Re:CULT:Bog Gardens AND WATER GARDENS: Caveat

>  Another item to
>           use instead of black plastic is the black butyl liner used
>           by roofing companies for flat roofs.  It's more expensive to
>           buy, but lasts longer.  Sometimes roofing companies will
>           give you smaller pieces that they have leftover as scrap.
>           This is also an excellent material for making fish ponds!
>           It's the same thing product that garden centers sell as
>           fish pool liners.
> 

When I put in my water garden, I considered using roofing material. My
brother, who is an architect and a water gardener, cautioned me about
using roofing butyl as a pond liner. It may work well, BUT it may
contain chemicals to inhibit mildew, which can be toxic to aquatic life,
in particular fish and snails. For that reason, I opted not to use
roofing butyl for my pond liner. 
At the same time, I would not hesitate to use roofing butyl to line a
bog garden, because it's balance is not so dependent snails, frogs and
fish. In addition the soil (mud) is an adsorbant, keeping the chemicals
busy so they cannot do their thing on living creatures.

R. Dennis Hager
on Delmarva
Where the first Jap bloomed yesterday. Don't get excited. It was a
fluke. "Snowy Trio" is a mid to late season bloomer. I just planted it
mid-April. It's confused.
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