WEEPING WILLOW, ELEPHANT’S EAR The North Shore’s soggy soil is perfect for growing bog plants I SPENT some time with friends in Victoria, cver the - weekend. Even though I had great fun ridiculing their dry, lifeless soils and kidded them by saying their climate was good for tumble weeds and cactus, I was secretly envious. Sure, the sun is out today and the temperature may reach into the 80s tomorrow, so what? One look at my struggling bedding plants reminds -me. of «the cold, months we've just been through and are destined’ to go through again. As I have no intentions of leav- ing the North Shore (why trade the crown jewel for the setting), I will continue to make the best of our slightly damp weather. If I cannot grow cactus and sage brush, I will accept rhododendrons and azaleas as substitutes. - Problem is, there are a few spots in-the garden that are even too wet for my. substitutes. Granted, I fill the area in and get above wet. the water table or I could install a drainage system. Unfortunately, both of these alternatives have the unattractive side-effect of draining my bank account. The best solution relative to the peculiarities of our climate, the site and my financial situation, is to grow plants that prefer wet feet. There is a wide variety of trees and shrubs that wiil either tolerate or even prefer water-logged loca- > tions. From common plants such as the weeping willow (salix - babylonica) to the spectacularly unigue elephant’s ear (gunnera manicata). Before we get too carried away planting an exotic bog garden, let’s determine whether or not you have a suitable wet spot. Dig a hole one foot deep by one foot wide then fill it up with water. If you can’t fill it up faster than it drains away or if it does not drain away within an hour, you have a drainage problem ~— or an excellent site for a bog garden, over the garden gate Geoff Tobiasson depending on your perspective. If your site is wet because of a compacted layer of clay fill, as is the case in areas around recently constructed homes, you will need to create a plantable soil in the area. This can be accomplished by ei- ther importing 12 to 18 inches of topsoil or blending equal parts peat moss in to the existing soil (ie: nine inches of peat with nine in- ches of existing fill equals 18 in- ches ‘topsoil’). if your problem is not having a location with the necessary poor drainage to grow big bog plants and you wish to do so, here is how it’s done. Dig a big hole of suitable size and shape 12 to 18 inches deep. Spread two inches of sand over the bottom and line it with a heavy- duty plastic. The plastic should come no higher than six inches up the sides unless you want a pool instead of a bog. A layer of sand, clay overtumed sod, or fill will hold the plastic in place while you in-fill with a peat-based (50 per cent or more) topsoil. Berm or mound the soil six to cight inches higher than the sur- U - Friday, July 28, 1989 - North Shore: News @ Lirasty.es rounding area. So now that your site is wet and goocy, what do you pliant? Here are a few suggestions, some of these will tolerate wetter soils than others: © Trecs ~ acer rubrum (Canadian ted. maple), betule (birch), fg- uidambar, magnolia grandiflora (evergreen magnolia}, plantanus (plane tree}, and salix (willow). © Shruss — cornus elegantisma and c. stofonifera (shrub dogwoods), gaultheria shallon (salal), gunnera manicata (elephant ears), salix (shrub willows), vac- cinium (blueberry, cowberry, huckleberry, -etc.), and viburnum trilobum (cranberry). © Perennials acoaitum (monkshood), aster novea-angliae (micheal mass daisy), astilbe, caltha (marsh marilgo