Common Pond Plants in North America

17 Jan

Common Pond Plants in North America

Whether its as little as a half oak barrel or several hundred gallons, a pond provides a bit of beauty and interest to the garden. Ponds also let you test your hand at developing a few of the numerous pond plants available at specialty nurseries and garden centres around North America. Pond plants serve to beautify your pond, supply shaded hiding places for fish and also add oxygen to the water. Understanding the kinds of pond plants can allow you to decide what is best for your pond.

Flowering Pond Plants

When you consider pond plants, one of the first images that comes to mind are water lilies (Nymphaea spp.) , with their vibrant blossoms and flat pads. Another frequent flowering pond plant is the lotus (Nelumbo nucifera), which looks like the water lily, but the leaves aren’t level against the water. Both lilies and lotus must be kept in full sunlight and in underwater pots that sit at the pond on the ground or on a block. Though some species of lilies are winter hardy, lotus plants will need to be stored indoors during winter.

Floating Pond Plants

As its name suggests, floating plants float on the surface of the pond. They do not need to be stored in pots, making them easy to add to any pond. These crops do spread and can take over a pond if not thinned out on occasion. Common floating pond plants include water hyacinth (Eichornia crassipes) and water lettuce (Pistia stratiotes). Both these plants grow best in temperatures ranging from 70 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit.

Submerged Pond Plants

Submerged pond plants aren’t as striking as other pond plants, however they’re vital to a pond’s health. Thriving in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 4 through 11, these plants filter the water, provide hiding places for fish and oxygenate the water. For a deep pond, anacharis (Egeria densa) can be maintained as deep as 10 feet. For ponds no deeper than 2 feet, wild celery (Vallisneria spp.) Is more appropriate and fanwort (Cabomba canadensis) is the best option for parts of the pond that are less than 12 inches deep. Each of these plants have been maintained in pots that sit on the ground of the pond or on a underwater block.

Marginal Pond Plants

Marginal pond plants can also be known as bog plants. These are the plants that decorate the border of your pond where the soil is soggy. They are implanted directly into the ground in the edge of the pond or inside containers at the pond in places no more than 6 inches deep. A few of the most familiar bog plants are cattails (Typha sp.) , yellow iris (Iris pseudacorus), blue iris (Iris louisianawater and) blue bells (Campanula rotundifolia). Each of those plants performs well in full sunlight or partly shady conditions. Although cattails and iris grow in USDA zones 4 through 11, water blue bows will only thrive in zones 9 to 11.

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