Bog filter clean out?

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This upcoming year will be my first true full year for my bog filter. Last year i installed this early/mid summer and it worked great through out the year. With this unseasonally warm weather (in NY) my plants in the bog are starting to grow.

I didn't plan to do a water change on the main pond as I did one last year but should I clean up the bog yearly or every other year? It would be quite the undertaking to take out and clean up the pea gravel with all the plants I installed last year.

Just curious if anyone else thinks about this as I am sure it won't hurt either way to leave it or clean it. And FYI by clean I mean to take out he gravel and just spray it down with a hose or pressure washer...maybe add some new gravel.
 

addy1

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I personally do not clean mine. Mine is large, deep, and never stinks. It is on its 6th summer. I did install a bottom drain where I could drain the bog and do a stick a hose in the gravel and back wash it. But so far I see no need. It keeps my pond perfect.

Now in saying that I had two very small bog type filters that I did back wash, flush once a summer. open the bottom drain, take a hose and power spray water through the gravel from the top. I have never taken any of my bogs apart and clean all the gravel etc.
 
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Thank you. Mine does not smell either and, in relation to the size of my pond, is very large. My bog, in surface area, is half the size of my pond. But good to know...and note to self....I noted that this probably should have been in pond discussion.
 

addy1

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lol it is fine here or I could move it for you if you wish.

Mine is around 1/3 if not more the size of my pond, full of plants. I figure as long as the water tests are good, the bog is functioning well.
 

addy1

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I take a shovel rake and hoe when i clean the bog. Decrease the massive plant growth and rake out all the winter dead plant parts and fallen leaves. Luckily i can toss it over the bog slope then eventually haul it to woods to decompose tactor bucket loads.
 
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Someone posted a good video here a while back about thinning bog plants. If I remember that was the important thing to do rather than cleaning the gravel. New roots filter water better so thinning plants is highly beneficial since it gives them room to sprout new roots.
 

addy1

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For sure you can yank 50% and by summer you have no clue you yanked that many.
 
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Last fall I culled about 50% of the plants from my bog, covered it with a pvc pipe/6mil plastic cover, and when I opened it up a week ago it's ready to be culled again. I don't think the lizard tail ever stopped growing as it has virtually covered the surface of the gravel. When we can string two or three sunny days together I'm going to garden rake the gravel and keep the pump going while diverting the effluent away from the pond. THEN we'll see who survives! :) I'm leaning towards planting a lot of iris this year and see what develops from them.
My bog is only 20% of the pond's surface but it did a good job last year maintaining the water clarity. There is no smell either aside from the normal water-plants-earthy smell which is not much different than a watered garden.
 
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I don't clean our bog either. Lots of plant thinning, but I've never cleaned the gravel. The water flows perfectly - just like the first day we turned it on - so I leave well enough alone.

Irises do great in a bog - just don't ignore them. I had to thin a clump last year that probably weighed 50 lbs. That was after just two seasons. I'll never make that mistake again!
 
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.................................

Irises do great in a bog - just don't ignore them. I had to thin a clump last year that probably weighed 50 lbs. That was after just two seasons. I'll never make that mistake again!

Huwge23 please excuse this short hijack.......LisaK1, if you break up the clumps do they propagate like lilies?
 
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Being so prolific, I wonder why their prices are so high in the catalogs. We bought a couple because of their color, but only a couple because we thought they were a little expensive.
 

addy1

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Because new ponders need plants see them on line buy them. I bought a lot of plants when I first started this pond.
 

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