Guest Author - Hellie T.

English Gardens have a wide selection of plants in them and there is nearly always a pond somewhere in them and usually a boggy place for growing plants that like to have their roots damp.

You don’t need to have a pond to have a bog garden – here is how you make one and you can tailor the size of it to your garden plot.
A bog garden is just wet ground that doesn’t dry out.

You can create an artificial bog garden
by digging out an area of your choice to about the depth of one and a half feet (45cm) It is best to choose a level spot that is sunny for at least half the day.
Line it with polythene.
On top of the liner you put a layer of gravel and sand – about 2-3 inches thick
Replace the soil you took out.
Water the soil well and cover with a mulch – this will help to stop the soil drying out

Plants

Chaerophyllum hirsutum –Roseum has delicate pink flowers from late spring to early summer. Grows to 2 foot or 60cm.

Primula pulverulenta or Candelabra Primula look gorgeous they have flowers arranged in tiers up their stems and they will flower throughout the summer reaching 3 feet or 1 metre They will self-seed easily and soon you will have a marvellous group of them.

Another Primula- Primula florindae has yellowy orange flowers and also flowers in the summer – reaches 3 feet.

Primula japonica – does best in semi shade and has beautiful pale pink flowers - 1½ feet tall.

Myosotis scorpiodes is a lovely easy to grow forget-me-not for bog gardens. It has small blue flowers throughout the summer and only reaches 6 inches (15cm) in height.

Yellow skunk cabbage – Lysichiton americanas has showy yellow spathes in spring –Grows to 3ft or 1metre.

Lysichiton camtshatcensis is similair to the above but has pure white spathes in the spring – but only grows to 30 inches or 75cm.

Lythrum salicaria - Blush is a cultivated form of the wild purple loosestrife. It has pale pink flowers in summer.

Lizard’s tail or Swamp lily -Saururus cernuus – has clumps of heart shaped leaves and spikes of creamy white flowers in the summer height 9 inches or 23cm.

Leucojum aestivum or the Summer snowflake has small white flowers throughout the summer. Grows to 2 feet or 60cm.

Thalictrum aquilegiifolium is a lovely and easy to grow plant. It has masses of tiny pink flowers that can vary from purple through pink to white. Grows to 4 feet or 1.2 metres.

Enjpy your garden!