Can't Have a Pond so I'll Have a Bucket :)

Some more photos, the 'bucket' is continuing to look good The frogbit has increased impressively from last year to the point where's almost covering the surface and the milfoil has come up in a nice clump this year too. I have had to remove a bit of duckweed but that's been the only minor problem, the water though is gin clear

 

Bilbo,
your bucket is as pleasing to the eye as any flower bed. It's a lovely assortment of things that you have in there. I hope you can continue to show us the development of things as the season progresses please,
Jenny

 

Thanks Jenny, well just yesterday I noticed 4 buds on the water lilies and this morning 2 started to open before a storm arrived, here they are

 

Daft question, but do floating plants actually get planted in soil, or do you just chuck them in the water?

What's the upright spikey stuff Bilbo675?

 

Bilbo where did you get the mini water lily from ,?
ps did you keept them outdoor all winter or are they more delicates?

 

Hi Clueless, floating plants are quite literally that, you just pop them on the surface and away they go , frogbit is like a delicate micro water lily that is hardy, it sinks to the bottom of the pond in the winter and then comes back up in the spring when new leaves appear. You can also get water hyacinth which although not hardy its useful for quickly covering the surface of a pond (see earlier in this thread, I had one in the bucket last year).

The upright spikey plant is called water milfoil, planted in a basket in clumps up and slowly spreads via runners

 

Hi Sal, I got the pygmy water lilies off Ebay last year, reasonably priced at around £6-£7 and in very good healthy condition. I also got the frogbit from Ebay, priced at £10 for 10.

I did nothing to the bucket to protect it over winter, although we had long cold spells, we never got below -5 too often and it only froze a couple of times with a thin layer of ice on the top. If severe cold was forecast like the winters from a couple of years ago then I would take extra steps to protect it otherwise it would just turn into one big ice cube

 

Thank you Bilbo, just found few on ebay , apparently they even sell duck weeds and snail

to be honest didn`t know that goldfish eating duckweeds , I`ve just found out in my pond , no even a single bits left

 

Hi Sal, goldfish can be destructive little devils , they will readily eat various pond weeds to supliment their diet, which if they choose duckweed when its getting out of hand is fine, but occasionally they will strip more desirable plants too

 

Thank you bilbo , one more thing I didn`t understood ....are the frogbits frost hardy or you`ve moved them inside ?

 

Hi again Sal, frogbit is hardy, in the autumn they die back to what essentially is like a tiny 'bulb/bud' and sink to the bottom and then when the new leaves appear in the spring they float back up to the top, in a good summer they do produce small white flowers. They're great for tubs, buckets and small ponds but may get lost in a larger pond with lots of fish..

 

Im well impressed with your bucket!!! My half barrel has a pygmy water lily in it since last year, and so far has produced 6 leaves but no sign of flower buds! I've just put in some stuff I bought from Ebay, its called :


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6 NYMPHOIDES PELTATA but I didn't realise till now that I've to plant it.. not just chuck it in!!! So you see, Im really a novice at this! Any help would be gratefully accepted!

 

You're doing extraordinarily well with your "bucket", Bilbo.

Most of them deteriorate into green gunge eventually but yours is brilliant.

 

Thank you , I've found it a lovely project and so far an easy one to maintain, I regularly clear excess duckweed and any debris, especially in the autumn but that's about it. When I top it up I use water from the rain butt rather than tap water and the water has been crystal clear since the beginning..