Bog Gardens – Plants for wet soils, boggy areas and ponds

If you dig a hole and fill it with water, and if it hasn’t drained by the next day, you have a poorly drained soil. However, don’t despair because there many wonderful plants that you can still grow – you could create a bog garden or pond. At Greenshutters Garden Centre, we have the following plants for bog gardens, ponds or wet soils.

The Hyacinth Orchid (Bletilla striata) has beautiful pink, orchid-shaped flowers in spring and early summer. It likes a moist but not permanently waterlogged soil.

Elephant Ear (Colocasia Black Magic) has the wow-factor with its large, heart-shaped leaves. It likes its roots in water but not around the stems so will grow on the edge of a pond. Architectural & stunning. Needs a greenhouse in winter.

White Skunk Cabbage (Lysichiton camtschatcensis) is much more beautiful than its name suggests with fragrant white, arum-like lily flowers. Grow in a boggy area or around the edge of a pond.

Hostas form clumps of gorgeous, heart-shaped leaves followed by white or pale blue flowers on tall stems. Hostas love full or partial shade and will happily grow in damp areas or on the edge of ponds.

Bullrushes such as the miniature bullrush, Typha minima, produce rounded seedhead and thin reedmace like leaves. Grow in ponds or containers.

Gunnera tinctoria or Giant’s Rhubarb can grow up to 2m (6ft) tall and makes an architectural statement in

Other plants for damp areas include ferns, grasses, Primula, Iris, Astible, Periscaria and Carex