plants for waterlogged gardens,making a bog garden

If its the latter and you have an area in your garden that is permanently wet or waterlogged,  turning a wet soggy  problem into a attractive and colourful garden is fairly simple, plant plants that like wet soggy soil conditions.

Bog garden plants grow in soil that is constantly wet but not flooded. If the area is permanently flooded, it will need to be drained by diverting the water into a drain or soak away or the area raised.. On the other hand if the soil dries out for longer than say a month every year, bog plants wont thrive. In this article I'm going to cover both types of bog gardens

A bog garden in a permanently wet area or garden
Providing the garden you are going to plant bog plants in isn't flooded, stagnant and smelly, its really easy to select bog plants, most plants are the marginals you see around the edges of garden ponds and I have listed bog plants on this page bog garden plants.

Planting plan, The same rules can be applied when planting up normal gardens and flower borders. Plants look better in groups with the taller plants at the back, low growing in the middle with the ground cover plants in the front. The area will attract natts
on warm evenings but will also attract more welcome wildlife.

Sun or shade, when selecting plants check tolerance to shade and position the bog plants appropriately.

You will need to lay stepping stones through the planted area to be able to plant and maintain your bog garden without getting
covered in mud. The stepping stones will also help to stop the wet soil getting compacted by footprints.

A bog garden will never solve your waterlogging and permanently soggy soil, but it will look better.

Making and planting a bog garden in a dry garden.

Even if the soil is sandy well drained all the time, or clay that is wet in Winter but dries out and cracks up in Summer,  you can still construct a bog area. in an otherwise dry garden. 

Dig out an area to about 12" deep and as wide and long as you want, its worth trying our a sensibly sized area at first, bearing in mind you are going to have to buy bog plants to fill it and they ain't cheap. You will also need to keep it wet and if you are on a water meter that ain't cheap.

Line the area with pond liner, preferably an old one as you are going to pierce it anyway. Pierce a few holes into  the base, I would leave the sides unpierced to keep the wet in the area you have dug out, this saves water and keeps the area around the bog garden dry.

Mix the soil you have dug out with garden compost,  rotted leaves or any green matter and shovel the soil back over the liner.
With very sandy soil mix in more green matter, Clay soil needs less its already rich in the nutrients plants need.
 If you are building your bog garden as part of a garden pond, overflowing when topping up the pond will keep the bog garden damp.

When the plants start to stir in Spring you will need to feed them by adding some more compost or other green matter to the surface, don't dig it in, the worms will take it down. If the garden is part off or next to a pond with fish, over flowing the water will take some of the waste from the fish into the soil, best of both world, filtering the pond and feeding the bog plants. Once again sandy soil will need a lot more compost added than clay. Not sure what type of soil in your garden, visit my type of soil page.

Best to lay stepping stones through the area to be able to plant and maintain your bog garden without getting
covered in mud. The stepping stones will also help to stop the wet soil getting compacted by footprints.



 A bog garden can also be created in a container, any type of planter that will hold the water, plants, and soil intact will do. Fill it and maintain the mini bog garden as I have explained  above.