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How to
Choose Water Garden Plants
by: Brett Fogle
So the water
garden bug has bitten. You’ve dug and leveled
and sweated and said words you hope that no one
else has heard. Now it’s time for the fun part –
picking out your water garden plants!
Plant varieties within these four categories
are what you need to eyeball: deep-water,
marginals, oxygenators, and floaters. (If you
think these words are big words, just be happy
we’re not talking about medicine.)
After you’ve diligently planted your new
plants in plastic tubs, pans, or clay pots,
packing the fertilizer- and chemical-free soil
down tightly, load the container down with pea
gravel to keep the soil from floating away.
(Don’t ask why this works, but it does.) Plunk
your plant into the water at the appropriate
depth (You’ll read about that in just a minute)
and you’re on ready to go!
Plant-dunking should be generally be done
during the growing season. For new ponds, wait
four or five weeks for the water plants to do
their thing before you add your fish. If you
just can’t hold your horses, or your fish, for
that long, you can jump the gun a couple of
weeks, but the idea is to let the plants first
get established.
When picking your plants, you’ll no doubt be
wowed by water lilies of the tropical
persuasion. These aquatic wonders are popular
compared to their hardier cousins with knock-out
fragrance, big blooms day or night – depending
on the variety – and a habit of blooming their
little hearts out nearly every day during the
growing season. They love their warmth, though,
so unless you live in a year-round, warm-weather
climate, be prepared to hasten them into a
greenhouse or at least muster up some funds to
buy them some “grow” lights to tough it out
through the winter.
They will definitely bite the dust at
freezing temperatures, but give them night-time
temps of at least 65F and daytime temps of 75F
or warmer, and your love affair with tropicals
will only grow that much more torrid.
Hardy water lilies, while not the showboaters
that tropicals are, are . . . well, hardier.
Their big advantage is that they can stay in the
water year ‘round unless it freezes so deeply
the rootstock is affected. And being the tough
guys they are, you can plant these puppies
deeper than the tropicals, some living it up in
depths of 8 to 10 feet.
Both hardy and tropical water lilies are real
sun worshippers. At least 5 to 10 hours a day is
what it takes, along with regular fertilization,
to keep these plant pals happy.
Everybody and their brother with a water
garden wants a lotus plant. (Sisters, too, no
doubt.) These water-lily relatives come in hardy
and not-so-hardy strains, so make sure you know
what you’re buying. Much bigger than water
lilies, lotus have huge, famously splendid
blooms that not only will knock your socks off,
but make you forget you have feet altogether.
Their leaves and seed pods are so breathtaking,
they’re a favorite in costly cut-flower
arrangements. Big, bold, and beautiful, with
water-depth needs of 2-3 feet, these shouters
are really better off in big ponds that get
plenty of sun.
Marginals (sometimes called “bog” plants by
those less high-falutin’) are grass-like plants
that strut their stuff in shallow areas no
deeper than 6” that border the water garden.
They also do well in mud. Cattail, bamboo, rush,
papyrus, and many other plants fall into the
family of marginals and grow best with a minimum
of at least three hours of sun.
Some plants are there but not seen, working
stoically under water and without fanfare to
fight algae, oxygenate the water, and provide
food for fish. (In lieu of these plants, if your
pond is small, you can fake it fairly adequately
with an aquarium pump.) Easy on the wallet,
varieties of these plants can be bought in
bunches and like their soil sandy and/or
gravelly. Like hardy water lilies, they, too,
will warrior it through the winter.
Water hyacinths have become a recent rage,
especially for the lazy among us. No soil is
required for these beauties. Toss them in the
water and they’re “planted.” A water hyacinth
ain’t just another pretty face, though; these
plants do their part in the war against algae
and blanket weeds by keeping sunlight scarce on
the water’s surface. But one note of caution:
This plant may take over the world if allowed.
It’s invasive as all get out, so keep it under
control or you (and your neighbors) may wish
you’d never laid eyes on it.
A water garden isn't a garden without plants.
Take your time, know your climate, and choose
wisely. Your rewards will be great in return.
To read the full
article, click here:
http://www.macarthurwatergardens.com/Newsletters/July2004/pond-plant-selection.shtml
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