I’ve been trying to source some good plants for my pond. All my “pond research” has taught me, that my pond needs a lot more plants than I currently have in order to get the correct balance in the pond to prevent algae from taking over. The few existing plants urgently need re-potting – something that’s never be done in four years (blushing in embarrassment here). Poor things have been living in the same cramped baggies for the last four years – and it shows. Neglected, sad plants. Hopefully I can save a few of them. The Yellow flag irises were a gift about a year ago, and I potted them up at the time. Those are growing beautifully – perhaps too beautifully as they are getting crowded in their pots.
Armed with a shopping list of things I need to get in order to get this task done I discovered that pond gardening is not as commercially popular as I thought. Getting together everything on the list is impossible. Although I finally managed to uncover a few large aquatic baskets (I cannot stand the black bags in my pond), I was told that there is such a small demand for them that they don’t bother importing a large selection or even very many. Aquatic plant fertiliser can’t be found at all and so I am looking for a specialist aquatic nursery … I’ve found one, but it’s an hours drive away (an and hour back). *Sigh*.
So imagine my joy when I found a small selection of the above-mentioned Aquatics Nurseries plants at the local nursery this past weekend. And the plants are lovely! In fine condition and although it is only a small selection, they were of plants I wasn’t expecting to find. What’s more, the plants are already potted and ready to put into the pond. Now I know it might actually be worth taking an afternoon off to visit that nursery out in Somerset West.
I also found a few Canna Lillies – the label says “Canna assorted” (that’s annoying – I like to know exactly what I am buying!), but I bought them anyway. At this stage I am buying plants and keeping them to one side. I plan to plant up two containers with a mix of plants that have been suggested to me by experienced gardeners. The Cannas and Alocasia/Colocasia are intended for this purpose.
[one_half]A new water lily
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[one_half_last]A lovely Cyperus papyrus
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[one_third]My latest nursery haul
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[one_third]Leaf of the “Canna assorted”
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[one_third_last]I really love this! Very whimsical
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[one_third]Nice bounty
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[one_third]Berula erecta (water parsnip)
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[one_third_last]The new water lily
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[one_half]Alocasia “Black Magic” and Colocasia esculentes
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[one_half_last]Aren’t they stunning?
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[one_third]New growth on the Colocasia
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[one_third]An old repotted water lily
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[one_third_last]Big beautiful water lily leaf
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As with my back garden I’m finding out that my “little pond” actually needs a lot more plants than I realised.
Happy gardening
xxx
6 replies on “A few new plants for the pond”
Hi Christine, have you ever thought of adding some texture upon the wall of your water feature, by laying stone-slate, textured-tiles, marble or granite slabs etc.? Or water cascading from the stone-slates?
Oh my you have been busy. 🙂 This looks like a lot of research has gone into it and it is going to look stunning. Can’t wait to see it!! I love the papyrus plant !!
The pond is going to be well furnished. Love the plants you are selecting. I am working on a pond now for a client. Picking plants to make it look natural is difficult, because this woman has picked out all tropicals, such as your cannas. The papyrus is another she wants and does not understand what annual means in our area. It means ‘good by for good’ come winter.
The pond we built at our last house suffered from a paucity of plants at first too. After battling hair algae, and constant pond pump cleaning, like you, I went out and sourced a lot of extra plants. It made such a huge difference. I did, accidentally, discover that the best aquatic plant fertilizer for our pond was….FISH! Fish alone created too much ‘fuel’ for the algae, but with the plants in the pond to absorb excess nutrients, it worked out beautifully. The fish had shade, the plants had food. When we’d clean out the pond, we’d intentionally direct excess pond water to the garden beds, and the garden plants looked happy for the pond water too! I can’t wait to see all your new plants in their new home…and this makes me REALLY want to put a pond in here.
Even with all the plants right on the edge in the water and some in the pond I get lots of algae…it is hard not to I think, but I am still a novice…my frogs love the algae. I use the black bags and have found them to do fine after 5 years or more submerged…but that is my pond where they work better with the smaller size of my pond…every pond is unique…cannot wait to see yours…
It’s going to be fantastic! What did you decide to do about the vine/trellis? Wait, don’t answer here… I’ll wait for the post about it. 🙂
(If we weren’t 8500 miles apart you’d have all of the Colocasia esculenta you could cram into your yard — I’ve got dozens and dozens of tubers this year!)