Plants for new pond

[\-o-O-o-/ Max Thrust]

I have a new pond that’s a couple of weeks old now. I have a little over a dozen plants in baskets with cat litter now. I have read some people place the plants directly in the water using rocks to hold them down and some use bags and some use baskets. How do I know which plants I can plant directly in the water? I have some cannas, elephants ears, Mexican petunias, liriope, water lily, papyrus and rush (no Kansas or Led Zeppelin ) plus some floaters. Just the bulbous and tubers? How long does it take for the plants to get established and contribute to the ecosystem?
I also have about 29 minnows (1 went tango uniform) in my 600 gallon pond.

 

[Jhn]

None of the plants in my pond are in pots save for a yellow flag iris in the deep end. But I built in pea gravel planting beds to my pond for marginals, and a large area 18-20” deep that I could let lilies take over.

The cannas and elephant ears could be just planted in a shallow gravel bed in the pond, by shallow I mean like a few inches at most underwater Depending on the type of canna and elephant ear. Most of your plants listed would be classified as marginal or bog plants meaning they like their “feet” wet, or just a inch or two of water over the crown. They all could be removed from their pots depending on your planting areas and pond design.

Lilies are the exception in your list. I have started mine in pots to let the tuber get big with quite a few growing tips. Then when it is time to repot it usually the following year I pull it out and wedge between rocks in the 18” area of my pond and let it go, trimming it back as needed. Be careful doing this in your pond at 600 gallons it could take your entire pond over With in a year. Best left in the pot in your pond. My planting area is roughly a 10’x8’ x20” deep area of my pond And my over all pond is roughly 10,000 gallons, so this is but a small portion.

Nice looking pond by the way.

 

[\-o-O-o-/ Max Thrust]

Thank you. I just redid this part of my yard. I already wish I would have gone bigger. Maybe when I get this pondIng figured out I’ll expand it and add a bog as well.
I have a shelf around half of my pond that is about 12” deep and 12” wide. My baskets currently sit on blocks to keep the tops right at the water level on the shelf. What plants would you suggest that could be in that depth without baskets?
My elephant ear, water lily and some liriope are at the bottom of the deep part, about 24”. I have seen those plants at zoos and gardens at that depth so I thought I’d try that. I hope my lilies really grow as they seem to be struggling right now.

 

[brc]

That's a really sharp looking pond.. great work!

One thing I would probably do (totally a matter of personal taste) would be to add a waterfall pouring into the back - or maybe the back left. If you wanted to add a bog, that could be its return.

You could also hide a bog back there easily. If you cover it over with that same gravel, you wouldn't be able to tell it was even there.

 

[\-o-O-o-/ Max Thrust]

That's a really sharp looking pond.. great work!

One thing I would probably do (totally a matter of personal taste) would be to add a waterfall pouring into the back - or maybe the back left. If you wanted to add a bog, that could be its return.

You could also hide a bog back there easily. If you cover it over with that same gravel, you wouldn't be able to tell it was even there.

Thank you! In my yard the digging comes mostly by pick axe because of the rocky soil. I know this is a small pond but it took me almost 3 days just dig it out. It jars me to my core hitting a rock. I was also battling roots from the neighbor’s oleanders and 3 former palm trees.
There is a 3’ grade change from the wall to pond that’s hard to see in the pic. I like the idea of a waterfall but thought it might look kind of hokey just having a pile of rocks with water coming out with no context to the landscaping. Now that I think about it I might put in a bog higher up using a waterfall to empty into the pond below. Thanks for the idea! That wouldn’t require reworking the pond’s perimeter structure too much. I have some irrigation lines to rework though. I’m going to mull it over for a while and see where it takes me... maybe to a bigger pond! But that’s going to have wait a while as I have exhausted my budget for my pond. Ponding is addictive!

 

[addy1]

Ponding is addictive!

nah, never addictive! I went from one to 11 ponds here. Done building now.