How deep is your bog?

[Laaf]

I wanted to hear how deep you made your bog and if you would do it differently if you had it to do over.

I am interested in total depth from bottom of the bog to the top of the containment walls/side, and how deep the gravel is. How much open space did you leave from top of gravel to top of the side.

And I want to hear at what height you made your water spillway?

My little minibogs (in masonry tubs) are having issues with roots growing and pushing everything higher up so I am getting overflow I need to fix from time to time. I check every day. So I know I did not leave enough space for plant growth and filled them with too much pea gravel from the beginning. I am planning a new larger bog for a 3000 or so gallon pond, and I want to "do it right" the first time as far as total bog depth and gravel depth.

(I am going for a major upgrade from a 100s of gallons little pond with little bogs)

I was thinking 2 feet with 18 inches of gravel and 6 inches of space above it, but with Addy's 2 1/2 feet of gravel I am tempted to add the extra foot to the total bog depth to have more gravel and or more clear vertical space for root growth. It is more materials, but that is only a cost up front versus long time functioning.............

I have read and reread the long bog posts and many other posts and talked in some private chats. I seem to just need more data points to make a decision...............................

Thank you for your comments.

 

[combatwombat]

Building mine right now. Vertical dims=

Freeboard: 6"
Water: 3"
Gravel: 24"
Milk crates: 11"
Centipede trench: 16"
Snorkel pit: 6"

So, total depth of 5'-5", but that's only at a 20" diameter hole for the snorkel pit. 24" of gravel. 9" above gravel with 3" taken up by standing water.

 

[Jhn]

My bogs are similar to cw’s around 5’ or so with snorkel pit around 12-16” below the aqua blocks which are 16-17” then 2’ or so of gravel, some areas more some less with about 6-10” of free board before water could spill out as plants grow.

Have yet to have the water even come close to overflowing and my bogs are jammed with plants.

 

[brokensword]

--Mine is 36" deep
--my 'centipede'/manifold is 4" lower in a trench down the middle (I have two manifolds side by side; 4" drain tile pipe with slits 1/3 the way through.
--first layer is 6-8" round stone, approx 12" thick
--second layer is 2" cobble stone, approx 12" thick
--third layer is 3/8 pea gravel, approx 12" thick
--water level is at or just above pea gravel; some places it's over as roots have had their way, but only by 1" or so.
--bog wall is 6" above pea gravel
--my bog facia wall is 12" approx above the pond level
--spillway is the entire length; 20' linear; I've put stone on top to create 'channels', stone is about 2" thick

I used one liner for everything including any side coverage, so no water, even if it rises and I'm unaware or plants are wicking it out, will always have liner to catch it and return it to the pond. Did the same thing for the entire waterfall area, so in essence, any leaks other than the actual pond itself, and every bit of water goes back.

 

[GBBUDD]

Mine main matrix bog is similar to @Jhn and @combatwombat with the exception I did not dig a trench for the centipede. It is pitched toward the snorkel. However the centipede in mine is a 24 inch and I use that similar to a matrix bog but the water as it leaves this 18 foot length it enters into a area where heavy debris would get stuck and fall out of the water. It is then allowed to build up outside the culvert because to us it is the thickest nastiest muck. To the enhabitants its the richest soils around and five star dinning and hotel reservations for microorganisms worms Beatles/ winter for frogs it can build up 2 feet thick by at a minimum 3 feet wide 18 feet long on both sides I figure if it fails I'll be 6 feet under doing the same for microorganisms else where

 

[Faebinder]

Mine is about 3 feet above ground completely… it’s a lot of pea pebbles.

My previous big was 2 feet with 1 foot below ground level.

 

[addy1]

Just pea gravel. 2.5 feet deep, 4.5 feet x 27 feet, about 6 inches of edge above the gravel. A long bog/pond wall that weeps water over and a 3 foot water fall rock. Drop about 8ish inches to the main pond.

 

[Bluerooster]

Bog #1 is similar to yours (OP) and I'll be re doing it inna month or so. Plants have out grown it, and cause water to overflow from time to time.

Bog#2 is about 16" deep, with 12"-14" of pea gravel. And way more surface area, about 8'x12' +/-

 

[Lisak1]

Four feet deep. Wouldn't change a thing! Aquablox with a snorkel and centipede, the rocks, then gravel, then pea gravel.