a bog garden

Recently I have been working on a garden border that needed a bit of attention and planting update. The soil at this garden was mainly clay. Moreover, some parts of this garden were having a drainage problem. This meant that we had to adjust the selection of the plants accordingly.

For the damp areas we planted bog garden plants.

This enabled us to play to the strengths of this garden, planting plants that were suitable for the given conditions. This is a very sensible approach, choosing plants that thrive in your specific garden environment.

For this little border update project, we planted a selection of beautiful bog plants into the areas that experience damp conditions for most part of the year.

The plants we selected will deliver height and colourful flowers bringing real seasonal interest to this garden.

A bog garden doesn’t need to be boring and unattractive. There is a fantastic selection of bog garden plants available that will make your garden stand out in any season.

Here is a short list of bog garden plants list that you could consider:

• Iris sibirica 'Blue King', this variety of iris is ideal for damp conditions, it is a fantastic bog plant, that can grow up to 1.2m tall, it is also very hardy.
  Its strap-like, evergreen foliage will bring linear, grassy form into your garden. The flower, that appears between May-June, is purple in colour and has distinctive white and yellow pattern.

• Primula vialii, is one of the most striking bog garden plants that you could plant in your wet garden. This unusually shaped primula flowers in early to midsummer. The flower has a conical shape and is built from small buds that open at the bottom, revealing the pink colouring, where the top buds remain unopened creating a red tip. It will definitely bring real drama into your garden.

Primula vialii

• Astilbe chinensis ‘Pumila’ is another example of a bog garden plant that loves wet conditions.

  This type of Astilbe is a dwarf variety and grows to approximately 30cm high. It flowers later in the season (August-September). Its beautiful, feathery, pink, branched flowers grow above a very attractive, deeply cut, spreading foliage. The foliage also creates a good ground cover.

  This bog garden plant provides a vibrant display of colour in a garden and when planted in groups the createy a very attractive impressionistic effect. Moreover, the dried flower heads of Astilbe will make a beautiful addition into your winter garden.

 I was looking for a variety of a salvia plant that will tolerate bog garden conditions and I came across Salvia uliginosa.

• Salvia uliginosa, a Bog Sage

  This variety of salvia is very tall (1.7m) and will look great at the back of a bog garden border, delivering delicate see-through effect.

  It flowers between August and October, delivering blooms later in the season. This bog sage has very tall, almost naked stems, with lance shaped foliage. The stems are topped with short spikes of clear blue flowers. It is also a great bog garden plant that attracts pollinators.

A damp garden at first might look like a very problematic site on which to create a garden. The key to success in creating any planting for any garden is, as always, to stop fighting the conditions and embrace what you already have.  

This approach will not only bring peace of mind but also opens up the possibilities and excitement that creating an interesting and colourful bog garden can bring. This is much easier to achieve than you think, given the broad range of bog garden plants that are easily available.

If you garden experience damp and wet conditions, I would be happy to help with selecting right plants for your space, to create an exciting bog garden planting that brings real joy to your life.

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