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Growing Pitcher Plants in NH

Pitcher Plants

I created my first Pitcher Plant garden in 2011. I dug a six foot by 3 foot trench and lined it with left over roofing material. Then I back filled it with. a mixture of sand and peat moss.

Bog Garden
Preparation for a bog garden bed using impermeable barrier.

I planted several types of native Pitcher plants (Sarracenia) in what was to be my insect eating bog garden.

Pitcher Plants
Pitcher Plants

In retrospect I wish I had made the bed completely water tight. As a result the soil was not as wet as it could be and weeds thrived. In addition the bed became more shaded as the surrounding trees and shrubs grew.

I decided to move these plants to a sunnier location in 2018. I purchased a 40 gallon stock tank from Tractor Supply Co. and buried it in the ground. In the wild Pitcher plants grow on mats of sphagnum moss, so as a result I gathered buckets of moss from a stream behind my house. I was unsure that the plants would survive our New Hampshire winter in such a shallow container, but they did just fine.

Bog Garden
Bog Garden in 40 gallon stock tank after one winter.

Consequently. because my first tank had survived the winter, I purchased another for the remaining plant in the original bed. In addition I discovered a few local Sundew carnivorous plants to add. Gardening is experimentation and the unanswered question will be if these plants will still be here in 2020.

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