Re: RE: newbe

From: dave evans (T442119@RUTADMIN.RUTGERS.EDU)
Date: Mon Jan 27 1997 - 18:18:00 PST


Date:    Mon, 27 Jan 97 21:18 EST
From: dave evans                           <T442119@RUTADMIN.RUTGERS.EDU>
To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com
Message-Id: <aabcdefg405$foo@default>
Subject: Re: RE: newbe


> 1. Unless you always have plenty of rainfall or a constant water source for
> the bog, use a plastic liner. The kind I use is an all purpose plastic
> roll, the higher the mil (thickness), the better.

Hi list,

    Try to locate some that will tell you right on the package that
it resists sun damage. Most plastic sheets are just for use as a drop
cloths for when you're painting or whatever and will not be protected.

> 2. Dig that hole as deep as your arms can manage. I'd say a minimum of 18
> inches but 24 is better and Dave Evans (Hi Dave) will tell you 36 inches (1
> meter). The added depth will give the bog more water and allow the surface
> of the bog to remain wet or damp between rains.

Yes, deeper is probably better, but 36 inches here may have been
a bit much. ;) 30 inches would have worked just as well, I think...
I'm in northern New Jersey and if you're futher north, deeper will
will help by providing a heat sink for southern plants in your even
colder and longer winters. I've found that S.psittacina flowers
very well in the deeper bog and not at all in the shallow one...
I wonder if they are getting colder in the shallow bog, and going past
their flower bud hardiness while been protected in the deeper bog?

> 3. Don't make the bog wider than one arm's length. I have to straddle
> the corner of my 1st bog to try to reach the center. It hurts!

Ha! I made my first bog too wide. After nearly diving head first
in to it because I was straining to reach in, I decided to avoid
becoming one of those well preserved mummies they keep finding in
bogs and took a couple feet off the width of it. *NOT* easy!
Get it right the first time around to avoid our (David's and my)
mistake. It can be twice as wide as your arms reach, if you can
approach from both sides. If it is going to sit against a fence
or building, then keep under three feet wide.

Dave Evans



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