Running water through container bog all winter?

[Nepen]

Hi all,

So I did it, I made 2 container bogs and put plants in them. They have been running great. I had to put several holes on top of the container to prevent overflow as it seemed like the water going out slower than the water coming in. The intakes are at the bottom and out at the top of the other side, the hose then run to the waterfall.

So now I want to know if you need to run water through them all winter. I dont really want to leave my pump on over winter and hoping that I could just stop the pump next week (before my trip away).

will my bog plants die if I dont run the water?

please advise.

 

[Tula]

I'd love to see some pictures of your bog containers. I don't have a bog, but don't think your plants will suffer if you turn off your pump….it would be like they were in a pond Kim

 

[Nepen]

Hi Tula,
I'll get the picture soon. But the days have been short and when I get home, it's already too dark

I forgot to mention that the water will drain out from the bog if I turn the pump off. There will be about half an inch of water left in the container. that's why I'm not so sure if the plants will be ok in the dry rocks during winter.

 

[Tula]

Hmmmmmm…….not sure with that information. What type of plants are in the bog? If they are found growing in other types of media, I'm thinking they'll still be ok, especially if ft's moist.

Pecan and Addy, members on this site, both have good information on bogs. I look forward to your pics Kim

 

[Nepen]

So here are pics. A little too dark t 5:30pm

 

[addy1]

Nepen, I turn off my pump and bog sometime this month, no later than the first part of december. Depends on how cold we are getting and staying during the day. My pump is external, don't want to take the chance of it freezing if we lose electricity, also do not want an ice dam to form if we do get a cold winter.

My bog does stay full of water, the plants just die and sit in frozen water and pea gravel, they come back great every summer. It looks like yours are in pea gravel, the only concern I would have, since you say the water will drain out, is the roots etc will dry up if you have a spell of no rain, dryness etc. You may want to water them. or even cover with something to keep the gravel moist.
Can you take apart the pipes and plug them for the winter? to keep water in the gravel? I see a hose clamp, you could remove that hose, turn the elbow so it faces up (some water would stay in) stick a piece of pvc into the elbow (don't glue) it will sit there fine and keep some water in the container. I have just stuck pvc in to hold some water without gluing ,without any pressure it has stayed fine.

Nice container bogs btw, I am thinking of doing one for our deck pond, give it some filtering. It gets horrible string algae in the summer, the water only flows a few hours during the day, it is shallow full sun and warm and gets unfiltered nutrient rich water from the big pond.. The algae loves it.

 

[Nepen]

Thanks for your suggestions, addy. I saw your bog and so in love with it that I wanted to have some but this is all I could have

I seal the pipe with silicone.. And it's pretty easy to come lose with a little force so by pulling the hose off, and putting it back on, it will definitely break the seal. Sealing the plastic container (which is not so sturdy and move a lot) is very hard. I will have to figure a better way to seal them.

So you think that the only way the plants could die is drying out? I think I could take one little Marigold marsh out and out it in the little pond, that one I'm not sure can be in the normal ground.

But you gave me an idea. I might just disconnect the hose and lift it up high (instead of the pipe you suggested) that should give it an effect like the way you suggested and keep the water full. Hoping that the water won't freeze and break the pipe though.... May be that s not such a good idea. I don't know, will have to think about it a bit.

Or I may just have to let the plants die and re plant them. That might be the easiest way. Come to think of it, I didn't rinse all the dirt off so hopefully those dirt will help retain the moisture a bit, or I'll just water them once in a while.

I didn't think this through or I'll just plant my plants next year instead of now...this is my learning year

 

[fishin4cars]

One, drying out isn't the only issue, If you do happen to get a hard freeze the freeze is going to kill most of the roots if it's left with no water, I would also worry that it would split the container as well. Is the water coming in to the side of the container only, Is there a grid for even distribution in the bottom? If not, Once the bog matures the other side is going to become more stagnant and not function nearly as well as it does the first several months it was set-up.

Personally, I would be planning on a new one for next spring, Instead of entering from the side, Come up and over the lip in the back and make a small PVC grid with slots cut it so the water distributes evenly up from the bottom to the surface. This would also allow water to stay in the container if the pumps need to be shut down or in case of power failure. It would also hide the piping easier for a better overall look. Also on the next one make your outlet holes at least three times larger than you inlet. this allows for the water to naturally gravity feed back to the pond without as much chance of overflowing.

