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Lil Stinkpot

Lucky Greenhorn
Last winter I changed out all the soil in the bog, put in a bottom layer of gravel and upturned buckets, and refilled it with a better, looser, sandier mix with orchid bark and chopped pine needles. The plants LOVED it. Then a couple months ago a raccoon got in and ****ed up the west end. Fortunately, I had nothing planted there yet, except for a couple ICU hardware store rescue flytraps. Oh, and my pygmies. Dang! I forgot about that. :censor: (I guess it wasn't so "fortunately")

Anyways, I got tired of seeing the bald, rough patch, and fixed it the other day. Then I covered it all up with whole pine needles to keep the rain (if it ever comes!) from washing away all the new soil.

Anyways, here's how it got built:


The gravel and upturned buckets/pots/whateverIhadlayingaround: I added water to the top of the gravel, that way it wouldn't take forever for it all to filter through the added soil.

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Some plastic weed block to keep the sand out of the gravel:

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Adding soil:

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Watered down:

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Doesn't that soil look great?

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Putting the plants back in:

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Settled in for the winter:

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Alas, I don't think I got any summer pictures.


Here is the section I redid:

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Whole re-done bog:

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Little "pond" to a covered section:

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Out the tunnel:

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And around an "island" to the lower "pond":
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Someday I intend to put in a small solar pump and route it under the red sandstone rock.


More fun features:

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Utricularia longifolia, doing very well:

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Non-carnivorous marsh marigold; lovely iridescent yellow flowers:

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Drosera peltata, looking good as well:

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I put little plugs of Utricularia all around the new stuff. Hopefully it will take "root" and spread, and help keep the soil in place. Anyone have any U. subulata? I actually managed, don' know how, to loose all mine.
 
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Nice! I can't wait to see what it looks like this summer. :-D
 
I added one more. I forgot to show off the whole thing. :headwall:
 
Very nice, good job! I especially like the lower "pond" area with the mound. :-D

I had a problem with raccoons also. They especially love to eat the Darlingtonia for some reason and so I had to put an electric fence around the pond where the Darlingtonia are (and now my fish are safe also, LOL). So far they have left the new large bog alone probably because they don't like sinking into the media.
 
You should put D. intermedia in the pond area if you haven't already. They'll grow to the size of a baseball. Where did you find the marsh marigold? The leaves look really interesting.
 
You should put D. intermedia in the pond area if you haven't already. They'll grow to the size of a baseball. Where did you find the marsh marigold? The leaves look really interesting.

I *think* I have one. It showed up in some live LFS I put in there. I also have some D. indica seeds I'll spread around once I can take the pine needles off.

I wanna get a mess of different flytraps to put in the re-done area, and D. admirablils for the "little pond".


I got the marsh marigold at a plant show a couple years ago. the main plant died, and all but one division. This one is doing very well.
 
Daaannngg... that's amazing! I so want a bog like that!
 
Looking good, the little stream is a nice feature. Keep an eye on that marsh marigold. They get HUGE !
 
very nice layout Katie! looking forward to seeing the progress and everything filling out!
 
  • #10
More pictures. It's filling out quite nicely.


Pinguicula grandiflora. I though I had lost it all. Surprise!

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Utricularia longifolia:

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Some random hybrid:

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Darlingtonia:

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And it's mini-me:

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Misc. stuff:

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The whole works:

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The Sarrs:

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  • #11
:bigthumpup:wow thats looking great ,darlingtonia is loving it
 
  • #12
One of the most awesome bogs posted on here yet! Maybe someday when I have a permanent place of residence I can do the same thing.
 
  • #13
Wow, awesome! I can't wait to see it next year!
 
  • #14
Next year? What about later this year? They've still got a lot of growing to go. :awesome:
 
  • #15
nice set up. I will most likely have to borrow your "bottom filler" idea in the next few years on my own.

Did you have the earthworm issue in the past? did you come across a ton when you were dumping the media?
 
  • #16
I have to give GrowingOld credit. he's the one that talked me into it. it helps keep the soil from going anoxic (there's a better word for it, but I forgot).


I am figting a mini war with earthworms, yes. They can't crawl up and in, not with the height and therolled over rim, but instead they come in on plants, no matter how obsessively I wash the roots first. I'mkeeoing the population somewhat stable by pickingwhat I startle out when digging, and what is unearthed under rocks. I should try worm grunting.
 
  • #17
I have to give GrowingOld credit. he's the one that talked me into it. it helps keep the soil from going anoxic (there's a better word for it, but I forgot).
.

anaerobic? :)

what do the earthoworms do that makes them such a bother?

Your bog looks wonderful. thanks for sharign the pictures :boogie:
 
  • #18
Anaerobic is another, but there's another word. :blush:

Earthworms are good for the garden. They churn the soil, aerate it, and enrich it with their droppings. This is good for Mom's petunias, but not for CPs. (Experts, I am simplifying terribly, and I hope I get it all right from memory) Animal (and other) waste is made up of ammonia (though some skip this step, and go straight to step 3) which is broken down to nitrites, and then further to nitrates. This is just the stuff that's missing from the soil in most CP habitats, and is almost the same as adding fertilizer. The wastes also seem to sour the soil. With enough worms, it starts to really stink. The other problem with worms is about where the droppings go. They eat the peat, leave the sand, and poop out the reprocessed peat on top of the soil, usually around or on top of those tiny little plants you just coaxed into being. I've had seedlings buried, and small plants rotted out, as well as whole pots of soil ruined and plants killed or maimed.

One or two worms is fine, really, but more, and they will make more, can be harmful. I just throw them in the garden when I catch them.
 
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  • #19
makes sense, but why would earthworms want to be in a bog setting when in nature they never would? you'd think it'd be too wet for em and they'd want out.

I havent been worried bout worms getting in mine but the edges of my bog are pretty much flush with the ground around it. Maybe I should be
 
  • #20
The bog looks nice.

makes sense, but why would earthworms want to be in a bog setting when in nature they never would? you'd think it'd be too wet for em and they'd want out.

Probably, they're not in nature's bogs because earthworms can't swim very well ;) On manmade bogs, they get a "unlimited" supply of food (as peat). So, it is like a earthworm's dream in a manmade bog/
 
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