Although bogs need to be wet, she said they don't necessarily require a lot of water. "It's like a potted plant in a plastic pot. It holds the water a lot longer," she says. "I don't have to water that nearly as much as the things that are not in a bog."
Cody, a Master Gardener, also found that bog gardens don't require exotic or expensive plants. "You look at the Rodale perennial book and a good 50 percent of all the plants in there want consistently moist, well-drained soil."
Don't talk to her about roses, daisies, black-eyed Susans or other sun-loving beauties. "Shade gardening is wonderful," she says, "once you get by the warning you can't grow anything in the shade. ... It's 15 degrees cooler; you don't have the weeds."
Favorite plants Japanese iris, all types of ferns, moss
Tips "Know your site. How much sun you've got, the soil you have and the plants to go along with that site."
Watch a slide show of how to create a bog garden at baltimoresun.com/gardencontest
Susan and Michael Conord, Gambrills
Best Medium Garden
Susan and Michael Conord's garden began seven years ago on an empty lot with a drainage ditch running down the middle. Today, it is a lush space with sweet-smelling roses, elegant river birch, towering monarda and a wall of Leyland cypress. Tucked in one corner is the French-style tool shed Michael Conord built from scratch. A little bridge spans the stone rill that was the drainage ditch. A small fountain trickles at another corner. Wisteria hangs from a pagoda and a formal grouping of boxwoods stands before a wooden bench.
Susan Conord, a teacher and counselor for victims of childhood trauma at Chapelgate Presbyterian Church in Marriottsville, has been gardening for 30 years. "When the children were young, I didn't do a whole lot. Over time, the gardens got bigger and more complicated," she says.
Confronted with the vacant lot when they moved into their new home, she was undaunted. "I have enough confidence to get myself in trouble," she says.
She sketched out a rough plan of how she wanted the garden to look. "I drew the bones of the garden and over time I've been filling it in."
The garden reflects her vision and benefits from her devotion. She spends at least one hour a day in the yard, deadheading, trimming and weeding. Michael Conord, who is vice president of work force strategies for Erickson Retirement Communities, provides the labor for some of her most ambitious projects.
