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drill holes in kiddy pool for bog garden?

14 years ago

Colleagues:

I'm about to place a 4.5' by 1' deep kiddy pool in its hard won hole. Should I drill holes in the kiddy pool to provide some drainage? How many holes should I drill? How wide should each hole be?

I've searched gardenweb and the web on this, but have found suggestions not to drill out the bottom at all, and other suggestions to provide drainage without specifying how much.

'
Thank you for sharing your wisdom.

-hebdemnobad

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Comments (6)

lycopus
14 years ago
I wouldn't put holes in the bottom, since you want it to hold some water through periods of drought. Maybe put some holes around the edge to keep water from standing at the surface and prevent mosquito larvae from establishing. Another option is to bury it a little deeper than the edge. Really depends on what you will be planting and how much saturated soil the plants can take.
hebdemnobad
Original Author
14 years ago
Thanks for the reply lycopus. I'll follow your advice, and either drill holes in the side of the pool near the surface or make the hole deeper. I assume that if there isn't sufficient drainage I can always poke holes in the bottom at a later time.
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hebdemnobad
Original Author
14 years ago
i picked a bad summer to dig a bog garden (i'm in the catskills) rained all week and filled my bog hole, i woke up to see my kiddy pool floating in an inadvertant pond, most improperly.

i pumped out the hole, only to observe that the water table is around 6 inches below the ground, so water started streaming back in.

at a loss, i put my kiddy pool back in its pool puddle, and umped in, filling it with water. then i started shoveling the dirt pile i removed to make said hole.

after a couple of hours i think i created quicksand!

i took my sole joe pye weed and plunked it into the middle of my mud pool

time for planting! bog gets around 4 hours of sun a day. any suggestions welcome
cjc45
14 years ago
It sure sounds like you put your bog in the right place. Maybe the holes in the bottom were to let the water IN. :0)

Good luck, I hope to put one in as soon as I finish the pond.
hebdemnobad
Original Author
14 years ago
colleagues:

got back from vacation to find joe pye weed dead. i guess it can't take standing water like cattails.

with the permission of an adjacent landowner i've dug up some plugs from his bog and i'm seeing what will grow and what won't. along with planting some cattails that i got from another land owner's land (after asking).
hebdemnobad
Original Author
14 years ago
our new tennant. his lease will last as long as the kiddie pool and claymuck soil surrounding him keep his home waterlogged.

{{gwi:430146}}

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