Pond Plants Popular Questions Answered by Peter May
Top five (5) plants for vegetable pond filter What would you say are the top five plants that work well in a vegetable filter? Answer: The top of the pops, the plant that outperforms and outsells all others is the Norfolk reed, Phragmites australis. Not only does this hoover up pollution it oxygenates as well. Basically after that, you are after anything that grows fast and that can easily be cut down to the rootstock and disposed of, things like Cyperus longus (Sweet Galingale), Juncus effusus (Soft Rush) and Scirpus lacustris (the true bulrush). For a flora impact try the Butomus umbellatus (the flowering rush). Any of these will relish any excess nitrates and many of the other compounds in polluted water.
Aquatic and water garden plants without debris
We have got some raised borders around the edge of our patio, about 2ft from the pond. We would like to replant these borders this spring but want to choose some plants that will shed minimum debris so all the leaves don't end up in the pond. Can you recommend some pond friendly plants?
Answer: Now is the perfect time for getting in the summer bedding like Busy Lizzies, Begonias, Antirrhinums and Lobelias, the list is endless. If you pick off the dead flowers as they grow, the colour will be endless too until the first frosts of autumn.
So whilst plants you choose to go in your raised bed permanently, get established, they will fill in the gaps between them to make a splash of colour right from the start. It sounds like you want the permanent plants to be as maintenance free as possible.
They certainly will be if they don't shed any debris and it will generally mean they are evergreen, although not all evergreens are tidy underneath. If plants flower, especially in profusion, there is always a mass of petal litter when the flowers 'go over'. A raised bed in my area is always the perfect opportunity to have a range of small rhododendrons, azaleas or even camellias.
They prefer an acid soil, which we haven't got, but that can always be 'bought in' for the benefit of a raised bed. Otherwise there is a range of maintenance free plants that are the landscapers' favourites for neatly and quickly growing to a certain size and slowing down.
They tend to be mostly grown for their foliage and many of them make a neat dome shape. Look to the smaller Hebes like Hebe rakiensis or Hebe albicans ' Red Edge'. These are quite small, hardly 30cm high but spread over 80cm, but there are a profusion of all sizes and leaf colour and shape. Choisya 'Aztec Pearl' is one small shrub with the bonus of being very fragrant flowered, whilst Choisya ternata 'Sundance' is a show-stopping splash of gold all year. For another gold try the golden privet Ligustrum aureum. As a contrast there is a small dark bronze leaved Pittosporum tennuifolium' Tom Thumb' that is purple leaved with bright green new growth. The Viburnum davidii forms a long low hummock that can hide any unsightly edge, whilst some of the golden and white variegated forms of Euonymus fortunei make perfect ground cover.
For a relief from the dome shapes try a spiky leaved Mahonia x Charity or the Osmanthus hetrophyllus 'Variegatus'. For vertical stripes choose a slow growing New Zealand Flax like Phormium 'Rainbow Sunrise'. All these will survive in a little bit of shade but need full sun for part of the day and in return will give you a spectacular display of colour, a bit of fragrance, but no showy flowers I'm afraid.
Garden pond plants, koi ponds, cover and shade
I am soon going to increase the size of my pond and up until now I have had plants in it. I know Koi purists would not advocate plants in a Koi pond but the Koi in my pond seem to enjoy the cover they offer and I dont want to alter their environment too much so as not to frighten them. What is your view on pond plants and is there anything else I can add to my pond to provide my Koi with cover?
A. Im afraid Im a bit of a Heathen like you too. Where there is water I like to see plants and Im sure the fish do as well. Unfortunately Koi seem to appreciate them more for their nutritional or plaything value rather than their cover potential appeal.
I have found on most occasions that plants need their own segregated area in which to flourish and if it is pool cover you are after then there are a few plants that will fit the bill of providing pool cover whilst their roots are tucked away safely.
Most lilies will fit the bill if you can provide the depth of water, but if the plants are in a shallow trough like marginal area you might try Nymphoides peltata often known a Villarsia or water fringe lily. This is quite vigorous but easy to keep in check, it has small lily like pads with a small funnel shaped yellow flower, quickly covering a fairly large area whilst other plants are finding their feet. If you have 10cm of water then the water hawthorn, Aponogeton distachyos is worth a try.
