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Tall pond plants
D C
Posts: 27
Good evening,
could anybody help me with a question about my new pond please? I am looking for a plant, or plants, that grow in deep(ish) water but also grow tall above the water level. As I live in Scotland, it would have to be a plant that doesn't require sunshine all the time.
Looking around online all 'deep water' plants tend to be quite close to the water level.
Does anybody happen to have any suggestions please?
Thank you very much.
0
Posts
Typha angustifolia. Phragmites australis.
Typha angustifolia - lesser reedmace, a native bulrush, is a lovely plant and great for attracting wildlife - but if you look up its dimensions, they tell you "Height 2m, spread indefinite..." You'd need to plant it in a large container, I think, and I don't know if it would just sulk. A friend of mine worked in a new garden centre in Northumberland, with a large pond next to the car park planted with a clump of bulrush. It was only 3 or 4 years before it was so congested they had to clear it all out. The phragmites (common reed) would also need controlling.
Another approach could be to choose something which is tall but not a "deep water" plant, and make a plinth of bricks or blocks to stand its basket on. You'd need to protect your pond liner (unless this is a concrete or clay-lined pond) with a couple of layers of pond liner underlay, under the plinth. The plant might be dislodged by wind, though.
Presumably you don't have a marginal shelf you could use?
As Liri says - you can put a planting basket on some brick or an upturned pot. I have Equisetum (had it in several ponds) and it makes a good vertical. Mine is on a shelf (as it's a marginal) but you could easily site it in deeper water on top of something. Although related to horsetail, it isn't an issue at all.
Mine is in an east facing site, and I'm also in Scotland, DC. It doesn't require lots of sunshine to keep it happy.
There's a dwarf bullrush available, but I haven't grown it so can't comment on what it's like.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Thanks for the advice.
There is a shelf as well, but that still leaves quite a bit of deeper water (about 70 cm deep) that I would like to get some plants in too. Plenty of time till spring though.