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Ground clearance for bog garden

Treeman

By Treeman

20 comments


Hi

There is still a foot of snow lying outside, and that which melted at midday has become sheet ice. So with the light failing I am forced inside. However, while I’m inside I thought I might pick the goy-mega-brain!

I have just built a new pond. It is 8m by 9m and 2m deep. The purpose of the pond is to catch the water that runs off the public road and into my driveway, washing out the surface.

I have diverted the runoff from the road into an agricultural drainage pipe 100m long, sunk 4ft below the surface of the field. This empties into a short rill and then into the pond. The pond is initially topped up and then overflows into an area which ten years ago I had planted with alder trees as it was always quiet damp.

As it is a damp area I haven’t done anything in the past to control the couch grass, willow herb or ground elder. However, I think it might make a nice bog garden. Its about 8m by 15m in new money. I was going to have a programme of controlled glyphosate spraying sessions to clear the area. Wait until about Easter time put down an application of glyphosate, see what regrows and repeat as necessary. Hopefully if nothing prolificly weedy was growing at the end of the summer I could start planting my primulas and gunnera.

Has anyone out there undertaken a similar project? Have you managed to exterminate the weeds without resort to chemicals/back breaking hand weeding (and no it is not character building or my character would have its own tv show). Would appreciate any advice (not on my character).
Will take some pics once the snow is away to give you a better idea of the project.

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Comments

 

Not advice....but a genuine "well done" from me, in dividing your text up into easily readable paragraphs, rather than one solid block which can sometimes be difficult for GoY members to see....

I hope you get lots of useful answers... :o)

27 Dec, 2009

 

TT Thanks for that. I have just tried to upload a pic of the pond for folk to see but the new camera takes 4mb pics. This is larger than the max allowed which is 3mb. Do you know how to shrink a pic?

27 Dec, 2009

 

Hi Treeman, unfortunately I have not taken on a project like this as I don't have the space. However, I used to live in Buchan so know your gardening conditions and, until I retired, I worked for SEPA and can understand your issues.
Road run-off water is not the best for a pond as it is likely to contain many pollutants such as salt and oil. As you are obliged to accept this run-off there is not much else you can do. The pond will help to purify the water and by the time it has run through the bog garden the quality will be much inmproved. The pond should support plant life but if you intend to stock it with fish you should be prepared to accept losses if there is a spillage on the road eg silage effluent.
Glyphosphate is probably the best weedkiller to use as it breaks down on contact with the ground and with water. If you think of using anything else be careful that it cannot run to any nearby watercourse. If you cause the fish to be killed you will be in serious trouble.
Hope this helps. If you want to go deeper into this you might prefer to pm me rather than have me taking up half the GoY web space!

27 Dec, 2009

 

Treeman... sending you a pm. re. photos...

I've decided to add this blog to GoYpedia Flood Damage because it does involve "excess water". :o)

27 Dec, 2009

 

i was going to say about the pollutants in the runoff but Bulbaholic has answered that for you.
well done on a good project and I look forward to seeing the photos. sorry cant help on that format either.

27 Dec, 2009

 

Thank you all for the advice. I have considered the pollutant angle and not having any fish in the pond I decided that it was worth a try. If all the plants die then it can just be a reflecting pool...lol

27 Dec, 2009

 

Lol. :o)

27 Dec, 2009

 

I have found a use for Snapfire..the free bit of software on the laptop. It is great for reducing the file size of pics. Top Tip of the day...lol

27 Dec, 2009

 

Treeman keep us updated on how this project goes... I'm sure you will have a wonderful bog garden :-)

27 Dec, 2009

 

Can't offer any advice I'm afraid but a fascinating project which I'm sure we'd all be interested in following the progress of. Good luck.

27 Dec, 2009

 

super photo.

27 Dec, 2009

 

Very interesting Treeman, lovely photo's of the snow.

28 Dec, 2009

 

Looking forward to seeing how it all developes in the future, good luck with it all.

28 Dec, 2009

 

Thank you all for your encouragement. Its a huge work but I have an image in my mind of how it will look by the end of the summer. I'll keep you all updated!

28 Dec, 2009

 

please do we will look forward to...

28 Dec, 2009

 

Hello Treeman - its kind of spooky because I'm in a very similar situation to you. We have a boggy area next to our pond which was set with alders and willow and after the awful summer of 2007, this low spot was submerged for months and the alders and willow died so now I have a large area, covered in couch grass which I want to set up. I've been doing my research and know the plants I want but its the grass that's the problem.

29 Dec, 2009

 

DA Good luck with your project. I guess being in Leicestershire your bog garden will establish more rapidly than mine. I eagerly anticipate photos of your progress.

29 Dec, 2009

 

Hi Treeman. I'll drop you a pm.

29 Dec, 2009

 

I'll keep an eye on my inbox. I've had a look at your pics and they make my project look like very small beer. Your garden looks wonderful, and that pond of yours is more like a lake! Not so much a hobby as a way of life!

29 Dec, 2009

 

:-)

30 Dec, 2009

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