This is a deepwater plant that is quite happy in moderate shallows.
For proper marginal style plants, the Bog bean, Menyanthes trifoliate can also work in the shallow and provide a fair amount of safe and controllable cover over a pool. The pickeral weed, Pontedaria cordata, fits this bill too and is quite bit taller and flowering blue in late summer. Mimulus guttatus and M. luteus, Sagittaria, Sauraurus and Houttynia are also safe to try, although avoid the latter in a competitive trough situation.
Plant watercress problems in garden ponds
I have a small pond and recently all the plant watercress in it died. Please can you tell me what tests I can do to see why it might have died. Would it have died due to high nitrate levels? Peter May says:
Most people, in fact whole continents have the problem of watercress taking over, filling ponds and blocking waterways. It is usually quite difficult to kill once it is established and excess nitrates will make it flourish even more. However it is delicious stuff and it is not just us human beings that find it nice to eat. If you have any snails in the pool or a slug and snail problem on dry land, I would look to these as the culprits.
It is very sensitive to cool air which slows down its growth, and if it is being grown like a marginal plant, it will tend to duck its foliage below the water level where it would be particularly at the mercy of water snails and even fish.
Thinking of 'duck', ducks love it too. There haven't been any itinerant quackers visiting, have there?
Japanese-style plants
Q We finished building our pond a couple of months ago and it's now been up and running for the past six weeks. Of course these things turn out much more expensive than you first thought, so we've had to wait a while to finish off the landscaping. Can you recommend some plants that would fit in with a Japanese themed garden? ANSWER It is one of the Murphy's laws of landscaping that there is never enough money for the plants at the end of the project no matter how large the budget.
In true Japanese style gardens the Japanese themselves will choose plants from a remarkably few groups plants despite the fact that so many of our favourite garden plants come from Japan. They like the garden to be a slow growing static scene that is loaded with symbolism and representation.
Time is marked by the seasons and in turn these are marked by the colour in various plants. In spring there is the Cherry blossom (particularly the Yoshino Cherry, Prunus x yeodensis or the Japanese Apricot, Prunus mume) and then the Camellias. In Autumn there is colouring of the maple leaves. In between we allow ourselves in this country the vibrant colours of dwarf rhododendrons and Azaleas, but the Japanese would be just as content with pruned box, because their priority is structure and form in the garden.
Pines like the Red Pine, Pinus densiflora, the Black Pine, Pinus thunbergii are pruned and distorted to create features. Screening plants can also include bamboos and ground cover is usually just moss.
However having said this, there is something inherently Japanese in the look of any plant indigenous to Japan and you will find that if you make a garden using these, there will be something in the atmosphere that is essentially Japanese. Take for instance the trees Cornus controversa variegata, Malus x zumi (a Japanese Crab apple), or the shrubs like Hydrangea macrophylla, the Cotoneasters, Chaenomeles, Fatsias, Kerria, Magnolias, Loniceras, Spiraeas and Viburnum plicatum 'Maresii' (theWedding cake tree).
Perennials can include the Japanese Irises, hostas, Primula sieboldii, chrysanthemums, some asters, Peonies, Hemerocallis and Polygonums. This is only a small selection of possibilities but I'm sure it is enough to get you going.
Hanging baskets and ponds
I want to plant up some hanging baskets to hang off my pergola which covers my 1,500-gallon pond. What are the best plants to use? I particularly want some that will shed minimum debris.
Answer: I would be very cautious about hanging baskets over my koi pool, not just from the debris point of view, but mainly from the fact that hanging baskets are usually fed and watered regularly to overflowing. After all, it's the only way of telling that the basket has been well watered when the water starts running out the bottom. This is liable to be nitrate rich and if it splashes into the pool it would be unneccesary strain on the pool environment.
If splashing drips are unlikely to be too much of a problem I would stick to foliage plant that have low nutrition requirements. Flowers are by nature ephemeral, and at some point will drop. So try small leaved
variegated Ivies like Hedera helix 'Glacier' (white variegated) or Hedera helix 'Buttercup' (yellow leaves) and the yellow variegated Hedera helix 'Aureomarginata'. There is a new beautiful silvery grey leaved plant for sale this summer for hanging baskets that will trail down a metre or more called Dichondra 'Silver Falls'. Grasses too can be effective to add height to the basket.
