Water Rights: Create a Water Garden in Your Backyard

(Page 3 of 3)

July/August 2003
By Kellie Sisson Snider 
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Floating plants
These simply float on the water’s surface without rooting.

RELATED CONTENT

• Water hyacinth

• Water lettuce

• Parrotsfeather

• Golden club

Marginal and Bog Plants
These are planted in shallow water, usually in pots on ledges, or in bog areas incorporated into the pond.

Japanese or Siberian iris

• Taro

• Horsetail rush

• Curly rush

• Sweet flag iris

• Sagittaria

• Arrow head

• Lotus (available in various sizes for different sizes of ponds)

Underwater plants
These essential plants provide food, shelter, and spawning places for fish. They also help filter and aerate the water.

• Hornwort

• Anacharis

• Cabomba

Clean and clear—naturally

• Know your water source. If you use city water, find out if your town uses chlorine or chloramine in its water supply. If it’s chlorine, fill the pond and let it sit for a couple of weeks to allow the chlorine to dissipate before adding fish. If it’s chloramine, use a dechloraminating product such as Pond Ammo Lock 2 (see Resources). The best bet is to fill your pond with well water or rainwater, then wait a week or two to allow a beneficial bacterial colony to develop before you add fish.

• Boost the pH. Sometimes the pH from rain or well water can be low. You can buffer your water by adding oyster shells.

• Nothing but net. If you keep only a few goldfish, cleaning can be as simple as scooping out fallen leaves and debris with a pool-skimming net every month or so and trimming dead leaves from your aquatic plants.

• Put plants to work. Dig and line a long, narrow, shallow area next to your pond for bog plants such as Japanese or Siberian iris, taro, canna lilies, horsetail rush, or pickerel weed. Use a low-amp or solar-powered pond pump to circulate pond water through this channel so that after running past the plants’ roots, it re-enters the main pond. This is a better filter than any you can buy.

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