True bogs tend to have a very low PH. My bog garden has a PH of about 5.5. However there are also areas called Fens. A fen has a different PH while being much like a bog in other respects. A bog gets all of it's nutrients from the air in the form of rain, in other words very poor, and rain water is naturally acid. A fen gets it's nutrients from ground water and therefore can be richer (and tend to be much richer in plant species). The natural fens in this area are very rich in calcium and have a PH between 7 and 8.

I'm not sure how plants would react to a PH as high as 9.

I dont know what you mean by getting a filter to get rid of the stuff the government puts into our drinking water ..........as far as ponds go....... but you can leave any water outside for 24 hours (I use the rule of 3 as in days) and it will be dechlorinated. Where I am the city voted on flouride 49/51 (pfft yeah fishy eh? *G*) and now we are stuck with something unnatural in sheer rate, and also very toxic!!!! Remember Led Zep and what they looked like when first coming out? Well their teeth were bad from not takeing care of them but also .......because of flouride! It is why they stopped putting it in their water!

Argh argh lol..... ever feel like you just cant win? *S*

Anyhoohoos..... with well water you would still have to add something to it to make it safe for having fish. *S*

Either way you have to add stuff for maintenence. *Shrug*

Fredsbog. Glad to learn the real name of my wet place! I have a FEN. I love it because I can grow things that like ground water and don't have to be tied to rain water. I still haven't figured out how rain water can be so pure falling through all the gunk that is thrown into the sky. I have deep wells on our ranch which are so pure that if we were raising cattle and not plants we would have to add things to it so the cows wouldn't abort their calves. Its the water at our home in a metroplitan area that puts undesireable things in it to help us that causes my plants to not flourish as they do at our ranch.

Hey guys, I know this post is very very old, but I grow orchids and read alot about plants in general. I am working on a rain water bog here in montana as the one I had in florida did not seem to go over very well. although having 3 dogs drink from the sphagnum trough isnt good either. Anyway keep in mind that ANY plant(s) need a certain PH in order to take in certain minerals. Mineral absorption rates in orchids all coincide at a ph of about 5.2-5.5 and is about the same with most other plants no matter what environment they are in. some things like calcium uptake and iron peak out around 5.4 and start to wane at the higher PH levels. But most plants can absorb whatever is needed at a PH of about 5.5 so keep that in mind when you have any plants and bog gardens. The true exception is sphagnum mosses and carnivorous plants as they live in a very acidic environment.

Keep in mind that in a natural bog there really are not that many types of plants, mostly sphagnum and some other mosses, some sedges, maybe a few Salix, Lycopodiella, and some carnivorous plants plus plants that grow only in bogs. Check the link.

Here is a link that might be useful: Bogs