How to Plant in Water

Deep-water and marginal water plants are best planted in special aquatic planting baskets rather than directly into the soil at the bottom of a pond. This enables you to plant up on land and lower the baskets down into the water rather than having to get wet. More importantly, it allows you to control the spread of plants – many water plants are vigorous and can take over a small pond. Oxygenating plants with roots can be planted in containers too but they can also be tied to a stone or piece of tile and dropped in the water where they will root on the bottom. These are plants that survive fully submerged. They recycle oxygen back into the water.

What You Need:
Plastic planting baskets; a lining such as hessian or garden fleece plus scissors for wide mesh baskets; an aquatic compost (a 6 litre bag is enough to fill a couple of 20cm diameter aquatic baskets); pea-shingle; aquatic plants in a tray of water; secateurs; bricks for deep water plants.
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Step 1
Get your aquatic basket. A variety of plastic mesh planters or fabric ones are sold in all aquatic shops. It is best to have one type of plant per basket and to choose a shape that fits the shape of your marginal shelf. When buying 40 cm diameter baskets for waterlilies, look for ones with handles. Fine mesh baskets can be planted up without lining them but those with a wide mesh need a lining to keep the compost in. When planting tall marginal plants like water iris, it is worth buying a bigger container than you need and placing a brick in the bottom before adding the compost – this will help to prevent the planting from becoming too top-heavy and falling over.


Step 2
Line wide mesh baskets with hessian or a double layer of garden fleece. Half fill with moist aquatic compost. Trim off any excess lining.

 

Step 3
Inspect the plant for pests and diseases, remove any problems including string-like green blanketweed. Insert plant into the aquatic compost and firm in gently with your fingers. Add more compost so the plant is planted at the same level as it was in its original pot.

 

Step 4
Add a 1 cm deep layer of pea shingle to the surface of the compost (this will prevent fish stirring up the compost and making the water cloudy).

 

Step 5
Lower the finished baskets gently into the water. Marginal plants can be put on a marginal shelf at the edge of the pond. Deep water plants can be put on a pier of bricks (adjust the height of the pier so the plants are at the correct depth).

 

Source: Greenfingers.com

 

 

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