Bog

In gardening, I look for a pleasing semi-random arrangement. My “bog in a barrel” is the best example I can offer.

The bog in a barrel started as a failed water feature in the garden, with some water plants and a small fountain in an old half whiskey barrel. Over the years, it just was unable to thrive. One spring, I filled it half full of rocks. On top of the rocks, I placed peat moss, then long strand sphagnum moss. Over this, I seeded small patches of living moss and a selection of plants gathered from around my pond. Over the years, I occasionally added plants, but plants also seeded in through the wind or were carried by birds and small mammals. So I had never planted many species in it, but they now are part of the tiny ecology; lupine, water horehound, and others.

It’s not a unique form in the greater sense. Still, it’s a tiny complex ecology of plants and animals with surprises to offer every day, from the sundew to the pitcher plant or the obedient plant’s lavender flowers.