Line the bottom third of inside of the basket liner with plastic. This will prevent as cascade of water emerging the instant you start watering the basket when it is in place. Then also water relatively sparingly.
If you 'seed' the compost when you are planting up with a slow release fertiliser like the pearly granules of 'Osmocote' this will ensure minimal nitrate leeching.
Water gardening in a pot
Have you got any ideas for a pot-based water feature that includes plants? I would like to site it on my patio and I have got access to electricity. My pot stands 3ft high and has a diameter of 2ft. ANSWER: This is a perfect size ( 3ft high by 2ft diameter) for a miniature water garden using small plants like the Sisyrinchiums, the miniature Reed Mace, Typha minima and little Mimulus plus there are the 'pygmy' lilies like Nymphaea pygmaea 'Aba', N.p. 'Helvola', N.p.'Rubra', which can only really be appreciated in a small container. They get lost in pools.
Another ruse is plant just one large feature plant like an Arum Lily.
No? You want a fountain feature. OK. How about a miniature bell jet fountain or a bubbling stone fountain?
Take your pot and some mega-fantastic exterior waterproof glue- like 'No Nails'.
Then get some nice stiff hose or water pipe and glue a strip of it level around the inside of the pot about 10cm down from the rim.
Take a small pump fitted with a jet or hose and thread the mains cable through the drain hole in the bottom. If it doesn't have one, drill one. Seal the cable into place with silicone sealant. Support the pump in the pot at a level where it can provide water to your jet or hose.
Get some fairly small mesh weldmesh from a garden centre or hardware store and with some snips or a junior hacksaw, cut out a circular shape the diameter of the pot at the tube level.
Cut a hole in it to allow the jet or tube to thread through. Set up the jet or ornament with the pump and top dress on the surface of the weldmesh with some pea gravel or pebbles of sufficient size not to disappear through the mesh. Fill to just below the gravel with water. Plug in to a RCB trip and turn on. Check the water level regularly, especially on hot days as the evaporation from features like these is quite dramatic.
Are water lilies a good choice for a Koi pond?
And how should I prevent my Koi from uprooting them? Are there special types of basket you can plant them in? James David, Dorset Answer: Many Koi keepers have great success with lilies in Koi ponds although I would suspect that they are a minority. Many Koi ponds at some depths of over two metres are too deep for most lilies. Some vigorous white varieties like Nymphaea 'Colossea' and particularly N. 'Gladstoniana' would cope. One catalogue has N. 'Gladsoniana' as tolerant of 2.5 metres!
But on average most of the bigger lilies are happiest at less than 1 metre. Lilies of this size and power are gross feeders and are great for mopping up excess nitrates in the pool whilst providing useful pool cover. However marks against are that they provide too much cover and that any other living thing in the water upsets the refined control that some enthusiasts like to have on their pool water chemistry.
Really the main problems of Koi with lilies result from the inquisitiveness of the fish. Lilies hate being disturbed. Leaf stems and flower bud stalks are easily damaged by fish rubbing up against them. The fish also love to delve in the soil in the containers in which the lilies are planted, giving the pool water an unattractive beef consomme look.
Successful Koi/lily pools generally evolve from small fry and good strong plants starting off together. Introducing big Koi into a new environment needs certain precautions:
Mulch the lily baskets with 25mm or larger heavy pebbles to inhibit nosey intrusion.
I have seen lilies successfully fenced off from koi by being surrounded by weighted circles of netlon plastic netting. Make a separate area for planting lilies in.
A barrier of block work or stone that allows the free flow of water, but is high enough within the water to keep out the fish.
At the 2002 Hampton Court Flower Show, Anglo Aquarium Plant built a Koi pool in a garden designed by Amanda Broughton that had a submerged rim or wall just below the water surface. On the outside of the rim, lilies flourished in florid abandon, whilst inside Koi super subs cruised in ignorant bliss.
Garden Fish Pond Keeping Articles To Explore
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