If a certain area of your landscape looks like the Okefenokee swamp,
don't throw in the towel (or anything else, either). Mother Nature
has handed you a great opportunity: build your own bog garden!

Where to begin? Obviously, you'll want to select a site that is
low-lying so that moisture will naturally gravitate towards it. If
you have a natural 'basin' with soil that consists mainly of clay,
you probably won't need much more than a trickle of water to maintain
sufficient moisture. At last! A good reason for clay soil!

However, in most cases - particularly when the soil has fairly good
drainage - you'll want to excavate your site somewhat. The depth
of the initial excavation should be between one and two feet.

As for the outline of the bog garden, use the old landscaper's trick:
lay a rope or a garden hose on the ground roughly in the desired shape,
then move it in or out until you get the exact outline you want. Use a
fork or spade to go around the perimeter making the initial cuts,
following the rope or hose. Dig down to the soil to the desired depth,
piling the soil on a tarp to protect the surrounding lawn.

Now this is where bog garden enthusiasts fall into two different camps:
those who like to line the bottom of the excavated hole and those who
prefer to use purely 'natural' materials.

One proponent of the 'natural' style suggests spreading a little
clay as the base of your excavation. Over this, add a five-inch layer
of rubble or large stones, then fill to a couple of inches below the
adjacent grade level with a mixture of half loam and half leaf-mold or
peat.

Most 'liner' advocates will tell you to line the hole with 4- to
6-mil plastic sheeting, preferably a single sheet, rather than two or
more overlapping sheets. Center the liner and push it snugly all around
the hole and up the sides, leaving a generous amount as a "collar"
all around the edges. Punch some holes around the perimeter because,
although the whole idea is to keep it moist, you don't want a
semi-pool of stagnant water.

Add a couple of inches of moist sand over the plastic sheeting. Then
continue filling with a mixture of one part sand and three parts peat
moss, well dampened, to within a couple of inches of the top of the
hole. You can trim the liner collar, but leave about 12 inches all
around to allow for further settling. You can cover the exposed liner
with rocks, soil, pine needles or mulch if you wish.

So should you use a liner or not? It's a personal choice, but much
will be determined by your specific soil conditions and terrain. In
either case, it's hard to go terribly wrong, assuming you start with
a natural basin that tends to collect moisture.

I'm happy to help you with any questions you might have, so feel free
to send me an e-mail at You can also research
online and here are two resource where you can begin:
http://www.pitcherplant.com/bog_making.html and the Brooklyn Botanical
Garden Web site http://www.bbg.org/ where you can type Bog Garden into
the search window.

You can click on direct links to both sites when you find this column
archived under the Plant Man heading at my Web site www.landsteward.org

What can you plant in your bog garden? Again you'll find a lot of
ideas online and there are literally hundreds of plants to choose from.
Here are just a few ranging from tall to small: (approx mature height
in inches)

Bamboo (150), Great Reed (100), Cow Parsnip (100), Pampas Grass (70),
Goat's Beard (50), Japanese Iris (36), Siberian Iris (20), Dwarf Knot
Grass (15), Marsh Marigold (12), Bog Pimpernel (4), Moneywort/Creeping
Jenny (4)... and SO many more!

Do some research and turn your mini-swamp into a delightful bog garden!

The Plant Man is here to help. Send questions about trees, shrubs and
landscaping to . For resources and additional
information, or to subscribe to Steve's free weekly e-mailed
newsletter, go to www.landsteward.org