If you are considering adding a water feature, or pond to your garden, to make it more attractive this summer, then there are some important considerations that you shold be aware of before you even start.

Ponds can look beautiful, but they can also be high maintenance. If you don’t have the time to invest, then it is a non starter.

That said, it depends on how ambitious your pond is. If you just want a small water feature with a few plants, this should not be too difficult to achieve. If, however, your main goal is to attract wildlife, or to keep fish, then there is more that you need to be aware of.

If you get the right balance of fish and pond plants, however, then your pond should pretty much take care of itself, so it is all about the planning.

Here are a few plants ideas for plants to help you get started.

Bog Plants

These are plants that sit in the boggy, damp soil around the outside edge of the pond.

Chile rhubarb / Gunnera manicata

Height: 2.5m
Spread: 3 – 4m or more
Flowers: May – June

Zantedeschia aethiopica / Arum lily / Trumpet lily

Height: 90cm
Spread: 90cm
Flowers: May – Jul

Astilbe / False goatsbeard

Height: Depends on variety
Spread: Depends on variety
Flowers: Jul – Sept

Marginal Plants

Marginal plants grow in the shallow water areas on the inside edge of the pond.

Menyanthes trifoliata / Bogbean

Height: 10 – 50cm
Spread: 1 – 1.5m
Flowers: April to June

Eriophorum angustifolium / Common Cotton grass

Height: 20 – 60cm
Planting position: Up to 10cm marginal depth
Flowers: May to Jul

Lysimachia nummularia / Creeping Jenny

Height: 5cm
Planting position: Up to 10cm marginal depth
Flowers: June – Sept

Deep Water Plants

These are plants that grow in the deepest part of the pond. There are plants to suit different pond depths. You may need to stand them on stone or bricks, and lower the plants by removing the bricks as they grow.

Amphibious bistort

Depth: Up to 100cm
Flowers: June to September

Nymphaea Froebelii / Red Water lily

Depth: Up to 60cm
Spread: 50 – 100cm
Flowers: June to September

Nymphaea Walter Pagels / White Water lily

Height: Up to 60cm
Spread: 75cm
Flowers: June to September

Marsilea mutica / Floating Four Leaf Clover

Height: Up to 15cm
Flowers: None

Oxygenators / Submerged Plants

These types of plants are fully submerged, and perform more of a functional rather than aesthetic role. They absorb carbon dioxide and nitrates from processed fish waste, and release oxygen into the water for fish and other wildlife to consume. Many oxygenators are also effective at keeping blanket weed and algae under control. Be careful not to add to many or your pond may end up overcrowded, and it can lead to

Ceratophyllum / Hornwort

Planting position: Simply drop into the water – no need to plant
Spread: Stems grow to between 1 and 3 metres.
Flowers: None

Ranunculus aquatilis / Water Crowfoot

Water depth: 15 – 60cm
Flowers: May to July

Myriophyllum spicatum / Spiked Water Milfoil

Water depth: 30 – 75cm
Flowers: None

Here is a fun infographic that we have found about choosing the right plants for your pond.

Choose the Right Aquatic Plants for Your Backyard Pond

 

Embedded from Pond boss