Since there are at least 25% of us that also keep freshwater tanks.
Thought I would share some care guidelines on how to get that water garden looking great all season long.
First and foremost is setting your goals.
What do you want from the plants? Nutrient filtration? Predator cover? Aesthetics?
Next know your growing region. Just like a perennial garden know what will come back what wont.
Now how to get that water garden that looks like that magazine photo
Initial planting
Get your planters, your shelves, your floating pots etc setup where you want them. These are not corals. They grow very quickly, give plenty of space for growth. Now is getting it dirted. Skip the expensive pond sands, clays, potting soil. Get yourself those $1 bags of top soil. It does not float and allows root support without crushing them. Mix a portion of the bag with fertilizer following the directions, I use ozmocote.
Next make a layer of tamped soil in your container. Now add a thin layer of dirt. This is what you will place your plant on top of. Place the plant inside and cover with dirt. With lilies, irises, or anything else with a tuber you want to leave the top of the leafy growth end uncovered. The plant receives light from here, till it sprouts leaves. Lightly compact the top layer of soil. You just want it to stay in place when lowered into the water. Do not cover with gravel, some plants have very weak roots and you could cause damage. If keeping digging fish like goldfish and koi select a few large flat stones to cover where the roots are and lay them down gently.
Now gently lower the pot to where you already selected it was going.
. How this looked with two tubers of water lilies.
If you do not have fish, or live in climate this grows year round, you may need to use fertilizer stakes after a month or so.
End of Season care
Trim back any browning leaves, stems, etc that may fall back in the water. Using a net try to remove the organic matter the best you can. All of these decay and use oxygen as they do. In a climate where water freezes this can be detrimental to the fish, if there is enough organic material. I have trees that drop leaves in my pond. Before this occurs i cover with a net to reduce further organics added.
Before the next season, most plants like irises can go 3 years before needing to be repotted. But for optimal blooms of lilies you will want to repeat this process every year. The time of year is actually irrelevant. Do not do when you may get hypothermia fishing it out of your pond [emoji23].
The pond shown in the pictures has been running since 2002.
I hope this will help anyone with a water garden [emoji4]
Thought I would share some care guidelines on how to get that water garden looking great all season long.
First and foremost is setting your goals.
What do you want from the plants? Nutrient filtration? Predator cover? Aesthetics?
Next know your growing region. Just like a perennial garden know what will come back what wont.
Now how to get that water garden that looks like that magazine photo
Initial planting
Get your planters, your shelves, your floating pots etc setup where you want them. These are not corals. They grow very quickly, give plenty of space for growth. Now is getting it dirted. Skip the expensive pond sands, clays, potting soil. Get yourself those $1 bags of top soil. It does not float and allows root support without crushing them. Mix a portion of the bag with fertilizer following the directions, I use ozmocote.
Next make a layer of tamped soil in your container. Now add a thin layer of dirt. This is what you will place your plant on top of. Place the plant inside and cover with dirt. With lilies, irises, or anything else with a tuber you want to leave the top of the leafy growth end uncovered. The plant receives light from here, till it sprouts leaves. Lightly compact the top layer of soil. You just want it to stay in place when lowered into the water. Do not cover with gravel, some plants have very weak roots and you could cause damage. If keeping digging fish like goldfish and koi select a few large flat stones to cover where the roots are and lay them down gently.
Now gently lower the pot to where you already selected it was going.
If you do not have fish, or live in climate this grows year round, you may need to use fertilizer stakes after a month or so.
End of Season care
Trim back any browning leaves, stems, etc that may fall back in the water. Using a net try to remove the organic matter the best you can. All of these decay and use oxygen as they do. In a climate where water freezes this can be detrimental to the fish, if there is enough organic material. I have trees that drop leaves in my pond. Before this occurs i cover with a net to reduce further organics added.
Before the next season, most plants like irises can go 3 years before needing to be repotted. But for optimal blooms of lilies you will want to repeat this process every year. The time of year is actually irrelevant. Do not do when you may get hypothermia fishing it out of your pond [emoji23].
The pond shown in the pictures has been running since 2002.
I hope this will help anyone with a water garden [emoji4]
