CKP Plants

Established 1995

plants

Although not prevalent in a purest Koi pond, aquatic plants soften the look, help with water quality and provide interest and spawning media for our fish. Koi need to interact with their habitat - if in a sterile environment they will inevitably become bored

Although I personally prefer koi ponds over watergardens, the addition of plants is of course both functionally and aesthetically beneficial and I like to have some floaters

In my opinion, there is nothing worse than a koi pond that looks like a swimming pool with fish in it

Types of Aquatic Plants
There is a huge selection of plants suitable for our ponds. The basic categories are submerged, emergent (bog) and floating plants

Submerged plants usually require pots or other substrate to anchor in. Examples of these plants include Potamogeton (of which there are numerous species), Hornwort (which can be rooted or free float) and Elodea. The ubiquitous Waterlily is of course a standard and everyone can identify this icon of pond plants. Both tropical "night blooming" Lilies and hardy specimens are available. Tropical plants offer huge flowers and fragrance. Hardy lilies will come back year after year as long as the tuber doesn't freeze. With monthly fertilizing, lilies will maximize blooms throughout the Summer

Typical emergent plants are bog plants which can grow in wet soil or shallow water up to about 6 inches in depth. Popular choices include the early blooming Marsh Marigold, Obedient Plant, Arrowhead, Rushes and Irises to name just a few. An abundance of plants fall into this category

Floating plants include tropical's such as Water Hyacinths and Water lettuce. In good conditions these water weeds will take over the pond in no time and need to be culled. Other smaller floaters include Duckweed (which fish love to eat) Frogbit and Azolla. Parrots feather is another popular plant that grows partially in and out of the water

Terrestrial Plant Considerations
Visit any nursery and you will be swamped with choices. Several factors to contemplate are colour, size when mature, evergreen or deciduous and foliage contrast. I don't think any pond is complete without a Bloodgood Japanese Maple. They don't grow too large, hold onto their leaves until late in the season and if you pick the right cultivar, will remain a brilliant red throughout the season. This colour complements the rest of the garden which is predominantly green

Ornamental grasses provide a lot of interest and are great for border plants. There are many types of grasses available. Potentilla flowers for most of the growing season. Euonymous is an evergreen which creeps more than it grows in height. The variegated leaves are something that appeals to many

Most Common Mistakes When Planting
The classic mistake is to place plants to close together. This is an easy error to make when the plants is small and its hard to visualize the adult span. Additionally, many plants will be too big for the typical garden shading our your pond and dropping leaves into it in the Autumn. Avoid fast growing weed trees which are usually short lived and not attractive. Although they provide quick cover, they will become maintenance nightmares. Chinese Elm and Poplar trees fall into this category

Planting should not look contrived. Mix it up and remember, you want plants to grow over the rock and soften the undesirable look of a continuous string of stone. Plants are often placed in small groupings but remember, a formally planted garden will visual clash with an informal pond

Stone and plants should complement each other in a balance, not compete or dominate


Potentilla is versatile and small shrub that continually flowers		A cutleaf Japanese Maple like this one should be in every garden		Zebra grass can grow up to 6 feet tall and has an attractive yellow streak in the foliage		The staple Euonymous is variegated and evergreen

Growth takes time

Last Modified : January 20, 2008
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