Help with plants

[Lover of the Outdoors]

Hello. I just finished setting up my small above ground pond with waterfall. I made it out of a preformed liner from Lowe's with landscape rocks to build a wall around it. I love the way it turned out! I may add a few small fish in the spring, but for now, I'm taking it slow and simply want to enjoy the waterfall and add beauty with some landscaping and aquatic plants. The pond is only 70 gallons and the rocks inside to build the waterfall take up some of that space, so I don't have a huge amount of space to work with. I'm clueless as to how to choose plants and get them started. And where to buy them. Do you get these at an aquarium store? Lowes? What plants do you suggest? I'm in the Houston area, zone 9B. It might freeze here once in January. Pond gets afternoon sun...maybe for about 3 to 4 hours. Can someone give me some guidance?

 

[Stephen Noble]

Hi there Lover of the Outdoors. I have a question for your question. Yeah, wise guy..ha! You mentioned the pond gets 3-4 hours of afternoon sun. Is that now or during the summer? Most aquarium plants won't like extended cold water. Java Fern & Anubias are aquarium plants that like low light if you only get a few hours of sunlight per day. They will survive a cold snap but not for extended periods. I would wait for spring and put some lilies in your pond. Your pond is nice and shallow and lilies will love it. You can check your state to see if water lettuce and water hyacinth are allowed. If so, they make nice floating plants but you will have to really thin them as they grow. What type of fish are you thinking of keeping?

 

[Lover of the Outdoors]

Hi Stephen. Thanks for responding. The afternoon sun is in the summer. We have long summers. It's still almost 80 here in the afternoons. Fall is just beginning to set in here. In the spring, just a few fish. Goldfish likely. I'm happy with plants and the sound of water. 5 grandsons ages 7 and under insist we need fish. So plan to get a few for them. Who knows, maybe I'll fall in love with them. Not the grandsons! They already have my heart! So what kind of store would one go to find these types of plants you mentioned?

 

[Stephen Noble]

Great! I just wanted to make sure your pond isn't heavily shaded in the summer months. The Aquarium plants (Java Fern and Anubias) are for low light conditions. Your pond is best for lilies and floating plants. In the spring, you can find them at a garden center. Best for now to enjoy your pond as is and plan on getting the plants next year. A fantastic resource is the Houston Koi and Pond Society https://houstonkoiandpondsociety.org/ I am sure they can help you find plants and fish.