be the best.
The plants were ok with this set up but not thriving. The pitchers were growing pretty well but were in desperate need of dividing. The sundews and VFT would do well for the summer but never could overwinter no matter what I tried. I made a bog garden and have been thrilled with the results.
This project cost around $60 to $70 not including the plants and takes only a few hours of active work. There is some silicone drying and soil settling time so overall it will take a week to two weeks to finish.
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| Freshly planted in the new bog - spring 2017 |
I built mine in early spring of 2017. If you are planning this project, I recommend a time of year with a lot of rain. Put out containers before storms so you have extra water to fill up your bog. Only use rain water or distilled water for your carnivorous plants.
The pipe goes out the side to an elbow to create an adjustable water table. It is all dry fit so I can swap out the vertical pipe to raise or lower the water or to drain the bog completely.
I drilled very small holes all over the sides of a 2 gallon bucket. This will serve as a reservoir for the bog.
I filled the bottom few inches of the pond liner with washed pebbles and put the bucket on top of the pebbles in the center of the container.
The soil is a mix of peat moss and silica sand. There isn't a specific ratio, I just mixed the moistened peat with the sand until it looked right and was loose and crumbly. It was probably around 1/3 sand and 2/3 peat. When buying peat moss for carnivores, make sure it is not fertilized in any way.
I use a stainless steel sink drain strainer to cap the reservoir pipe and keep debris out of the reservoir.
Once filled, I left the bog out to collect rainfall and settle for a week or two then topped off the soil before planting. Leave a lot of space between plants as they will fill in quickly, particularly the pitchers.
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| Right after planting, late April 2017 |
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Mid July 2017
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The plants have grown even more since this photo in July. They are somewhat dormant right now but never completely died back due to our mild winters. I think it will be almost completely filled in by June. One of my projects for this summer is to make a surround for the bog to make it more attractive and maybe some sort of wheeled platform. I'm also considering some species specific container bogs because a lush carpet of VFT would be the best.
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