permaculture

[Lawrence London <lfljvenaura@gmail.com>]

The Edible Pond and Bog Garden | PFAF | Plants For A Future
The Edible Pond and Bog Garden
http://www.pfaf.org/user/cmspage.aspx?pageid=79

*The Edible Pond and Bog Garden*

The following list contains many plants, most of them either natives of
Britain or naturalized here, that can be grown in ponds or boggy ground.
They are all perennials and, unless stated otherwise, can be easily
propagated by seed or by division in spring or autumn. The list shows that
there is a tremendous potential for food production from ponds and boggy
areas.

Many gardens already have ponds in them and, indeed, will probably contain
several of the plants mentioned below. In other gardens ponds can be very
easily set up (as long as you don't mind a bit of digging) by using plastic
pond liners, pre-formed glass-fibre ponds, or concrete. Even a very small
pond has great potential for food production and any pond adds
significantly to the ability of a garden to support a wide range of
wildlife. It is not intended to go into details of making ponds and
establishing a water garden in this leaflet - contact us if you want
details. However, most of the plants listed here are very easy to
cultivate, indeed, with some of them the problem will be more one of trying
to contain them as they are very vigorous, and you should find that your
pond, once established, will require very little attention.

Just a couple of points that may be worth mentioning are:

   1. Ensure that your pond has at least one shallow side to enable
   creatures, especially amphibians, to get in and out easily;
   2. Ensure that it has several different levels (with at least one area
   more than two feet deep) to enable you to grow a variety of plants and to
   make sure that even in severe weather some of the water at the bottom of
   the pool is not frozen.

If your garden already contains an area of very wet soil that you've never
been able to do much with then hopefully this leaflet will give you some
ideas. It is fairly easy to create an area of boggy soil and perhaps the
simplest methods are:

   1. If you have an old garden pond that keeps leaking then just fill it
   up with earth and use it as a bog garden.
   2. Excavate an area of soil to about one and a half feet, line it with
   plastic, puncture it in a few places and then replace the soil.
   3. Fill in the shallow edges of your pond with earth.