subject: Stocking a Water Garden [print this page] The selection of plants for a new bed or border which you will have created in the garden is up to you. Bearing in mind the amount of sunshine and soil type that happen to be present you can have an enormous range of plants from which to make your choice, dependant upon your likes and dislikes. Roses on their own or mixed with other plants. Bedding plants or Bamboo, it's up to you entirely.
One of the basic rules for creating a successful water garden is that stocking is not just up to you and your desire to have a gorgeous pond. Stocking calls for bringing together a number of ingredients, both plant and animal, so that a healthy and stable balance is maintained. It is going to be required to introduce some uninteresting plants without any ornamental value because they help to keep the water clear. You might even have to ensure that a certain amount of the water surface is covered by foliage, whether you like it or not.
You might soon discover that choosing specimen from your aquatic centre or catalogue purely as it looks the most attractive could be a big mistake. The showiest fish would require a far larger than average pond in addition to being an ice-free environment in the wintry weather months. Some fairly strict rules, then, for making the right choice of stocking material.
Furthermore there is certainly rules regarding the time for stocking the pond. Firstly, plants need to be introduced throughout the growing season and you must wait two or three days after the pond has been filled up with fresh tap water. This permits the dissolved chlorine to disappear. The next rule is that you should leave Four weeks between planting and the introduction of fish. The main reason to do this is that fish tug at submerged plants and nibble at the leaves, so Water Lillies, Marginals, Oxygenators etc need to be allowed to establish themselves before being exposed to Goldfish, Shubunkins or any other type of fish.
You will discover 6 groups of pond plants that you should consider.Water Lillies, roots submerged, leaves on the surface and flowers on or above the water surface.Deep Water Aquatics, roots submerged, leaves on the surface and flowers on or above the surface.Floaters, roots submerged, leaves and stems free-floating on or just below the surface and the flowers, if any, on or above the surface.Bog Plants, roots in moist soil but not permanently submerged in water, leaves and flowers clearly above the surface.Oxygenators, roots and stems submerged, leaves almost always submerged as well as flowers, if any, on or above the surface.Finally, we always specialise in installing have the Marginals, roots submerged, leaves and flowers clearly above the surface.
There are actually far too many varieties of every group to cover in a single article but I will write in more detail a greater description of every group the moment I can. The principle thing to remember when stocking your pond is to possess a very good look at the plants on offer and try to know the purpose of every group of plants. This is vital to the survival of the ponds life.