Another very small but important thing I would do, You see the small piece of what appears to be PVC pipe under the liner, just under where the pipe goes into the container. Fold, your liner up and place another brick on each side of the stacked ones, this will give you last chance of losing water, will help direct the water back to the pond, hide the liner, and also give you a little more protection in case the holes stop up and the whole container overflows. I would do this in back as well, making a actual bowl for the water to flow back to the pond.

 

[Tula]

I like the idea of container bog. I think I cold have something small and manageable. I'm mainly interested in it for aesthetics , but some extra filtration would be a plus! Kim

 

[addy1]

nepen, I leave a bunch of pvc pipes with water in them exposed in the winter. When I pull the external pump the lines are not blow out, drained or anything. But I do not close them off, they are open ended. I have yet to lose a line from freezing. The bog line is full of water so far never an issue, we have been down to the 8 range in temp since i built the pond.

 

[Nepen]

Thanks for the tip fishing4cars and addy!!

Fishing, there is a pipe with holes running through the bottom of the container, I got that idea from somewhere on here there are a lot of holes about 1 inch apart, 3 lines of holes. So the water get distribute evenly through the length of the container. I agree with the outlet hole be bigger than the inlet for next time. I didn't think about that so I had to drill overflow holes, which works like a little waterfall on the side of the container. I don't have space from the back, you see the containers are already against the fence, so I only could have the water coming from the side.

You were right about losing the water, one day I came home and there were only 5 inches of water left in my pond because the water overflow and the liner leaked to the back on the pond instead of going back into the pond so that was my big lesson learned and I'm hoping that I fixed that problem already (I added more rocks under the liner and fold up the side). Thanks for the suggestions, I'll see what I can do to secure the liner some more.

I'm hoping not to have to re-do next year but I'll keep my eye on a better container for permanent one. These container are probably will get brittle and break in a couple years. I need container at least 12 inches high, 8-10 inches wide and as long as I can find. Do you have any suggestions on that?

I agree about the hard freeze that will kill the roots if no water or split the container with water filled... Hm.... We hardly get hard freeze here, or only a day if that, do you think running the water will help with the water freezing?


Addy, what about pond hose? Those are not as strong as PVC pipe and that's what I mostly have running my water, even though I didn't close it off I'd be afraid of it burst open. I'll have to use this as my experiment

Tula, if you want to do container bog, I suggest you use a tougher plastic container like the pond liner material ones. The one I used just way too flimsy and easy to break. But I hope to at least have mine for next year too just from all the time I spent making these things! Lol. I have yet to find one, but maybe the fiberglass might work, only thing is how to drill holes in it.

 

[addy1]

I have never used pond hose, so no clue about how it will do. My lines are all 1 inch or 2 inch pvc. We can freeze pretty hard here, or not at all. I err on the side of it will freeze, ow I could lose my pump if the electricity shut off for any length of time, with it being external. I have already pulled the deck pond pump, small external that handles our head pressure. The deck ponds have had a film of ice on them for the past few days.

 

[Tula]

I'm thinking I'll pull my filter today, as we're supposed to get a cold weather front with sleet etc tomorrow night. One year I got caught with the pressurized filter still running in Jan and it froze and cracked…expensive lesson

We use a combination of pvc and pond hoses. We never done anything special with them for the winter. We do leave them open - so far no problem.

I think I saw here , maybe deiselplower?, had a neat bog container made from a resin rain barrel he got at Home Depot? Kim

 

[Nepen]

Hi Tula, it's about 70 degree today, my fish still very much integrated in eating but I gave them just a little. I heard we will get a little snow next week so I'll stop my pump that night. I will see if I disconnect my hose and drain it, how would that be. If my plant get kill, then so be it. I'll take that chance.

I saw diesel's container, loves it, but it's not suitable for my space, sadly. I need rectangle shape container. Well, I have about all winter to find a new container or I'll have to learn how to drill holes for fiberglass. I have some nice dinner grass container that'll be perfect.

 

[Tula]

I pulled my filter today, as we're to get a cold front this week….bringing sleet and some snow. I also blew leaves away from the pond, removed my net and scooped out any debris I could, then put it back on snugly. Also added Microb Lift.

For now I'm running air stones, they're currently resting on lily baskets, but I'll raise them and possibly add my de icer, as the weather gets colder.

Good thing about winter , is we can day dream and plan for Spring Kim