[Babstreefern]

Hi everyone, I thought I would share with you my project for next year .  I'm starting a bog garden on my allotment, and my plants will be carniverous types that eat insects, and in some cases snails/slugs .  On thinking about it though, it might be useful to make a bog garden the size of a full plot full of carniverous plants , as I have that many slugs/snails, wasps and other creepy crawlies, that half a dozen plants won't be enough

[Aunt Sally]

I grow carniverous plants but have not come across any that will eat slugs and snails in our climate.  What varietis are you going to grow ?

[Babstreefern]

Hi Aunt Sally, I'll be getting Huntsman Cap, Cobra Lily and various of the trumpet plants.  I've read a report in the RHS's September issue of their magazine, that they grew a total of 19 outside through last year's winter and out of the 19, 10 survived, so I thought I would give it a go.  I've got a small raised bed that's just in front of one of the greenhouses that the last bloke had growing roses in.  I pulled them up and moved them, and I've been deciding what to do with it.  So I'm going to give it a try.  That's one thing about living in Manchester, we may have a lot of rain, but its a fairly mild climate.

[Aunt Sally]

I have quite a few pitcher plants including Huntsman's cap.  They love to be outdoors in the summer but I put them in an unheated greenhouse over winter.   They do get eaten by slugs and snails though 

I'll be extremenly interested to hear how you get on

[scabs]

Hi Babs,

I'm just up the road from you (Droylsden) and would also be very interested to hear how you go with this project. A friend of mine keeps a lot of carniverous plants, but all of his are in a conservatory.

Keep us posted! 
Andrew

[Leedsniner]

I think we have all got bog gardens at the moment!

[Babstreefern]

I agree Leedsniner, although I must admit my plot isn't as water logged as last year.  The chap who had it before me only used a Mantis rotavator to dig his plot, which only chops and turns a couple of inches surface soil.  I dug it completely over last year, and have just finished digging it over this year, but already I can see a difference, but not enough to put bog plants in, I'm sorry to say.

[SG6]

Carnivous plants are carnivous because they grow in places with very little or nutrients, hence they have evolved to trap insects in order to get the missing nutrients. Unless your bog is suitable lacking on nutrients the plants won't grow.

Natural bogs tend to be low in nutrients but I have no idea if you really means a bog or a wet area as people have around ponds.

[Aunt Sally]

A bog garden for insectiverous plants needs to be built with a pond liner to retain the moisture. 

The soil must be mainly peat with a few other bits added like sharp sand, a little john innes for a few species, some like grit or perlite.  They don't all naturally live in the same type of soil. 

They all need it very wet and acidic so only rain water should be used.

[Babstreefern]

Yes, I agree with all you say.  I am digging out all the soil of the raised bed (its about 4ft x 4ft).  Then I'm going to line it with pond liner and fill in with Irish peat, perlite and sand (if I remember its a ratio of 6:2:1) and not forgetting to jab a few holes in with your fork, as you don't want the water to stagnate, and I have plenty of water butts with rain water.  I know never ever use tap water.  With bog gardens, you can either make them like this, or as SG6 says, you can use the area around ponds. 

[Aunt Sally]

Don't forget we NEED photos Babs

[Babstreefern]

Don't worry, I'll provide them - its know how to put them on this system, I've only now had a go on Facebook, which I found was easy peasy