Adding water offers opportunities to grow new plants

Everyone loves a little water in the garden, but not everyone wants a full fledged garden pond.

For some, it’s the potential danger a pond might pose to children or grandchildren. For others, it’s the perceived maintenance a full in-ground pond requires to keep it looking and performing its best that convinces them not to install a garden pond.

No matter large, small or simply in a container, a natural pond will transform your garden probably more than anything else you can add to your garden and attract more wildlife to your yard than you could ever imagine. Install it right, and it will perform and look spectacular for years to come with minimal maintenance. If it’s a container pond, lower your expectations, but don’t be surprised if you find yourself falling in love with your tiny container pond and the plants that call it home.

I would love a pond in our current backyard.

In fact, at our previous home, I installed a lovely little in-ground pond complete with a waterfalls. It was the focal point in a massive backyard DIY landscaping project that took an average suburban backyard surrounded by pools, outdoor decks and acres of grass, and installed an island of natural plantings. To say it was a magnet for backyard birds would be an understatement.

It’s difficult to not love the beauty of a water lily in a pond. The same lilies can be grown in a container pond.

Installing a backyard oasis

My little backyard oasis began soon after we moved into the home. I noticed the builder was digging up massive boulders around the neighbourhood and looking to get rid of them. I was more than happy to take them and asked him to drop them in a corner of the yard. The massive boulders weighed close to a ton but through a series of levers and a whole lot of muscle (which I had back then) I was able to manipulate the boulders into a semi circle that became the perfect little secret garden in corner of the yard.

The circle of boulders in the corner of the yard became the “source” of the perceived water that would eventually run along a dry river bed surrounded by birch trees and grasses before flowing over some rocks and spilling over a small waterfall into a pond.

The recirculating waterfalls helped keep mosquitoes at bay and the moving water created sound in the yard to drown out much of the typical noise related to suburban gardens. Fish and frogs were added to the pond that eventually resulted in more fish and tadpoles and frogs. Insects, dragonflies and lots of birds visited the small pond in the middle of suburbia.

A full-sized pond really needs a proper combination of plants to keep it healthy and looking its best. The large pond needs a mix of plants including:

• Aquatics – a group of plants that have their roots submerged. Aquatics include water lilies, and lotuses as well as golden club, water hawthorn, and water violet.

• Floaters – plants include water lettuce and duckweed, which float on top of the water. This group of plants help reduce algae by blocking sunlight and competing for nutrients. Unfortunately, they also block you from seeing the water and can quickly overwhelm a smaller pond because they reproduce so quickly.

• Oxygenating – plants are mostly submerged, though it’s not unusual that part of them protrude above the water. Their ability to add oxygen to the water is particularly important if you include fish in the pond. Look for plants such as cabomba, anacharis and myriophyllum.

• Marginals – these plants take up residence in the shallower areas of the pond, along the edge or in the boggy area around the edge. They include both deep- and shallow-water plants and include cattails, forget-me-nots, sedges and rushes.

• Bog plants – These are the moisture-loving plants that thrive in extremely soggy soil and include Irises and sweet flag, ferns, astilbes as well as shrubs including dogwood varieties.

Container water gardens really only need a few of these plants to maintain a healthy balance. Most often an Aquatic plant like a water lily is combined with a few floaters like water hyacinth and an oxygenating plant.

Getting back to our former home and small pond. I truly loved that pond and was particularly proud of how it turned out. Eventually, I added a large overhead pergola with random flagstones that overlooked the pond. Large pines and cedars across the back increased the sense of being in a natural environment.

But there was no hiding the fact we were in the middle of suburbia.

So we moved.

The container pond is an option that can allow the gardener to grow plants they would not have been able to and attract wildlife at the same time.

Going from a garden pond to a container

In our current home, although I would love an in-ground pond, I knew that unless the pond was large and deep, it would be an ongoing battle with local wildlife to keep the pond from becoming a playground for racoons and other critters. I also did not want to fence off our large property partially for the cost, but more important, it would keep out much of the wildlife I was trying to attract to the yard.

Therefore, I settled for a patio pond container which I was able to find used on Kijiji . The pond involves almost zero maintenance but still gives me some of the benefits a full, on-ground pond brings to the landscape.

Let’s not kid ourselves, however, there is no comparison between an on-ground pond and a container pond.

I also installed a small DIY bubbling rock to give wildlife access to fresh water at ground level without the maintenance of a pond.

If you can and are willing to install a pond in your yard, I can guarantee that you will not regret it. I will add though, make the pond bigger than you think you want it. You will thank me later.

But, even a small pond will create an environment in the yard that is attractive to all types of fauna – frogs, toads, snakes and dragonflies – not to mention the birds and the mammals that will come to depend on the reliable source of water.

