What dirt to use in a bog pond?

[6-fan69]

Hi everyone, I am in the middle of building my pond and have a quick question. Attached to my main Koi pond I will have a bog area. Can I use the clay that I have piles of lying around or should I use something else? I will be planting a lotus and some marginal plants. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[CarolinaGirl]

personally, I don't recommend a bog with soil as part of your pond. The bog will trap and hold an amazing amount of gunk, bacteria and other nasties. It's not removed these nasties from the water column, rather just traping them for constant exposure. If you ever needed to treat for parasites, many treatments would be rendered ineffective before they ever had a chance to do their job beause of the large amount of organics in your system.

Another note regarding lotus. They MUST be contained in a pot with no holes!!! Lotus are horribly agressive. If you do build a bog and put one lotus tuber in there, it won't be long before the bog is nothing but a huge mass of lotus roots.

[6-fan69]

Thanks you for the advice. I am still going with the bog it is only 2' x 2'. I really need to know what I should use as fill. If I do get a bug cleaning it out will be no problem.

[6-fan69]

oops just thought of something else. Could I just keep the plants in pots and fill in the bog with pea gravel?

[CarolinaGirl]

If you really really want to use a bog, I'd fill it with pea gravel and not soil. I would also put the gravel up on a grate of some sort and leave a void below it with a clean-out drain so you can at least flush water through it for cleaning. Maybe even have the supply water flowing in to the bottom and up through the gravel, then flow out the top. What you are really looking at is a filter similar to a skippy filter. If you really wanted to get fancy, you could put an air ring in the space in the bottom and flush air through it to aid in cleaning. At least a bog like this is cleanable. And yes....I would put the plants in pots so their roots don't take over the whole bog. Sorry I can't advise you any better than this....I just really don't like the idea of a plant bog as part of filtration anymore. I have this "thing" about any sort of crud being allowed to build-up anywhere in my system.

[6-fan69]

Thank you for the ideas Carolinagirl. This is not going to be part of my filtration system just a small area beside the pond. Thanks again

[CarolinaGirl]

Quote: Originally Posted by 6-fan69 Thank you for the ideas Carolinagirl. This is not going to be part of my filtration system just a small area beside the pond. Thanks again

So the water from the bog will stay separate from the koi pond?? Well, that's a whole different story then!! LOL!!

I just built a bog garden for carnivorous plants (pitchers, sundews and fly traps). I filled it with a 50/50 mix of sand and peat moss. Carnivorous plants like an acid, nutrient-poor mix (as do most true bog plants). I burried a soaker-hose about 5" down from the surface and punched some holes in the liner so it could not overflow into the pond it is next to. I keep it boggy, but not submerged. It looks fantastic!!

If this bog you are building is not part of the pond and does not have water flowing in it, make sure the water cannot flow into the koi pond! the water in the bog will get stagnant and anerobic and if it does go into the koi pond, you will have real problems (including dead fish). If this bog is not for filtration, I wouldn't bother filling it with any gravel or soil. Just drop the plant pots into the water, add some mosquito dunks, and you're done.