Pond dirt to plant lillies

what kind of dirt do you guy/gals use in your pond to plant these?

i just put river rock and larger to hold the roots down

I use pea gravel and plant baskets.

Using some laterite or other iron rich red clay always gets my pond plants growing well. I put some of this in the center of the pot with some organic soil. On the top and bottom i use pea gravel. The laterite helps the roots to take in nutrients and also provides some.

I use garden soil. We are organic gardeners, no commercial fertilizers, bug sprays, or weed killers. I plant the lilies following recommended procedures (can be found all over the internet) and cover the soil with granite chips. These can be bought at most farm supply stores (used for chicken scratch). They are sharp and perhaps for this reason my fish have always let the potted plants alone.

I just use the gravel from my driveway. It works great! I generally have to remove plants and trim the excess roots plus divide the pants due to their size.