Gardeners should “embrace the bog”. So says a Chelsea Flower Show designer when asked about how to cope with the record rains the country faced this autumn, winter and spring. Many of our backyards and front gardens were swamped. But, it seems, we should take heart because she built a beautiful small bog garden at the famous garden show this week. And Capability Brown built one that's been rewilded at LettsSafari's showcase gardens in Exeter (watch the narrated video above).
In the 2nd part of ‘Embrace Your Inner Bog’, coming in a few weeks, we’ll show you how to build your own, with some tips from Capability’s work and images from deep inside LettsSafari’s bog gardens.
The flood proof garden by Naomi Slade caught a great deal of attention at the Chelsea Flower show this week. It showed that even with the unusually wet weather this year, British gardens can still be full of life and colourful flowers, while at the same time helping to manage flood waters, and preventing water invading your house - even the local roads.
Slade demonstrates the power of a boggy area of garden, showcasing bright blooms including buttercups, ragged robin and primula. “People need to embrace the bog,” she said. “If you have a boggy bit, you should plant things that really like it. A lot of pond marginals are tolerant of a wide range of conditions. Just because it’s a bog plant doesn’t mean it needs to be absolutely wet all the time; a lot of them put on growth in spring and are almost dormant over summer.”
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