Sneaky Ways Aquatic Plants Enhance Koi Ponds
Designed yourself a pond, huh? Once the hole is dug, the liner installed, and water filled in it’s time to turn your attention to pond plants. They are a key component and insure the overall health of your pond. They often serve to either add oxygen to or remove nitrates from the water to the benefit of your koi or goldfish. Plus they add a sense of balance to the pond while minimizing the chances of an algae taking over.
There are many types of plants to include in your water feature, so how do you decide? It might help to know that water garden plants are usually classified by how or where they grow. Let me explain further.
Okay so it goes without saying you want to grow plants in your pond. And the first choice of most is the elegant water lily. If you’ve got a pond you’re most likely going to have a water lily in it. This is because the flowers are drop dead gorgeous. While the leaves themselves add to the overall visual impact your pond makes.
And it’s the covering of the surface that confers a big benefit to your pond. The leaves will cut down on evaporation and shade the pond. Which serves to moderate the swing in water temperatures and overall keeping the pond cooler than it might otherwise be. Plus the shade helps keep algae growth to a minimum.
Next would be floating plants that live their lives out on the surface needing no soil to thrive. Any roots they have dangle down into the water. This type of pond plant helps with water quality and in keeping the water clearer.
You want submerged or oxygenating plants to help naturally combat any algae that takes up residence. That’s because they produce needed oxygen and use up nutrients in the water that enable algae to thrive. You aren’t as apt to notice these guys as they live underwater in total immersion.
So called bog or marginal plants grown in the shallow water on the perimeter of your pond. They are the reason you likely put a shelf running all around it. Again cattails and the like are good for the water quality.
If you like you can complete the scene by using transitional plants just off the edge. Smoothing the transition from the pond to the rest of your landscaping.
Water-loving plants complete the picture. You’ll want to use them in combination so as to cover all parts of your pond habitat. Having a mix of types, heights and textures makes for a visual picture that’s hard to beat. Besides keeping the water quality up, these liquid assets are a beautifying element that complete the development of your backyard pond.
