the peat you've seen for burning and the Bales of peat (or peatmoss) are the same just processed differently.

No, it is not the dead remnants of just Sphagnum but dead remnants of a wide variety of plants that have fallen over into the acid water and not decomposed much. what you are seeing are layer upon layer of not too decomposed plant matter. Not very eloquently put but I hope easily understood.

Those who add compost or loam are using the gardeners vernacular and are actually growing in a wetland garden. Seems to me most who "bog garden" are actually wetland gardeners. I have a "true" bog garden or as I call it an artificial bog garden because it is meant to be nutrient poor and grow those plants that grow in that sort of situation in nature.

I applaud your efforts at true bog gardening!

Thanks.

I learned the peat moss is not worth it if you grow CPs? It drys out too fast,and massy. I just started using long fiber S. moss on my Northern Pitcher Plants,and it does not dry out fast. Not cheap,but warth saving money on water and replacing plants.

Can I collect peat moss from the forest? I'm not sure what it looks like but I collected some rotten wood and thought it looked like it. Would this be good for my garden?
Thank you
Claire

Rotten wood is an excellent substitute for peat when gardening.

And no, you cannot collect peat from the forest. Peat is formed only in bogs and bog like areas. As Sean has said peat is dug and processed either dried in brick form for burning or baled for use in gardening.

I want to switch things around in my rock garden, should i transplant after everything dies off or can I do it now?

I found pink lady slippers in the forest near my cottage. Also saw some yellow ones on the side of the road. I transplanted the pink ones at the cottage and they are doing fine. This is northern ontario.

There are different types of peat depending on whether the peat formed from grasses, mosses, or woody material. The consistency varies a lot too: from a jumble of still recognizable fibers and woody particles to completely decomposed muck.

I live in the midst of forested "bogs" (swamps) in a network of extinct glacial lakebeds and pitted outwash drainage valleys where today there is a creek, a river, seeps, springs, and nice little bakwaawong on my property.

Yesterday I was out digging in the peat making a channel. I'm always hoping to dig up mastadon bones. My peat has a wide range of types and consistencies depending on depth and where I dig. In places there are trees and shrubs growing. In other places my bog has sphagnum moss growing on the surface. I consider sphagnum moss to be that living green layer and the brown moss under it. The peat is deeper and looks more like dirt or mud. The moss you can tear out by hand. The peat usually need to be dug.