Curious, which plants do you find are the easiest to work with, keep alive? C. Johnson moderator's note: removed website link, see point 1.1 of usage rules moderator's note: added a more descriptive title to topic
Hardy water lilies, miniature cattail, rushes and anachris (green water plant-a couple of varieties)I never buy and are in my ponds throughout the year. They do all need to be divided every three years to keep from overtaking the pond, and to maintain flowering (for lilies). I have quit using pumps, fountains and filters and use barley straw to maintain the pond water quality and keep algae in control in combination with water plants. My ponds are small with the largest being, 5x13 cement (it is 25 years old). Our climate is moderate with temperature usually only getting into the teens during the winter, so I haven't had a problem with freezing to the bottom of the ponds.
thanks Jewel! do your ponds contain fish? if so, do your fish seem to prefer some of the above mentioned plants over others? C. Johnson moderator's note: removed website link, see point 1.1 of usage rules
Because of the size of the ponds only the larger two contain goldfish. The biggest fish get approximately 8 inches max. in the biggest pond. During spring and fall I feed them, and during the heat they do just fine without supplemental food. Probably the fish munch on the oxygenating plants (anacharis and hornwort), or fry. In early spring the anacharis is noticably more eaten than the hornwort. Fish definitely use the oxygenating plants when spawning. For food the fish seem to find sufficient insect life, and the plants grow fast enough that I notice foraging during the warm months. The oxygenating plants I have also noticed keep the lower layers of water cooler during the heat of summer where the fish will hang-out during the day and surface feed mornings and evenings. My three smaller ponds I no longer keep fish in. I have found dragon fly larva out compete the gold fish and during the winter will actually eat them if the goldfish haven't gotten large enough. Dragon fly larva eat any mosquito larva and help maintain those ponds. (I do plant the small ponds with lilies, oxygenating plants and rushes) The two of the small ponds are not protected from opossums and raccoons so some years get ravaged so badly that I have to start over (with plants from the other ponds). During this time I use mosquito DUNKs for the first season if I am unable to transplant dragonfly larva.
