Garden Ponds are a great way to enjoy your California backyard

Bog And Tub Gardens In most gardens there is a sunless corner where the soil is dank arid apparently barren, and where such plants that grow at all are stunted and unhappy-looking. This is the spot for the bog garden, one of the most fascinating gardens of all.

Bog plants, however, require even more moisture than the shady corner provides, and if the plants are to look their best it is advisable to prepare the bog garden properly at the outset. The area decided on for this garden should be excavated in the same way as for a pond, unless one is fortunate in having a stream running through the grounds, or there is a fountain or waterfall to provide the necessary moisture. The excavation should be about two feet deep, and, if possible, puddled with clay ; otherwise, of course, concrete must be used. Fill in the excavated part with good leaf mould. A garden made in this fashion will retain the water after watering.

When the ordinary pond is being constructed, if a suitable spot for such a garden lies near by, the water supply can come from the pond. To effect this, the side of the pond adjoining the bog garden should be perforated by placing short lengths of greased broom handles through the cement whilst it is soft (Fig. 14).

The water will ooze through the small holes and so keep the garden moist. If the cement bed of the bog garden is not leaky, when once the soil is saturated with water only a small amount of water will be absorbed from the pond.

The plants for this type of garden may be collected from water meadows in the country, from shady spots if the garden is very shady, and, of course, if it receives much sun, the plants must come from a similar situation. Otherwise the plants, of which there is a surprising variety of foreign species now obtainable, can be purchased from a nursery specializing in this kind of plant. The prices range from about ninepence per root to a guinea, according to the size and rarity of the individual specimen.

Ferns naturally come to the mind and some species thrive best when an inch or so of water covers the roots ; the majority of ferns, how- ever, prefer shade and just moist soil. Osmunda regalis, the Royal Fern, is perhaps the best of all bog plants ; the fronds may be as much as a foot across and grow to a height of four feet or more.