If you live in an area where winter brings freezing temperatures, keeping even a small area of the pond ice-free could become a lifesaver for a number of animals and birds. A small bubbling device is usually all it takes to keep an area of the pond ice free.

The benefits of a garden pond to area wildlife is undeniable, but for many it’s the ability to grow water plants and possibly even bog plants that make ponds and container ponds irresistible.

Water lilies in the garden

Water lilies (Nymphaea) are a good case in point.

In her informative book Natural Landscaping, Gardening With Nature To Create A Backyard Paradise, Sally Roth writes: “It’s amazing how satisfying even a tiny water garden can be. If you only have room for one plant, grow a water lily. They may seem costly when you compare the cost to perennials , but even the most common types are exquisite. A single water lily, partnered with a glimpse of dark, shining water, is a delight to the soul.”

Water lilies grow to between 3 and 6 inches tall and can spread out to between 4 and feet wide. Full sun will bring out more flowers which can vary in colour from blue, purple, yellow, red, white and even pink. Hardy waterlilies can survive in zones 4-10, whereas the tropical varieties, which often have larger flowers and a better range in colours, need to be brought in during winter or treated like annuals. The tropical varieties tend to be more fragrant and are available in day-blooming and night-blooming varieties. Hardy varieties only bloom during daylight hours.

I remember the first time a water lily bloomed in my pond. (see image below) That was an exciting time. Water lilies alone offer a wealth of possibilities for the gardener.

You don’t need a huge pond to grow one or two of the colourful flowers. Even a small pond will allow you to experience the joy of these plants.

But don’t think a large pond in the only way to grow a water lily. I have successfully grown them in my container pond.

What can you grow in a container pond?

Many of the plants that can be grown in a large on-ground pond can also be grown in a small patio container pond.

But, as Sally Roth writes in Natural Landscaping: “The biggest problem with container water gardens is that they’re too small. Water plants move faster than Napolean, an their aim is the same – to expand theri empire. Even if you choose well-mannered plants, you’ll soon run out of room for more than a few. What to do with the rest? If you are still not ready to install a pool, try a metal horse trough,” she explains.

She suggests painting it black with a can of matte-finish spray paint. I’m not sure how that would look in every garden but it certainly would give you the room to grow more plants.

Unlike a traditional pond, our container pond is always emptied at the end of the season. Mine is concrete based so leaving it full all winter could result in damage. I empty the container, turn it over for the winter, and refill it in the spring.

I try to store the plants over the winter from year to year. Some survive the winter in the shed, others do not and must be purchased each year. The good news is that the container is small and takes just a few plants to fill it up.

Duckweed and Water hyacinth help to quickly cover the pond and create shade which helps to keep the water free of algae.

Besides water lilies, I always grow Water hyacinth, (Eichhornia crassipes) whose roots help to keep the water clear and whose purple blooms can be stunning in the container pond.

Ruffled Water Lettuce (Pistia Stratiotes), Water Mint (Mentha aquatica), Corkscrew Rush (Juncus spiralis), Creeping Jenny (Lysimachia nummularia) and Pitcher Plants (Sarracenia spp.) are some of the best plants for containers as suggested by the website Pondinformer.

Build a bog garden for the ultimate in plant varieties

A bog garden is the ideal addition to a backyard pond, but it can also be installed in isolation by using a perforated plastic liner that holds water for an extended period of time and keeps the soil moist (almost wet).

Better still, if you have an area in the garden that stays wet just plant bog plants and let them take care of the wet area of the garden. Consider adding Cardinal flower for a dramatic effect and lots of hummingbirds and pollinators. The bog garden opens up a whole new world of opportunities.

Marsh Marigold is a local native plant that also does well in a bog garden. Also consider plants like the Ligularia with its tall yellow spikes.

Staying in the yellow family, Iris pseudacorus ‘Variegata’ can be a good choice.

Another plant to consider if the bog area is large, includes Cornus Alba a dogwood shrub with bright red stems.

Conclusion: Be sure to include a pond in your garden

A good size garden pond is an outstanding addition to any garden and one that will likely change the relationship you have with your backyard. The wildlife that the pond will bring into the landscape, the new plants and the movement the pond creates is difficult to overlook.

For the most part, the ponds are too shallow to pose serious danger to older children. My first pond was installed when my daughter was about six years old. The pond quickly became a hit in the neighbourhood with my daughter’s friends who took turns searching for the frogs, fish and other wildlife. Rather than being looked at as only a danger to children, consider them like an outdoor science classroom and an incredible learning experience for our children and grandchildren.

And, if the pond makes you too uncomfortable, consider the benefits of a container pond, which offers many of the same benefits a full-fledged pond brings.

Either way, a pond will be a great addition to your deck, patio or even in a corner of the yard where you enjoy taking in the early morning sun.

The Garden pond vs. Container pond