Toppling, Top-heavy, Potted Pond Plants

[Rosenbeck]

Thank you all for the great suggestions.. I've got the problem solved short term with twine--thanks @cas, and will make the long term fixes when I winterize.

I'm curious about @Lisak1's suggestion to naturalize. Are there workarounds for doing this with a rubber liner.

 

[Lisak1]

I'm curious about @Lisak1's suggestion to naturalize. Are there workarounds for doing this with a rubber liner.

Does your pond have shelves? We have all of our plants (except that one tropical that gives me grief at this time of year!) growing directly on the shelves in our pond. We have rocks and gravel on the shelves which allows me to tuck the plants between the rocks until they grow big enough that they support themselves. I add gravel around the roots to cover them and give them a place to anchor. I have several types of reeds and rushes, irises, lizard tail, thalia, arrowhead plant, obedient plant, bog bean, several sedges, a water buttercup, water celery, cattails, and marsh marigold all growing in the pond with no pots. So much easier than potting and re-potting and dividing and re-planting and lowering the pots in the winter, raising them in the spring, etc.

Edited to add: We learned the hard way the first winter that the survival of our pond plants is dependent upon the level of the water when it freezes. The first year we shut the waterfall off and when we do that our pond level lowers about 6 or 8 inches. The plants were all completely exposed and none of them came back the next year. The following year we did nothing different except keep the pond running which kept the water level higher and the plants were under the ice all winter - they all survived and did great the next year. So you have to know your own pond and how it functions if you hope to naturalize your plants.

 

[Rosenbeck]

Does your pond have shelves? We have all of our plants (except that one tropical that gives me grief at this time of year!) growing directly on the shelves in our pond. We have rocks and gravel on the shelves which allows me to tuck the plants between the rocks until they grow big enough that they support themselves. I add gravel around the roots to cover them and give them a place to anchor. I have several types of reeds and rushes, irises, lizard tail, thalia, arrowhead plant, obedient plant, bog bean, several sedges, a water buttercup, water celery, cattails, and marsh marigold all growing in the pond with no pots. So much easier than potting and re-potting and dividing and re-planting and lowering the pots in the winter, raising them in the spring, etc.

Edited to add: We learned the hard way the first winter that the survival of our pond plants is dependent upon the level of the water when it freezes. The first year we shut the waterfall off and when we do that our pond level lowers about 6 or 8 inches. The plants were all completely exposed and none of them came back the next year. The following year we did nothing different except keep the pond running which kept the water level higher and the plants were under the ice all winter - they all survived and did great the next year. So you have to know your own pond and how it functions if you hope to naturalize your plants.

Great suggestions. Would it make sense to move these from the pots to the shelves when I winterize, or should I wait until Spring?

 

[Mmathis]

From what it sounds like, I have a set-up similar to @Lisak1 but my plants aren't really mature enough yet to say they are naturalized, but that's the goal.

 

[Lisak1]

I would wait until spring. You want them to have a good start on growing before the cold weather hits.

 

[Lisak1]

Oh, and be warned - "naturalized" means your plants will do what nature intends. Which means if they are invasive, they will invade! I've had plant roots climb out of the pond and start growing in the soil and vice versa. You still have to watch them and prune them and contain them - just like you would any garden plants.

 

[addy1]

Oh, and be warned - "naturalized" means your plants will do what nature intends. Which means if they are invasive, they will invade! I've had plant roots climb out of the pond and start growing in the soil and vice versa. You still have to watch them and prune them and contain them - just like you would any garden plants.

Mine are in the pond, in the bog, in the yard. They do wander. I yank a bunch of them every year and toss them. Usually in the spring, purge a lot that are just starting to grow, easiest time to yank. After that I just let them grow.

 

[Lisak1]

They do wander.

They sure do! I have so many volunteer plants this year - more than in any previous year. I don't know if it's been our harsh winters - maybe plants are producing more seed to compensate - but I have plants growing all over the place! Tomato plants, sedum, coneflowers, grasses - you name it! Mostly I just let them go, especially if they picked a nice place to grow!

 

[addy1]

I let anything grow where it grows, the only I chop down are the ones that block my walking areas. We have tomato plants growing everywhere with great tomatoes on them. A cantaloupe grew out in the field.
I do cut down the wildflower fields in the fall, it scatters the seeds, mulches our lousy dirt, slowly building it up. They grow better with all trimmed in the fall, I just mow it down at a 4.5 inch level.

 

[callingcolleen1]

This is what I was talking about branches holding up the plant. I can't take credit for this. It is from @callingcolleen1 pond pictures.
View attachment 86360

I just used the branches to hold up the long leaves cause otherwise they get so big and then I can't see the fish under the water. That plant just floats naturally but seems to have anchored itself to one side. It's not planted in any soil or anything.