Pond Talk

Pond Advice For Small And Large Ponds

water lilies

Floating Plants: A contribution to your Pond

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There are many water plants that will play important roles in the health and wellbeing of your pond.  One of the major players is going to be floating plants.  Floating pond plants play many roles that help with maintenance, but contribute to the health of the wildlife surrounding your pond.

Nitrates and phosphates are the nutrients in water that cause the most algae growth in your pond.  Floating plants constantly absorb these nutrients.  Thus, helping clear up or prevent murky water.  The roots of floating pond plants also prove a great place for fish and frogs to lay their eggs.  This not only protects the eggs, but keeps the eggs from taking over the visible areas of your pond.  Floating pond plants keep your pond cool which will also help keep algae away.  To have proper balance achieved you may need up to 60% of the surface area of your pond.  That may seem like a lot, but you can get many different kinds of floating plants so you can not only achieve a balanced ecosystem for your pond, but a beautiful landscape feature for you to enjoy.

Water Lilies

Water lily
Image via Wikipedia

Water lilies are among the group of hardy pond plants that many people enjoy.  You don’t have to worry too much about babysitting your water lilies once you’ve got them floating in your pond.  The only way to truly ruin one would be if it got frozen solid!  As long you are making sure to prune off dead flowers and leaves, and your lilies are getting 6-8 hours of direct sunlight a day you should have beautiful results.

Most water lilies only bloom during certain hours of the day.  The hardiest kind only bloom during the daytime hours.  So if you work, and you never see a bloom during the week, no worries, you can look forward to a weekend full of full blooms on your pond!

Another couple of things to remember about water lilies is that they don’t like being splashed.  This is something important to know, especially if you have a fountain or some sort of waterfall in your pond.  Plant the lilies far away from these water sources to avoid accidently drowning your lilies.  Also, make sure to plant your lilies in appropriate depth water.  Rule of thumb, the bigger the lily, the deeper the water!  But typically 18-30 inches of water should do the trick.

Water lilies are a classic choice that is a great contribution to any water garden as they add beauty, grace, and help achieve a healthy pond.

Water Hyacinth

If you are looking for a floating plant for your pond that is showy and will pop against the surroundings of your pond, water hyacinth is something to take a look at.  They have round or oval shiny leaves, the stalk is thick, and the flowers are large and beautiful.  The flowers typically are 2-3 inches and bloom a blue or lilac color with a yellow spot on each one.  Occasionally (or should I say rarely) you will get white blooms.

Water hyacinth is another one of those hardy pond plants: it can actually survive freezing temperatures.  So if you live in a place where you have extreme weather, this plant may serve you well.  It does however reproduce a lot, and quickly, so you need to make sure that you keep a close eye on your hyacinth so it does not take over your pond.  Making sure that you don’t throw excess hyacinths into the opposite end of your pond or even leaving it on the bank or your pond will help keep your water hyacinth under control.

Water hyacinths are distinguishable plants that provide a unique look to any water garden.

Penny Wart

Penny wart is a floating plant that works as a great filler and looks great when planted in bunches, as it can look scraggly if placed too thin.  Be aware that there are many different types of penny wart that work well in certain climates.  Some types won’t grow in warm water, but will in cool water.  Some are meant to be planted in gravel and not water.  If you are planning on ordering online, do some research at your local nursery to find out what type of penny wart would work for you.

Penny wart is a very hardy pond plant that needs minimal attention and not a lot of sunlight when it comes to growth.  When it starts growing, it doesn’t stop, so watch it carefully.  It can become very invasive and hard to remove.

Water lettuce

Another great floating plant is water lettuce.  Sometime people confuse it with water hyacinth, but the leaves are more ribbed and they bloom white flowers.  Water lettuce is a beautiful pond plant that covers your pond surface well and produces beautiful flowers for you to enjoy.  It is, however, very sensitive to cold water.  If the water gets near or below 50 degrees the leaves of your water lettuce are going to start yellowing.

Other than the sensitivity of water temperature, water lettuce is an easy plant to have.  Of course, keep and eye on it to make sure it doesn’t start to overtake the surface of your pond.  To remove it all you need to do it rake it up from the surface.

