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.
Embedded from Pond boss
