BOG GARDENS

Sudden heavy downpours, coupled with soil compaction, poor drainage and landscaping with impervious materials will naturally lead to flooding. Prolonged waterlogging can weaken and kill plant roots. We can improve things such drainage using gullies and soakaways but in smaller gardens this can be more of a problem.

If you have very poorly drained soils that are consistently wet, it is generally better to work with nature rather than against it. Some plants thrive in wet, poorly drained soils such as Fothergilla, Euphorbia, Lamium and Trollius but they won't stand having their roots in wet soil all of the time. for permanently wet soils you could design a bog garden. Not only will this work with your soil type but bogs are a haven for wildlife such as dragonflies, frogs and migrating waterbirds.

Despite the name bog gardens can be extremely beautiful. Some good bog plants you could choose from include Filipendula Rubra (Meadowsweet) , Geum x borisii , Geum rivale (Water avens), Gunnera manicata (Giant rhubarb), Gunnera magellanica ,Gunnera tinctoria , Iris ensata syn. kaempferi , Iris ensata Variegata , Iris sibirica , Mazus reptans Alba, Mazus reptans Blue , Mimulus cardinalis, Mimulus Threave variegated , Peltiphyllum peltatum, Rheum palmatum and Sisyrinchium. All of these plants can be found at St Bridget Nurseries' Clyst St Mary Garden Centre.
Also suitable for the bog garden are Astilbes, Hemerocallis, Hostas, Ligularia, Lysimachia, Lythrum, Schizostylis, Tradescantia and Trollius which can all be found in the Herbaceous Perennial Section at both St Bridget Garden Centres.

If you want help planning your bog garden simply pop into your local garden centre, like St Bridget Nurseries, and ask one of the helpful staff.