Pond in Your Garden and Pond Plants for the Final Touch

A pond in your garden can add the same type of tranquility to your day as an indoor aquarium, with the added joy of fresh air. Water has some quality in it that sooths us and leads us into a state of relaxation. Many ponds will be planned with benches or seating areas very close at hand to allow peaceful meditation or conversation in the tranquility. Adding ponds and other water spots in your yard or garden can unfold into much more fun than you had planned on. If you plan it out carefully you can have much more to look at than just a small spot of water.

The first thing you may notice around your pond is more birds coming to visit. Ponds serve like large bird baths and provide the water birds need for feeding and grooming. Birds will find their way to your pond especially if you keep it full of fairly clean and circulating water. They will come to wash seeds down and to just sit and groom themselves in the sun and fresh water. In time they may even begin to find nesting spots near your pond.

How To Build A Fish Pond – Benefits of 3 Level Pond

This clip explains the benefits of building a fish pond with a 3 depth level.

You can also fill a pond with interesting fish and plant life. A nursery will be able to provide you with a selection of many different types of plants that will thrive in your pond. They way also stock a supply of koi and other outdoor pond fish. You will be amazed at all the activity a small spot of water can bring to your garden!

Pond Plants for the Final Touch

The final touch to a new garden pond is usually the addition of pond plants in and around the water. Manmade ponds as part of a landscape design take a bit of effort to bring them from being a simple spot of water to a busy and interesting pond. Pond plants are often the catalyst for other activities and selecting the right ones can encourage wild life to your yard. Most people will welcome birds at their pond and butterflies. They will enjoy the small visitors that may hover around their pond if offered a bit of protection. If you take the time to learn a bit about what pond plants will encourage visitors to your pond you may get more than you had planned on!

Pond plants may float in your pond or grow around the edges. The thing they have in common is that they all like to root in very wet conditions. Water lilies are a well known addition to ponds offering up large beautiful blooms that float elegantly in your pond. If you have also added fish to your pond you will be pleased with the combination of water lilies afloat and colorful streaks of fish swimming below the water. It can be viewed like a living work of art with the added advantage of a calming influence to all who enjoy it.

You may also want to add long grass like pond plants around the edge of your pond to give it a more natural look. These tufts can help settle your pond into your garden as if it had been created by nature and not by all of your hard work.

Water Plants

Water lilies need lots of water surface to expand and grow so they are not good for the small water gardens unless you are going to thin them out a few times a year.

Duckweed is great for pests and bugs to lay eggs and grow so keeping duckweed to a minimum will also keep bugs to a minimum but it is great for fish!

The Lotus seedpods can be dried and used in dried flower arrangements adding great color and texture to your variety!

Want to add that bamboo look to your water garden? Try a few horsetails in the water garden. This is a tropical plant that looks very much like bamboo!

When roots are coming out the sides of the pots in the water garden container you will know that it is time to start re-potting and dividing up the plant so you have more plants.

Hollandia is one of the largest water lilies that produce a lovely white or pink colored flower that is sure to please your friends.

Green leaves are a sign of new growth and a healthy plant while the yellow or brownish colored leaves on your aquatic plants are signs that the leaves are decaying.

The blossom on the water lily and on the lotus will only last a few days.

When you are repotting water lilies you will see new growth when you take the plant out of the container where little ‘eyes’ or ‘starts’ are found amidst the roots in the soil.

White water lilies are called Albatross or Venus and sometimes Gonnere.

Jongkonee is a tropical water lily that has a dark purple colors in the center of the flower with the outer edges appearing lighter almost a white color that adds real value to the look of your water garden.

There are both cattails that will grow up to six or seven feet, and there are dwarf varieties that will grow to be about three to four feet tall.

The cardinal flower is an aquatic flower that will attract hummingbirds to your water garden.

If you have a large collection of water lilies in the greenhouse or in the water garden, crown rot is a fungus that can destroy your entire crop if you are not careful.

If you have a formal water garden, the American blue flag iris is a wonderful choice in producing flowers that are delicate and tall.

Momo Botan is a dwarf plant that will look great in the smaller water garden without appearing overbearing.

Reed grass can grow up to twelve feet high and is a great plant that will take over marshy areas.

Creatures Around the Pond

When I built a pond I was surprised how many creatures wanted to live around the pond. The first creatures to move in were the frogs. At night you could hear their “ribbitt, ribbitt” as they loudly called out to each other. They soon laid eggs on the pond plants. After the eggs hatched, the pond was full of wiggly tadpoles. They soon grew legs and lost their wiggly tails. They learned to breathe the air and soon after they were hopping around in the garden.

A garter snake moved in and it likes to catch slugs for its meals. I have seen them catch big slugs, larger than their heads. Their mouths have to open up very wide in order to swallow some meals!

January 7, 2011 · admin · No Comments
Posted in: Gardening