Question
Hi, I hav had an outdoor bog garden for over a year but recently tore it out to replace the liner for a pond grade liner, expand the size and get rid of the weeds. Im getting ready to put all the peat and sand back in. My question is: is there a herbicide of some of kind that I could use to control the weeds without harming the CPs? Or would doing a controlled burn every year help? Its a large bog so weeding would be difficult especially as fast as they grow in those moist conditions.

Thanks for the help.

Answer
Hi Dustin,

Unfortunately, carnivorous plants are extremely sensitive to herbicides, and I don't know of any that you could use near them safely.  Weed pulling, unfortunately, comes with the territory in bog gardens.

What you can do is consider a top dressing that might slow down the seeds and make them easier to pull.  In pots I've had good success with coconut chips and pea gravel, but this may not be practical depending on how big your bog garden is.

Controlling weeds around the bog garden can be helpful also, so that you have a bigger buffer from weed seeds.  Here I've found grasses and Oxalis to be the biggest pests, and these could easily be killed around the garden.

I wish I had a magic bullet for this, but mostly it's just a matter of staying on top of the weeds during the growing season, and limiting seed exposure to the garden.

Good Growing!

Jeff Dallas
Sarracenia Northwest
http://www.cobraplant.com