Pond Plants

[Cinnamon]

I didn't know where to put this so I put it here. I have a question about plants for the pond. I do have umbrella plants already in the pond. I am about to order my 2 tropical water lillies. The pond place told me to pot them in clay soil (which we have plenty of) with pea gravel and then bigger rocks. All of which I have done. The umbrella plants have done well since I put them in. Do I do the same thing for the water lillies? I also read where you don't put them but 6" under the water until they start coming up. Then you move them deeper. Is this correct? The place I am ordering from wants to throw in 3 bog plants. I don't have a bog in my pond and I don't believe I can add one to it. Is there a way to plant bog plants beside the pond etc? Is there a good website that shows pics of the plants? I know I am always so full of questions! :???:

[Busy B]

I'm so new to the pond world, I'm not much help...See if Bonnie has a website posted under her profile...she's very knowledgeable.

For tropicals I think they like the warmer water, hence not so deep to start with. And I just used small pea gravel for my lilies and they did fine but I know some use their own special mix for potting. The bog plants I think would depend on the variety on how much moisture they can take..slightly soggy or really wet (in the pond)

If I knew how to move this, it would go under Garden pond...TERRI!!

[Cinnamon]

Busy B thanks for the response. And it has been moved! THANK YOU!

[Busy B]

Wasn't me! I don't know how...:smile:

[Terri]

For some reason I can't acess Bonnie's web site.. I believe it's www.bonniesplants.com

I don't keep tropicals so I'm no help... (well I have an umbrella palm that Jackie gave me).

I do Have a few bog plants in the pond(frozen right now), they sit on bricks so the tops of the pots are just barely below water level... they seem ok.

Ok, I admit... while I like aquatic plants I'm pretty clueless... don't know what I'm doing for the most part but I rarely kill anything :lol:

[Cinnamon]

Terri thanks for the url! You know I am about like you. I rarely kill anything at all. Everyone tells me how much of a green thumb I have. All my flowers are always bigger and more colorful. I try! Awhile back I was trimming one of my rose bushes. I thought what if? I stuck it in a pot of clay soil I had ready for a pond plant. It has rooted and putting on small knobs for leaves! Heiko said I didn't know you could do that. I said I didn't know either :lol: The only way I have ever got a cutting off a rose bush is the graft it. I will check out Bonnie's website right now!

[Jackie Ramo]

I have a rose that seems to root everywhere it touches, blooms in the shade as well. Its a menace!! !wow! taking over the garden, good job last year the bugs got it.

Pam, you will find there are as many ways of planting lilies as there are ponders :-D Everyone seems to have their own way. Mine are direct planted in the rocks of the pond, but they are hardies. The tropicals I usually pot up in gravel with a pond tab or two.

[BonnieIN]

Last year was my first with tropical waterlilies and I use the same potting method as hardies except you want the tuber to be in the middle of the pot instead of the side.

This year I'm going to grow all of my waterlilies in kitty litter (unscented) so it won't make such a mess if spilled in the pond.

As far as bog plants, you might want to try them in an area in your pond. Bog plants are supposed to be plants that will thrive in wet conditions but some have success with growing them in the pond as marginals.

Here's a good plant site for info on pond plants:
http://web.archive.org/web/20001024171328/theplantplace.com/index.htm

Good luck!
Bonnie (IN)

[Terri]

This year I'm going to grow all of my waterlilies in kitty litter (unscented) so it won't make such a mess if spilled in the pond.
I think I'll try that this year... in the past I've mixed the litter(or clay I've dug up in the garden) with regular old garden(topsoil) soil.

Ever tried that coco matting? I beleive Bonnie Hale mentioned she was going to try that out - soil less planting for the pond or some such thing.

[BonnieIN]

Terri, I've never used the coco mat because it's too expensive to use for me because I've got tooooo many waterlilies and even adding on a few more this year! :!:
(Hello my name is Bonnie C and I'm a lily addict)

I do recall Roddy mentioning that's what he uses for his waterlilies. Sure would make it alot quicker to repot!

[Busy B]

I tried the litter but I didn't like it...Tammie from Hawaii told me about it. It is hard to scoop up if it tips...I used pea gravel and they did OK...but what do I know..haven't done it long enough :smile:

[BonnieIN]

Busy was that the only reason why you didn't like it or did you experience less blooms?

[Jackie Ramo]

I have used just gravel with tropicals, the hardies are planted direct in the pond as it is a rocked pond. I've heard the litter clouds the water and one must of course be careful to just get the litter that doesn't clump or stop the smell etc. No additives.

[Busy B]

I started the plants I got from Tammie in the ghouse with the litter...Was pretty cloudy...Maybe if you soaked and rinsed alot it would work better. Imagine it's from the dust of the litter...But even rinsing it would be like cleaning gravel in an aquarium...scooping and fluffing it as you go.


Since I have lots of pea gravel, I rinsed it alot easier. Topped off with bigger stones...pulled them for the winter and they are full of roots and ready to go in a bigger pot, so they grew well and I think flowered well...first year with them so I don't know if they could of done better. But I don't think I'll use the litter again..

[Isis_Nebthet]

I've never had any soil in with any of the pond plants. It stays in the 90's and 100's here in summer though which will make a difference with some plants (i.e. indoors I find I have to "wean" some new bog plants off dirt but never outside). I also had a tendency to use whatever I have...lava rock was a bad idea I'm still picking it out of rootballs two years later and since some roots grow through it man is it beastly ;) I can't get away with regular gravel either as I have two times a year where the plants grow to pot cracking proportions.

I use fist sized or larger rocks in everything now. Not sure if any of that is helpful or not.

Adrea

[Jackie Ramo]

I remember seeing pics of your pretty jaccuzi pond. Shows what one can do with a bit of work and imagination.

I find I am moving to larger rocks as time goes by rather than the gravel which can get a bit stinky by the end of the summer.

:lol: I gotcha on the lava rocks, been there done that. Too bad as it seemed the best solution at the time...