Keep up with your floating Plants

Overall, keeping control of the surface of your water by choosing floating plants that work for your environment is going to be the best bet for a healthy pond.  Making sure they don’t overgrow is going to be the most important thing you can do when maintaining these plants.  Having no sunlight available to your pond can be detrimental to your pond and the wildlife in it.  Floating plants will give back to you by helping keep your water clean and the animals in and around your pond in a healthy, natural habitat.

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Pond Plants: What You Need To Know

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Water pond plants are essential to your body of water. They will provide nutrients to your water and help balance the water in you pond. There are all types of plants for all types of ponds, but here are a few plants that you’ll want no matter the type of pond you are building or already may have.

Floating pond plants

Floating pond plants are probably the group of pond plants with the most variety. The benefits of variety are that there will most likely be a floating pond plant that will fit your personal taste. If you look beyond the convenience of having a variety of looks though, these floating plants have many benefits to your pond as well.

Floating pond plants help with algae control and keeping your water clear. They cast shade in your pond which will help prevent algae growth. They also absorb large amounts of nutrients out of the water as they grow. The less nutrients in your water for algae to feed off of, the less algae; the less algae, the clearer the water will be! If you have fish in your pond check out certain types of floating plants like Azolla. These can provide fish with good nutrients to feed off of, which is a nice bonus.

Oxygenating pond plants/Submerged Pond Plants

Having oxygenating pond plants in your pond is going to be essential when it comes to the cleanliness and health of your pond. Oxygenating, as the name would suggest, releases oxygen into your pond. Why is this important? When oxygen is released into your pond it helps maintain the PH levels in your pond naturally. This can also be achieved by putting harmful chemicals into your pond which does nothing to contribute to the overall wellbeing of your plants, wildlife, and water! Maintaining PH levels in your pond keeps your water cleaner and actually helps soften the water as well.

The oxygenating pond plants you are going to want to look at are submerged pond plants. These are completely submerged by water and live in the bottom of your pond. Some examples of these hardy submersible/oxygenating pond plants are rotala, hornwort, or red ludwigia. There are many options of submerged pond plants to choose from, don’t avoid getting some of these kinds of pond plants. These are typically the hardy pond plants you will find and are very important to the overall wellbeing of the environment.

With some general things to look for in pond plants out of the way, here are a few things to think about how you can apply that knowledge to different pond situations you may have.

Wildlife pond plants

If you have a wildlife pond you may have to think about a few different things when it comes to plants for your pond than someone who is putting a water garden in their backyard. You need to keep in mind the variety of animals that your pond will attract, it is important to remember that you should keep your wildlife pond safe for them as well.

When it comes time to plant pond plants in your wildlife pond make sure to choose plants that have that can grow in shallow water, deep water, and of course make sure to have a lot of oxygenating plants in there as well. Giving wildlife a sloped edge to walk down to the pond along with plants that grow in shallow water will help prevent animals from falling into your pond because there is a sudden drop off. Having deep water plants, like water lilies, gives underwater creatures a place for cover and a home for the winter. Oxygenators are, again, important to help keep your pond clean and balanced.

Pond plants and animals

Depending of what kind of pond you have will determine what kind of animals are in and around your pond. Regardless of what kind of animals are around your pond, it is your responsibility to keep the place a safe environment for them to live.

Having the correct pond plants will contribute to the health of the fish and other species of animals that are living in and around the pond. The varieties of plants mentioned above (surface plants, oxygenators, and shallow growing plants) are all essential in keeping a good balanced ecosystem for the wildlife surrounding your pond.

There can be, however, invasive pond plants and animals that can take over and throw off the balance of your pond, thus eventually ruining all of the hard work you put into creating a water garden. These kinds of plants and animals are often introduced to the space by us! We don’t realize that a certain species of fish will eat all of the vegetation, contribute to the mosquito population, or be a threat to other native fish. Why would we think that a beautiful pond plant that looks similar to other common pond plants would suddenly take over the surface of your pond while never contributing to the overall wellbeing and balance of the environment?

Do your research, especially when you are choosing a fish and plants for your pond. You do not want to choose a fish that may eat lots of vegetation, yet gives of harmful nutrients into your water that contributes to algae growth and low oxygen levels in your pond. Be mindful of where you live, what survives best there, and your pond will be a beautifully balanced ecosystem!

Pond plants not only beautify your pond but as you can see; they play an important role in the balance of the water, and wildlife in your pond.