Planting Water Gardens

A water garden can be a lovely amenity to your landscape. Experts have told me that when the pond is properly done, it actually takes less work to care for a water garden than it takes to care for a "land" garden of comparable size.

In previous articles we have discussed water gardens and touched on best locations for them and how to build them. Now, I want to talk with you about what to put in them.

When you're still in the planning stages, decide if you want to install a fountain or waterfall. If you have the space, I highly recommend a waterfall both for the beauty it adds as well as the delightful sound of splashing water. You'll want to have a qualified electrician run a power cable to the pond area to accommodate the necessary pump and filtration equipment. In addition, the design of the pond and the surrounding landscape will play an important part in determining the size and style of the waterfall or fountain you plan to install. Wind considerations will dictate how high the fountain sprays when you aren't in attendance.

Once the pond is filled with water, you should wait three days prior to establishing any fish life. I recommend fish as a necessary component of your water garden. Not only are they enjoyable to watch, they perform the vital function of eating mosquito and other larvae and preventing your water garden from becoming a breeding ground for the pests.

The most common types of fish for pond life are goldfish, especially the long-finned comet, and colored carp, or Japanese nishkik-koi. Numerous varieties of these hearty and colorful fish are available at garden supply and/or pet stores. One warning about the carp; they grow rapidly under pond conditions and some books recommend them only for ponds that are a minimum of 9 feet in length. Specimens of koi can grow to a length of 18 inches, and more is not uncommon in larger ponds. However, just like indoors, fish sizes can usually be controlled by the size of their surroundings.

For greatest fish safety, they should be added one or two at a time at two or three day intervals. Since fish grow rapidly in ponds, do not plan to have too many. A recommended number is one fish for every seven to ten gallons, however this varies.

Other potential animal inhabitants of your pond include turtles and frogs, but both are difficult to keep unless you have an extremely large area. If your heart is set on a frog or turtle, you can try what I do to keep them around - get or make them of concrete or ceramic and paint them the preferred colors. To enjoy butterflies, be sure to allow a small, open muddy area right near the water.

Probably more important than animals are the plants you are intending to grow in your water garden. I like to approach the plants for water in five broad categories: hardy plants, tropical plants, bog plants, submerged plants, and floaters.

Hardy plants are aptly named in that they will survive the winter in deeper water and look lovely in your pond next summer, too. Tropical plants require quite a bit more work in that they must be brought indoors during the winter and kept in an aquarium under an ample light source, or, as many do, treat them as annuals.

Bog plants work perfectly in the edge zones of the pond and can be selected to blend well with the other plants in the landscaped area around the pond to soften the transition from land to water. Submerged plants act as oxygenators for the pond. Floating plants don't require anchored root systems like the other types do.

For the other categories that require planting, I recommend clay or plastic pots with an organic planting soil covered with gravel to keep it in place. After adding a fertilizer tablet, containers should be gently and slowly sunk to their position in the pond. I once made a mistake and "plunged" the pots too quickly and created a muddy mess.

Plants can also be installed in the bog area of the water garden prior to filling and, in fact, I have seen this suggested as the preferred order of doing things. Allowing the water to fill in slowly around the pots will prevent the force of the water from disrupting the planting.

Because of the variety of water plants available, you can plan to use all five categories for blooms and/or textural interest all summer. You should aim for about 60 percent of the water to be covered by plants, allowing for hiding places for the fish, as well as a way to shade them. The shade will discourage algae in those areas as well.

Purchase your plants at your favorite garden center or pond supply shop - NEVER transplant then from the "wild." First, many areas of public land have severe penalties for picking wildflowers. In addition, you risk infestations of disease that would not likely be present on cultivated plants. Most plants need to re re-potted every one to three years.

If you live in an area that routinely sprays for mosquitoes, or you have your nearby landscape plants sprayed, find out when the spraying will take place and try to cover your pond. Improper insecticides can be devastating to the life in your pond, killing fish and sometimes even damaging plants. There are numerous books on garden ponds that can give you more information on specific varieties of plants, types of fish, and other things to be aware of.

I would feel remiss if I didn't at least mention one more thing. If there are small children in your family or neighborhood, remember that water is a child magnet and care should be taken to avoid accidents.

Water gardens are a beautiful, unique addition to any landscape; one that offers endless variety throughout the summer as well as for years to come.