Plants for Hanging Baskets and Pots as Water Garden Ponds
First of all be aware that a hanging basket close to a pond is
not necessarily a good idea. They create debris but more important
the hanging basket needs a lot of water and feeding to look good.
Nutrients from watering and feeding get washed into the pond from
above. These extra nutrients can play havoc with your pond filtration
system and your goldfish or koi could suffer badly.
If you do insist upon placing hanging baskets in such a position
that "things" get into the pond water then try to avoid plants that
flower profusely since the dying petals will go into the water and
pollute it. It would be best to use small leaved evergreen plants in
such a water gardening environment.
Consider variegated plants for colour as suggested by Peter
May:
-
Hedera helix 'Glacier' (white variegated)
-
Hedera helix 'Buttercup' (yellow leaves)
-
The yellow variegated Hedera helix 'Aureomarginata'.
-
Silvery grey
leaved plant that will
trail down a metre or more called Dichondra 'Silver Falls'.
-
Grasses
are effective to give height to the hanging basket
close to your pond or water feature.
Before adding soil to the hanging basket make sure you prevent
"water flow through" by covering, say, the bottom 1/3rd of the
hanging basket with plastic sheeting.
Line the bottom third of inside of the basket liner with plastic.
Add water slowly and in small amounts to prevent what was discussed
earlier ... nutrient drainage into the water garden. Only use
large coagulated type pellet form slow release fertilisers in the
hanging basket. Phostrogen and Osmocote make this type of slow
release fertiliser.
Plants for
Water Gardening in a Pot or Barrel
Many people like the idea of a small patio pond and a great way to
create these is to use say a half barrel or large pot of which there
is a massive choice these days. Even a small pot can be home to a
selected range of aquatic plants and 1 or 2 at most small goldfish.
A good size is about 3ft high with a diameter of 2ft.
For a miniature water garden use small plants like
-
The miniature Reed Mace
-
'Pygmy' lilies like Nymphaea pygmaea 'Aba', N.p. 'Helvola',
N.p.'Rubra', which can only really be appreciated in a small
container.
-
Use a single large feature plant like an Arum
Lily.
-
Oxygenating plants
(anacharis, milfoil),
-
Floating plants
(water lettuce, duckweed ... spreads rapidly)
-
Bog, or marginal,
tall accent plants (rushes, canna, horsetail,
lobelia, reeds, cattails).
If you don't want aquatic plants in the patio pond then consider a
small fountain feature like a miniature bell jet
fountain or a small bubbling monolith or drilled pebble. |
