new pond questions

Hi nosucow, I take it by "the top of the plant" you mean the tip of the plant [i.e: top growth]. If so, then the answer lies in the nature of Marginal plants in that they grow on the banks of rivers, ponds, lakes, etc, or just enough in the water to have their roots covered. So a marginal plant in not one that is entirely submerged in water. If you have it in a basket then all you need is two to 3 inches of water covering the top of the basket, not the plant.

The zones mentioned are the different temperate areas where the plant comes from and gives you an idea of the hardiness of the plant, and that includes not just water plants but all plants.

This is one for argument among Pond lovers. I dug my pond in 1993 after doing a lot of research on wildlife ponds and the plants needed. I used plastic baskets for the marginal plants after ensuring that I made a shelf, while shaping the pond when digging it, about 10 inches down, and running around three quarters around the pond. I followed the late great Geoff Hamilton's advice when he was building his pond at Barnsdale in Rutland with regard to marginal plant baskets. He said you don't need to buy special compost but that ordinary garden soil will do. Those who advocate special compost do so normally on the grounds of there being less nutrients in it thereby not encouraging algae. I'll explain why that's not a good argument later. Geoff Hamilton lined the baskets with hessian and then filled them with ordinary garden soil. put the plants in and then covered the soil with small gravel. The gravel will stop the soil escaping from the basket, that would also be the method if "special" compost was used. I followed that method to the letter and it worked brilliantly and I still have nearly all of the original plants, in their original baskets, in the pond today.!! I've also found that I've never had to mess about maintaining the baskets as they have looked after themselves.

Some advocates of "special" compost saying that you shouldn't use ordinary garden soil because it contains nutrients which will encourage algae to grow in the water. However, I have planted as I said because whatever nutrients there are in garden soil is in fact taken up by the Marginal plants, Oxygenator plants, Floater plants, and Deep Water plants and they maintain the balance needed to ensure that algae and the like are not given the opportunity to grow because all the while the plants are taking nutrients out of the pond water. One of the key components of keeping the pond in balance is ensuring that you plant enough Marginals, and other types to ensure that there is a continuing natural system that takes nutrients out of the water. Do that and your pond water will remain clear and algae free. How do I know that, because I can say, in all honesty, that since I built the pond and put in the Marginals I have never had one problem with the pond.

 

Hi, well, as I said earlier marginals usually require about 2 to 3 inches of water above the top of the pot. But Life isn't like that, so what you find is that the level of the pond water will go up and down according to the prevalent weather conditions, i.e: if there's a lot of rain then the pond water level will go up and if it's dry the pond water will drop. But, so long as the pot are standing in water the Marginal plants will survive. I would recommend that you plant as many marginals, oxygenaters, etc, as you can and they will maintain the balance and clarity of the pond by extracting nutrients out of the water which will discourage any growth of algae.

 

One or two would have done!!!, noksucow, as it will grow quite quickly and help take out the nutrients and also oxygenate the water naturally. A good choice, and don't be afraid in the following year to remove some if needed.