Planting and Aftercare

Planting & Feeding

Aquatic plants will naturally grow in the soft mud surrounding and inside your pool. If your pond is lined then we would recommend the use of fine mesh planting baskets. Choose an appropriate container for the size of the plant.

We suggest:
A minimum 22 or 23cm basket for Water lilies & Nuphar luteum except for the very small pygmy water lilies which can have a smaller basket.
A minimum 11cm for basket for Aponogetun distachyos, Nymphoides peltata & marginals.

Compost suitable for planting aquatic plants should be a medium to heavy loam. Garden soil can be used if it is suitable and free from fertiliser and herbicides. Otherwise proprietary aquatic compost should be used which may also contain a slow-release fertiliser. A generous layer of pea gravel should be applied to the top of the pots, if larger fish are present then use cobbles.

Aquatic plants get their many of their nutrients from the water, this helps to balance your pool preventing algae. Hungry plants such as water lilies benefit from dividing and re-potting in fresh soil every few years. They may benefit from a supplementary feed in the spring of a specialist aquatic feed, such as Pondflora, when not being potted on to encourage better flowering.

Water Lilies

Water lilies like to be in full sun free from splashing fountains and waterfalls. Hardy lilies grow horizontally across the container so a wide pot is necessary for planting. The rhizome should be planted at one edge of the container at an angle of about 45 degrees with the crown exposed. It is important to keep the crown exposed as if buried the rhizome is liable to rot. Top with an inch or two of pea gravel or cobbles keeping the crown exposed. Plants may need to be raised on bricks and lowered in stages as their leaves reach the surface, until the appropriate depth is reached.

Water lilies bloom from June through September depending on the weather, and become dormant during the colder months. Remove spent flowers and any faded or damaged leaves, and in the autumn remove dead leaves & debris to prevent debris building up in the pond. As spring approaches, growth will begin again.

Deep Water Marginal

These plants grow in similar conditions to water lilies, however deep water plants such as Water Hawthorn, Aponogeton distachyus, prefer a shady spot. Plants may need to be raised on bricks and lowered in stages as their leaves reach the surface, until the appropriate depth is reached.

Floating Plants

These plants require no planting. Simply place them in the water and they will grow.

Many floating plants cannot tolerate a frost. Stratiotes aloides will sink in the winter and rise in the spring.

Hydrocharis dies right back in the autumn but seeds itself for the following spring.

Marginal Plants

These plants grow around the perimeter of the pool. Plant around the water line or choose planting baskets to suit the depth of your shelves. Planting depths are shown on labels where supplied and under individual descriptions. The depth shown is the depth of water above soil level. When planting bare-rooted plants in summer, trim back the tops by half.

Submerged Aquatics

Oxygenating plants are supplied as bunches which can be simply thrown into the pool or planted into baskets of gravel to keep them in control. Over vigorous growth, which can be a sign of too much nutrient in the pond, can simply be thinned out and added to the compost heap.