Aquatic plants for your home pond or garden fountain will enhance the beauty of your water feature and help improve water quality. Aquatic plants fall into three categories: floating, submerged and marginals. A balanced, healthy pond should include a variety of all three, for best pond performance through the season.
Floating aquatic plants include water lettuce and water hyacinths. These are easy to grow aquatic plants. Take them home and place them on the surface of your pond or garden fountain. That's all you need to do; no planting, no fertilizing. In full sun, water lettuce and water hyacinths will multiply quickly, shading the water and reducing algae bloom.
Water hyacinths will flower through the summer.
The most recognizable submerged aquatic plant is the water lily, including hardy nymphaea. Their round leaves can grow to ten inches in diameter, providing shade and shelter for fish. Nymphaea will bloom in full sun. Bloom color will vary, but most hardy lilies are white, pink or yellow. Water lilies can survive our winters provided they are submerged to a depth of 3 feet or more.
Marginal aquatic plants thrive in the shallow water along the edge of your pond or on a shelf in the pond.
Marginal plants add color and interest to your pond and include tall, colorful cannas,
Ruellia and colocasia, as well as shorter varieties such as
Bloody Dock and Blue Moneywort.
Aquatic plants serve to accent your pond and to protect fish as well as improve water quality. They will make your pond or garden fountain a stand out feature of your landscape all summer long.
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