Water gardening requires proper planting conditions, just like any other kind of gardening. You need to be sure to have the correct soil, a good location, and quality plants. Yet you also have to figure in other possibilities and special conditions, making this form of gardening different from others.
You'll have to deal with considerations such as the depth of the water, the temperature of the water, and how to keep your plants and animals safe during the winter. Most aquatic plants seem to do better in a heavy, loamy, clay-based soil.
In order to preserve the nutrient content that keeps your plant growing, you cannot settle on the usual potting mix with light soil. Aquatics also need to be planted in damp soil. Fill up the container 2/3 full with damp soil for your plants to grow properly.
There are also special considerations when growing water lilies - place the rhizomes with the growing tip pointed semi-angular towards the center. You'll know it's the growing tip if you see eyes on it like a potato. In effect, you are allowing the plant to grow across the middle of the container.
After you have the rhizome placed properly, you'll cover it with soil so the tip is just slightly above the soil level. Tropical water lilies, unlike other water lily varieties, are planted at the center of the container.
Likewise, lotuses are planted in the center, but you need to exercise care when handling their rhizomes, which can be quite fragile. The process would be different when planting submerged plants and emergent - start by placing a generous amount of soil in your pot, centering the plant, then filling the pot with even more soil, putting them over the roots.
Once this potting process is complete, cover the soil with some gravel, about half an inch. This prevents the soil from erosion, as well as from murking up the pond water. Submerge your plants to the recommended depth after potting.
You can place bricks underneath containers to help bring them to the correct depth. Each plant should have a specific depth for submersion, so make sure you find this info out for yourself. Water lilies generally grow best at a depth of about 12 to 18 inches above the top of their container.
Or you can place the pot at a shallower depth before lowering it as the plant gradually grows. The more sun the pond gets, the deeper the container can be placed in the water. Sometimes water lilies can be grown at only 6 or 8 inches depth, but ideally you have to grow them at about a foot's depth.
Lotus plants can be grown at only about 4 or 6 inches depth, while emergent plants just need about two to three inches of water above them. Bricks or inverted pots can help you get the right height over the top or depth.
Don't overfertilize your water garden or you may encounter some unpleasant issues. You could be growing algae by using too much fertilizer. A granular fertilizer or slow release tablets would be ideal for water plants. For specific fertilizer types, these would include 5-10-5, 20-10-5, 12-8-8, and 10-6-4.
Fertilize your plants every month from April to August. Tablet fertilizer is generally the easiest to use. All you have to do is place the tablets underneath the soil. Over-wintering your plants can be done to prevent your aquatic plant life from getting snuffed out in the winter.
Over-wintering is done as a preventive action to make sure that the ice and snow doesn't kill your plants. Before winter makes it way into your home, make sure you've brought in all your plants if you're operating a shallow water garden.
Keep the plants above freezing temperature but no more than 50 degrees to preserve their dormancy. Prepare your plants for the spring by ensuring that the roots stay moist somehow. An alternative would be to remove the rhizomes from the pots and keep the plants stored in plastic bags with moist sphagnum moss. There is a special process for tropical water lilies - keep them in an aquarium tank at around 70 degrees and keep the tank well-lighted.
You'll have to deal with considerations such as the depth of the water, the temperature of the water, and how to keep your plants and animals safe during the winter. Most aquatic plants seem to do better in a heavy, loamy, clay-based soil.
In order to preserve the nutrient content that keeps your plant growing, you cannot settle on the usual potting mix with light soil. Aquatics also need to be planted in damp soil. Fill up the container 2/3 full with damp soil for your plants to grow properly.
There are also special considerations when growing water lilies - place the rhizomes with the growing tip pointed semi-angular towards the center. You'll know it's the growing tip if you see eyes on it like a potato. In effect, you are allowing the plant to grow across the middle of the container.
After you have the rhizome placed properly, you'll cover it with soil so the tip is just slightly above the soil level. Tropical water lilies, unlike other water lily varieties, are planted at the center of the container.
Likewise, lotuses are planted in the center, but you need to exercise care when handling their rhizomes, which can be quite fragile. The process would be different when planting submerged plants and emergent - start by placing a generous amount of soil in your pot, centering the plant, then filling the pot with even more soil, putting them over the roots.
Once this potting process is complete, cover the soil with some gravel, about half an inch. This prevents the soil from erosion, as well as from murking up the pond water. Submerge your plants to the recommended depth after potting.
You can place bricks underneath containers to help bring them to the correct depth. Each plant should have a specific depth for submersion, so make sure you find this info out for yourself. Water lilies generally grow best at a depth of about 12 to 18 inches above the top of their container.
Or you can place the pot at a shallower depth before lowering it as the plant gradually grows. The more sun the pond gets, the deeper the container can be placed in the water. Sometimes water lilies can be grown at only 6 or 8 inches depth, but ideally you have to grow them at about a foot's depth.
Lotus plants can be grown at only about 4 or 6 inches depth, while emergent plants just need about two to three inches of water above them. Bricks or inverted pots can help you get the right height over the top or depth.
Don't overfertilize your water garden or you may encounter some unpleasant issues. You could be growing algae by using too much fertilizer. A granular fertilizer or slow release tablets would be ideal for water plants. For specific fertilizer types, these would include 5-10-5, 20-10-5, 12-8-8, and 10-6-4.
Fertilize your plants every month from April to August. Tablet fertilizer is generally the easiest to use. All you have to do is place the tablets underneath the soil. Over-wintering your plants can be done to prevent your aquatic plant life from getting snuffed out in the winter.
Over-wintering is done as a preventive action to make sure that the ice and snow doesn't kill your plants. Before winter makes it way into your home, make sure you've brought in all your plants if you're operating a shallow water garden.
Keep the plants above freezing temperature but no more than 50 degrees to preserve their dormancy. Prepare your plants for the spring by ensuring that the roots stay moist somehow. An alternative would be to remove the rhizomes from the pots and keep the plants stored in plastic bags with moist sphagnum moss. There is a special process for tropical water lilies - keep them in an aquarium tank at around 70 degrees and keep the tank well-lighted.
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