Shallow gravel

[MariaT]

This will be my second year with my pond, first full season. It is a small (500 gallons? ) rigid plastic preform liner, with approx 4 in shelves along the edge of the liner and two step shelves half way down to the deeper parts. I think its pretty typical for a preform liner. I am planning on doing a gravel bottom with submersible plants in the deeper parts, floating plants for shade. I'm debating on Lily pads again or trying Water Hyacinth to avoid the big planter pot for the lilies?

My question is for the shallow liner shelves. I would ideally like to put gravel in the shelves and plant directly in the gravel. I think it would be an inch of gravel and 3 inches of water (maybe two and two?). Last year, I had potted creeping jenny with small stones and loved how it grew up over the edges and along the stones. Can I plant the creeping jenny directly in the gravel or should I keep it in pots? Also, what else would you recommend that could be in shallow gravel and water and grow higher? How much media do grasses and flowering plants need to successfully grow?

The pond is the center feature of 8 large raised garden beds. I would like to get as much natural interest and also looking forward to creating a lovely ecosystem for my fish and for the other wildlife that comes to play.

 

[bagsmom]

Hi Maria! WELCOME! I will follow this post with interest, since my Dad is planning to do something similar to your project. I am thinking you will have to be really selective about plants in a small space. I think there are dwarf varieties of some - like water lilies! I also think it will be hard to keep gravel on the plastic shelves. I wonder if you could get crafty with a little waterfall foam and some rocks the size of eggs or ping pong balls? Maybe you could "glue" them to the edges of the shelves to create tiny walls that would keep the gravel from falling down to the bottom? I have seen really small ponds that look like beautiful little jewels! I think the trick will be to keep things in balance by only having a few small goldfish. I can't wait to see it!

 

[Cichlidboy]

I put my creeping Jenny directly into the gravel and into gaps in larger stones and it is doing just fine and growing nicely.

 

[poconojoe]

Maybe you could "glue" them to the edges of the shelves to create tiny walls that would keep the gravel from falling down to the bottom? I have seen really small ponds that look like beautiful little jewels! I think the trick will be to keep things in balance by only having a few small goldfish. I can't wait to see it!

Waterfall foam is not really a good "glue". It's mainly meant to guide or divert water.

 

[poconojoe]

You can certainly plant directly in the gravel.

Try to use plants that are good at drawing nutrients from the water. Lillies are nice, but don't help much in that respect. Lillies do help shade the pond if you have direct sun.

I'm in zone 6b and Creeping Jenny seems to only survive the winter if it's planted in the ground.

You're going to need plants that don't grow too big since your pond is on the small side.

I have several plants that survive the winter. Some of the ones that don't get too big are aquatic mint, aquatic forget-me-not and I have an iris that does expand which I split apart every couple of years.

I use some tropicals every year, such as Parrot's Feather, umbrella plants. Tropical floating plants too, such as water hyacinths and water lettuce. The floaters just get thrown in and can spread quickly. You can thin them out if they get too invasive.

 

[Mmathis]

Hello and welcome! Do you have fish?

 

[bagsmom]

Waterfall foam is not really a good "glue". It's mainly meant to guide or divert water.

Very true! I wouldn't suggest it in a larger pond that you might walk around in. But for something this small - where maintenance could easily be done carefully, just sitting next to it - I thought it might help keep some of the gravel in place.

 

[j.w]

@MariaT

 

[addy1]

Welcome to the forum!