Wetlands Gardens & Bog Gardens


Are you unfortunate enough to have part of your property on a bog or marsh or to have a swampy ditch or large area of standing water? If your answer is yes, then your biggest landscaping challenge is going to be to change your perspective. Bogs, marshes, and swamps are all vibrant ecosystems that serve an essential environmental function, and you have become a custodian one of these treassures.

Besides being home and breeding grounds to many species of birds, fish, insects, mammals, and rare plants - bogs, marshes, and swamps are one of nature's primary water filters, removing pollutants and excess nutrients, and controling errosion. The quality of many lakes and some streams is heavily influenced by the quality of the bogs and swamps that feed them.



Unfortunately, these areas are often seen as undesirable and unusable, and are subsequently drained, filled in, and cleared of their native vegetation, resulting in poorer water quality downstream. Fortunately, not only can these areas be restored if damaged, and maintained in a healthy state, but it can be done in an aesthetically pleasing way to provide a beautiful backdrop and a point of interest for visitors, rather than something to be covered up.



Populations of marsh loving trees, shrubs, and flowering perennials can be augmented, and a bridge or boardwalk can provide a point of interest and entice visitors to take a closer look. Normally wetlands are also surrounded by a buffer zone of native grasses and wildflowers which helps protect them. Such a buffer zone can be integrated into your yard and will attract more birds and butterflies and add splash of color.





Homemade Bog Gardens

If you are one of the many who WISHED they had their own bog or marsh, don't dispair, because you can still make your own bog garden to grow your favorite wetland plants. The process is very similar to making a pond. You first need to dig a hole, then line it with EPDM sheeting, clay, or a hard plastic shell. Fill with a mix of sharp sand, gravel, and peet. Add water and plants, and if desired, live sphaegnum moss.





If the bog garden is tied into an existing or new pond, and a circulating pump added, the bog garden will improve the water quality of the pond through its filtering action and uptake of nutrients.






Ferncreek Design & Build * Olivebridge, NY 12461
(845) 657 - 1905 * info@ferncreekDB.com
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Serving most points within Ulster County including Samsonville, Palentown, Krumville, Tabasco, Kerhonkson, Lyonsville, Stone Ridge, High Falls, Alligerville, Accord, Cherrytown, Naopnach, Ellenville, Rosendale, Tillson, Esopus, Mt Tremper, Phoenecia, Chichester, Willow, Lake Hill, Shady, Bearsville, Woodstock, West Hurley, and Hurley. See Service Area Map to confirm service to your location.