Does anyone else burn their bog?

brandonberry · #1 (**permalink**) 02-25-2009, 01:53 PM

I burned my bog back (new acronym: BBB) the other day to get it ready for the spring. I know a lot of the plants I keep are dependant on fire in the wild, but I'm not sure how necessary it is in captivity. I'm a pyro so I really don't care anyway. I just like to burn things. If nothing else, I guess it probably does help to control some of the weeds around my pond, not to mention killing all the obnoxious baby pine trees and bradford pears from my neighbors tree. (by the way: I freakin hate bradford pear trees. They stink when they bloom, they drop nasty fruit everywhere, they sprout up everywhere, and the slightest wind or ice makes them break and fall on everything.) So, does anyone else burn their bogs (or share my passion for bradford pears)?

Piro · #2 (**permalink**) 02-25-2009, 04:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by brandonberry

I'm a pyro

me too!

JoeCreature · #3 (**permalink**) 02-25-2009, 05:14 PM

My old man ran his own tree service for years and you know who was cheap labor. Bradford pears are evil silly little plant that can't decide if they're a cracked out bush or a tree. They break in high winds and ice and Brandon has it right....they wreak. I'd rather have skimmer mud than bradford pear.

As to you origional question, I don't have a bog....therefore no pyro for me, but fire is a natural factor for scaping and regulating some systems. Many plants require fire to induce them to set seed and most importantly to alleviate competition for space and light. Also some plants, the pitchers and other specialsts require fire to return potassium and other nutrients to the soil via ash.

When I was little we had a pseudo-bog in our backyard and we burned it every two or three years to clear out the undergrowth. You may want to pull the little pines as opposed to burning them because some pine species....especially longleaf take fire as a cue to reproduce, so you may have just told all the pines its go time. Dunno what species you're dealing with so I can't be totally sure.

All in all you've probably done more good for your bog by burning than harm.

kjhart04 · #4 (**permalink**) 02-25-2009, 09:41 PM

Just please do me a favor (I know you probably do but) and check on how dry it is as well as how windy it is. "Controlled" burns can get out of hand quickly if not done properly.
It still amazes me how many people have burn piles in their yards down here.

catfish · #5 (**permalink**) 08-01-2009, 10:32 PM

never burned the bog at my parents house, but it is close to the house... but I have thought about burnning the whole D thing while I was struggling to build it!

and YES! bradford pears SUCK!

brandonberry · #6 (**permalink**) 08-03-2009, 03:25 PM

Mine is pretty close to my garage. I found the best controlable way to burn it is to keep my propane torch in one hand and the water hose in the other, or at least within quick reach. Then again the whole bog border to my pond is only a couple of feet wide at the most and is bordered on one side by my pond and the other by my sidewalk. I usually don't even really burn the side adjacent to my garage.

elbowdeep · #7 (**permalink**) 08-03-2009, 04:15 PM

We have a burning pit at my rents house. Gotta love it

JoeCreature · #8 (**permalink**) 08-03-2009, 04:55 PM

I have one of those above ground fire-pits from Lowe's and it is pretty sweet. Just have to make sure there is little wind.

elbowdeep · #9 (**permalink**) 08-03-2009, 05:29 PM

this is more of a barrel they use. My rents burn the ditches out across the road which I couldnt say its a bog persay but its mostly wet.

Miss Jellybean · #10 (**permalink**) 08-04-2009, 12:47 PM

Bradford pear trees are the devil!! Aside from all the very true things that have already been said they also make me SICK. I'm badly allergic to them. All spring I'm miserable without tons of meds.

Don't have a bog.... But the pyro in me says I need to make one so I can burn it.