FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

Hi guys, I have a few questions about outdoor bog garden. I'd appreciate some info, if you know the answers.

1. I want to do my bog which will be also partially pond, i.e. will have a part full of water. Can I put e.g. VFT or another carnivorous plant very near the water so that it will almost always be soaked inside or is it best to build "a hill" with peat moss and put the CPs there?

2. Can you give me a list of some aquatic plants like Eriocaulon for example, but that can co-exist with carnivorous plants? The botanical garden of TU Delft, in the Netherlands has the following CPs and other plants: VFT, Sarracenia, Vetiveria zizanioides, Centella asiatica and some sort of water lily. (See photos).

3. Again there, the carnivorous plants seem to be planted directly in the peat. Do I have to keep them in pots even if they are going to be in peat moss in the ground in my regular garden?

4. How can I isolate the carnivorous plants growing media from the regular soil of the garden? Is is possible to avoid keeping the bog in a big container and just use some sort of plastic and be done with it?

5. Would this bog garden which will be outside, need to be covered somehow and protected by rain as the one in the TU Delft botanical garden (photos below) was covered. It rains a lot here. I was also thinking of leaving a bit of space on the outer sides and put some insulation like styrofoam or something?

6. Lastly, do carnivorous plants thrive better in sphagnum moss (dead or alive?) or in peat moss (I have peat moss, mixed with perlite). I heard that perlite can actually help mineral buildup in the soil? For my bog garden, would sphagnum be better, considering in winter we only sometimes get below 0 deg C.

Thanks in advance for the info!

P.S. In general, any other type of Bog garden advice would be useful too! So please let me know
P.S. 2: can you show my your bog gardens?

Photo 1: https://scontent-amt2-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/ ... e=5BED3342

Photo 2: https://scontent-amt2-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/ ... e=5BFBB836

Disclosure: I have never had an in ground bog myself. I have seen them, helped with them, read about them, planed them and kept mini bogs but never had my very own in ground bog, so take my advice with a grain of salt.

1. Depends on the plant. Not all carnivores are created equal. VFTs for instance like things a little dryer (NOT dry, just dryer) and Drosera intermedia likes things a lot wetter. You will need to do a little research and find out what the preferences are of the plants you want in your bog.

2. Sorry, does not compute. Is there even such a thing as a non-carnivorous plant? I had no idea! Why would anyone grow one? Really? Seriously?

3. No pots necessary if the plants are going in good quality, non fertilized, peat.

4. Pond liners are your friend.

5. Nope, let the rain come down. Just make sure you have a way to keep the bog from flooding. Most carnivorous plants are bog plants so they don't mind being wet but you can overdo things, FYI.

6. Most of your plants will grow just fine in peat/perlite. Don't make this more complicated then it needs to be. Trust me on this, easy is your friend. The only problem you might have is pelite floats so it might be hard to keep it out of the water feature part of the bog, therefore plan accordingly.

General advice: Read all about this before you start. Plan very carefully and then plan some more. Try to keep things as simple as possible, complications will cause endless headaches. Read thoroughly about all the plants you want to grow and choose carefully plants that can survive and thrive in your conditions. Most carnivorous plants need lots and lots of direct sun. Is your bog going to get at least 6+ hours of direct sun? If not, forget it. Don't over plant your bog, you can always add more plants later. Seriously, don't over plant.

Use a bath tub , i have this year and all my plants have done great considering it is the first year of transplanting.

Will be doing some photos soon.
I got the inspiration from this :-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4iRAtNcDB0 (mines a poor mans acrylic bath though)

Jaws wrote:Use a bath tub , i have this year and all my plants have done great considering it is the first year of transplanting.

Will be doing some photos soon.
I got the inspiration from this :-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4iRAtNcDB0 (mines a poor mans acrylic bath though)

CPs will make a acrylic bathtub, even a wheel barrel, look classy

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First year growing in bathtub bog garden, after years under cloches.

Jaws wrote:First year growing in bathtub bog garden, after years under cloches.

That's really impressive. Beautiful

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Compost and soil extracted from the whole will kill any carnivorous plants planted in it. Planting trees around the bog will block the direct sunlight that is necessary.