Bog building, also called upflow filter, eco filter, wetland filter

[addy1]

A bog can be anything that stays wet and has plants. I have pretty good water flow through mine, it does a great job, never have green water. A delta would work.
There are bogs that are just made with a rock wall the water wanders through the rocks into the pea gravel plant area and back.

 

[JBtheExplorer]

I love the idea of a bog more for the look and types of plants vs. the filtration aspects.

You're right about that. I think I love my bog equally as much as I love my pond. Frogs, birds, and insects seem to agree with me.

 

[Meyer Jordan]

So while I'm not completely new to ponds (my parents have had one at each of our homes over the years), I am finally building one at my own house. It will probably be about 8' x 20' or so and have a waterfall/stream coming into it. I love the idea of a bog more for the look and types of plants vs. the filtration aspects. I have a pressurized filter already ordered for filtration. I was wondering though if I could setup a bog as the "delta" of the waterfall/river that enters the main pond. Or would too much water be flowing through there? My other thought is to do an edge bog around the outer ring, but I don't want to install another pump to feed it, so it would be at the mercy of water movement from the filter pump, etc. Just trying to come up with a hybrid bog that fits into my plans.

Are you thinking of something similar to this?

 

[paintguru]

Are you thinking of something similar to this?

My thought would be to turn the area where it comes into the pond into the bog. Water would spread out and diffuse into the pond. Looks like the picture has bog plants at the side of the "river" section, which may work as well.

 

[addy1]

This is mine as it is doing spring start up. The frogs love it. I found around 6 tiny green frogs hiding in among the plants. The white is the 100 lbs of crushed oyster shells I add every year to help keep the water a touch harder. Our water is so soft it barely reads when you test hardness, acidic ph the shells buffer it nicely to around 100 and ph sits around 7.6 or so.

 

[addy1]

The bog waterfalls back into the pond, also weeps along the entire wall, great spot for moss growing.

 

[paintguru]

Nice! My only concern is winters and how to deal with the bog plants, etc. Guess I will deal with that when it comes!

 

[addy1]

Nice! My only concern is winters and how to deal with the bog plants, etc. Guess I will deal with that when it comes!

All of my plants freeze solid. I do not drain the bog, they come back beautifully in the spring. If they don't survive they don't get replanted.

 

[paintguru]

All of my plants freeze solid. I do not drain the bog, they come back beautifully in the spring. If they don't survive they don't get replanted.

Survival of the fittest, I like that

 

[addy1]

Survival of the fittest, I like that

I used to try and save plants, finally said enough. They have to survive outside to make it here in my little corner of the world.

 

[MariaTeresa]

Addy, do you have a problem with mosquitoes breeding in your bog? Do you let nature take its course or do you have some way to deal with that?

I'd love to add a bog but I'm worried mosquitoes would be an issue.

 

[addy1]

We had mosquitoes when we first moved here. Once we put in the pond, the dragon flies, frogs, birds etc moved in I have not seen one mosquito. Even with the stream just running off and on, a few hours a day we don't get the biters.

The bog, the water moves enough they can't really breed in there. There are a few slower moving areas, but even there I never see mosquitoes.

One street over, through the woods from our house, the home owners were complaining about mosquitoes, not us.

 

[CountryEscape]

The bog may have still water, but the frogs will move in, as Addy said, and the dragonflies, and so forth, and they will all take care of the mosquito larvae. I never see mosquito larvae in the bog areas, although my water is moving as well. Come to think of it, when I had a large pot that held water, I noticed frogs would hang out in that, too, to keep the mosquito population to a minimum. I also have barn swallows, which help out, too.

 

[JBtheExplorer]

All of my plants freeze solid. I do not drain the bog, they come back beautifully in the spring. If they don't survive they don't get replanted.

I was thrilled to see that all of my plants survived in the bog after its first winter. I wasn't sure how they would be in pea gravel in comparison to dirt but everything worked out. Even saw my mini hosta growing back today and I only put that in there just to see what would happen.

 

[addy1]

The bog was like a pea gravel ice rink all winter. The water sits level with the gravel, it does evaporate a tiny amount before it freezes up. You wouldn't think plants could survive that. But land plants also freeze up. So they have survival in their genes.

I have lost a few off and on, they don't get replanted.